Photo printing techniques

[Marc32]

I have a few photos that I'd like to have enlarged into 16x20 prints. They are excellent photos that I took while on vacation and I just don't trust the results I'd get from Walmart or Kinko's printing. I asked around to a few local professional photographers to see what they would suggest or where to go in town. I found two places with two different techniques and I'm not sure what the real nuts and bolts difference is. An email to one place got me this responce:

We utilize top-of-the-line Epson Stylus large format printers. Their Piezo inks are certified Archival for 100+ years and qualify when matched with our Pearl stock as Giclee, or museum quality. These are the BEST printers for art printing. Artist printing can also be done on textured Watercolor Paper, Matte or Gloss Poly/Cotton Canvas, Pearl (Luster/Giclee) Paper or High Gloss Photo paper. Other fine art papers available for special order.

The other shop told me they use a silver halide with Fuji paper process that would produce better whites and deeper colors.

Is anyone out there familiar with either of these styles? What is the real benefit to one or the other and/or would I be able to tell any kind of difference with the naked eye?

Thanks!

 

[KmH]

Whoops!

 

[KmH]

Which of the 4 available aspect ratios your camera has did you use to make the originals 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1? Because a 16x20 has an aspect ratio of 5:4.

If you can you soft-proof in your image editing application you can get the ICC profiles for each lab's machine and the paper you would want the print made on, so you could see a close approximation of what the final print would look like before you order. Soft Proofing: Matching On-Screen Photos with Prints

The first lab is making inkjet prints. Giclée - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How nice the final print winds up being depends on how you prepare the image file and what paper you choose to have the file printed on.

The second lab is making chromogenic prints. Chromogenic color print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How nice the print winds up being depends on how you prepare the image file, and which of the 7 or so Fuji papers the lab has available for you to choose from, if you have a choice. I would also want to know which Fuji machine model they are using to make the prints. Fujifilm USA | Products | Photofinishing | Paper & Lab Products | Color Papers & Printing Materials

For chromogenic prints I generally prefer Kodak Professional Supra Endura, or Metallic, VC Digital Paper over any of the Fuji papers, because the Kodak paper has a longer archival life span (100 years in home display and 200 years in dark storage.)

I have prints made by both processes, giclée and chromogenic. Which process I use depends mostly on the the image I am having printed.

 

[Marc32]

The photos were shot at an aspect ratio of 4:3 with a 14mp Panasonic FZ100 on a tripod to minimize shake. I do have the options to shoot at different pixel counts and aspect ratios, so if there is a reason to change them, I'd be happy to learn about it for next time.

I believe they were using Fuji Crystal Archive paper, but I did not ask if they had any other types available. I didn't realize they had 7 to choose from so I will have to look closer into that. I will have to check out the exact model of the machine as well. Most of the images I'd be working with are natural, landscape type settings. A big panoramic of a lake with mountains, a long exposure of a waterfall, a close up of flowers/leaves/trees, and I have a few with a lot of blue ocean from a vacation in the Caribbean. I do not have photoshop, but I have Corel Paintshop Pro X3...not a whiz at this program as I just got it about a month ago but starting to get the hang of it with the help of a few books.

Oh, and if the weather works this weekend, I might have a milky way shot from the mountains to work with!

 

[KmH]

The photos were shot at an aspect ratio of 4:3 with a 14mp Panasonic FZ100

I looked at your profile and then looked at the specs for your camera. That is how I knew it offers you 4 aspect ratio choices.

You're going to have to crop the 4:3 photo to have a 5:4 print made.

 

[Marc32]

I'm OK with cropping the pictures a bit. Losing a half inch on each side won't bother me much. Its just 'how do I print them out' and in which style? I almost wonder if I'm overthinking that one...I probably would be very happy with either printing style. It would be a big upgrade over printing from my Kodak p&s on my Lexmark inkjet.

 

[D-B-J]

I'm OK with cropping the pictures a bit. Losing a half inch on each side won't bother me much. Its just 'how do I print them out' and in which style? I almost wonder if I'm overthinking that one...I probably would be very happy with either printing style. It would be a big upgrade over printing from my Kodak p&s on my Lexmark inkjet.

Of course it is an improvement. But i know little on the actual subject. Haha

 

[KmH]

To get a 5:4, 20x16 without cropping any off the top or bottom of the 4:3, the 4:3 will essentially be sized to the equivelent of 18.286x16.

So you're going to loose 2.286" total off the width of the 4:3 in the final 20x16 print, not just 1 inch.

 

[Tony S]

I'm going to go out on a limb and against the normal grain here... Set up your files using the ICC profiles you can download online and take it to Walmart, Kinkos, Sam's Club or Costco or some other quick lab to get printed. As inexpensive as it is to get them printed (Costco is $5.99 for 16x20) you could make adjustments to your files and have them reprinted again until you get one that you are happy with and still be under $30. Most of the places now use the same machines (Noritsu or Fuji, but the hardware for Fuji is supplied by Noritsu ) as any online lab, it all depends on the tech running it and the store policy on printer maintenance.

Shoot, even a 16x20 gallery wrap canvas is only $45

Or try online services like Mpix or Snapfish (which by the way does the online mail orders for Costco and Walmart and others).

 

[Marc32]

Not a bad idea Tony, but still kind of a hassle. I did get referred to a shop here in NH that can do silver halide and giclee printing. They offer an 'as is' print where they print what I give them and a 'modified' print where the tech will clean up, touchup, recolor, etc etc what needs to be done to make the print come out right based on the photo itself and the printing technique selected. All photos done this way are done one by one, no batch settings. Sounds like what I'm looking for, good printing with a little help from a pro! It's only $8 more for the modified print, so no brainer as far as I am concerned!