Hooked up w/ a Photographer...NOW WHAT!

[TheSnowman]

Ok, I hooked up w/ a very good, and perfectionist photographer in town last week. This is a great opportunity for me, and I think it's the beginning of a great working relationship between us. I have had my printer going on two years now, and really thought I figured it out...until now.

95% of everything I print is a vector, and now I'm having to get all these HQ Raster prints to look good, and along w/ that, match all their prints coming from their separate printer. They start talkin' all their sizes @ whatever DPI and all that, and everything I print is actual size, and it's printing @ 720dpi.

Basically, my main question is...can I tweak my prints to match theirs any other way than just printing what they give me, and adjusting my CMYK levels in PosterShop every time? I know people do this everyday, and it shouldn't be a big deal, (maybe it's not) but I just want to make sure I'm putting out the best prints I can, and keep the do-overs to a minimum. Anyone deal w/ this A LOT and have tips?

 

[cdiesel]

Profiling.. and probably a new printer. We don't do much of this for that reason. Most high quality photo reproduction is done using water based machines (Epsons and Canons).

That said, you should be able to get pretty close to what they want, but I'd say some professional profiling is in order.

 

[zmatalucci]

your in for a ride. I dealt with a artist/photographer that was sooooo freaking annoying, picky, and arrogant, that I fired him after the first job. They always complain about coloring, even if your spot on. Make sure you charge accordingly! This isn't the sign game.

 

[TheSnowman]

Yea, I figured that...but, if I can get it nailed down to CLOSE it will be great. They just give me the file, and I print it...gotta keep that sucker printin'! I'm thinking once I find the adjustment that works, it should work for most of their files the same, and I can just make the same adjustment each time.

 

[rcook99]

I would agree with cdiesel in looking at a new printer. I don't run a mimaki but I run a Canon IPF 8000 I bought in Jan. and love it. I am not sure about the print speed alone on the Mimaki but there is a video on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jawL7ieNVF0 regarding the Canon that shows it printing a full bleed 16 x 24 in under 3 minutes. I printed a full bleed 3ft x 6ft banner in 20 minutes last night. If you would like I will gladly print a picture for you even one of your customers so you can compare it to yours and see how it looks.

Bob

 

[TheSnowman]

He's seen the quality, and thinks it's great. It's not a quality issue, just getting the colors to match. I'm not at all looking for another printer, so he'll get what he gets, I just want to put out the best product I can!

 

[cdiesel]

Water based inks have a wider color gamut.. The Canons are pretty cheap too--in the $5k range.

 

[Flame]

Giclee printing... right? A 4 color eco-sol machine is NOT the printer for this. HP makes some nice ones, but indoor only (acques or however it's spelled). EXCELLENT quality, but that's about their only use. I'd say it may not work out great, but might as well try if you think it's worth it.

 

[TheSnowman]

I'm not printing his prints, he's already got his printer for that. What I'm doin' are fathead knockoffs of local high school kids he shoots already, and 2' X 3' Banners on a matte canvas that he sells w/ a whole kit to hang @ graduation parties etc.

 

[cdiesel]

Good luck with that! I'd just tell him there's a definite color shift due to the fact you're printing on different media. Heck, your prints on the fathead stuff won't even match the canvas!

 

[jiarby]

everyone has nailed it... can't print photos on a banner printer and get them as nice as the come out on an aqueous.

If you are doing fat heads on vinyl, then you will be close enough! Full Steam Ahead!

 

[TheSnowman]

Good luck with that! I'd just tell him there's a definite color shift due to the fact you're printing on different media. Heck, your prints on the fathead stuff won't even match the canvas!

I don't mind tellin' him that as long as it's a fact. He had another guy he had doing it in another town, but shipping and all that isn't as easy as just walking to me. The prints will still come out nice, but he'll just have to be ok w/ what they are. He already saw the fatheads, and was ok w/ that, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[cdiesel]

Just make sure his expectations aren't too high and you'll be fine.

 

[TheSnowman]

I feel like that's what it's all about. I don't want to have anything to hide, and just keep it open and honest, so then nothing awkward happens later in the line.

 

[Cadmn]

Believing you can make the same adjustment each time is a foolish idea. I did photography professionally for a period of time. I shot teams & all that stuff but too many things effect color in photography the studio that was printing my stuff & others let me in the dark room for awhile to watch, & every photo was different according to the computer analyser they used I admit it was film not digital.

 

[iSign]

I'd require $100 minimum for test print runs, and you can run a dozen 8x10's for $100... any he doesn't like... you don't do... any he likes at that size will come out the same color at full size... otherwise, there's no tellin' what will match... but the color gamut on solvent printing is NOT going to give him everything he wants.

You could turn your Mimaki into a 6 color machine if this guys was going to give you a ton of work... that would widen the gamut a bit.

 

[TheSnowman]

I'm not lookin' to become a full print shop, I'm just a sign shop...and saw I could use a printer a lot, and now I'm just kinda testin' it's capabilities. Like I said, if he's ok w/ it, great, if not, then he can go back to whatever he's doin' now. I'm not gonna make it a pain for me to make it work.

 

[chopper]

I haven't done much of this but when I use my sign lab I just load it in and it asks if I want to load the color palette and wa - la matched color gamut print...I am using 10 mega pixel slr camera ... maybe you need to use different software??
//chopper

 

[Rooster]

I've done thousands of fine art reproductions over the years.

Profiling is your friend. Without it you are lost. If you want to make money off print orders like this then you "must" create your own profiles. Otherwise you will print more proofs than orders and be dealing with a constant barrage of changes and unhappy customers.

With profiling it becomes as simple as hitting the print button.

If he turns into a good customer then the new 12 color canon's would be a good machine to look at picking up. They will blow the solvent prints out of the water as far as quality goes.

 

[Tovis]

I have great luck printing out of photoshop and rasterlink pro. I am a photographer, yes we are picky but that is what we go to college for.

Any questions email@kiwisunphoto.com