Printing Like a Pro

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Today, I decided to watch the Olympics day until 4 pm, and then record the evening Olympics because I plan to go to a Photography Meetup at 7 pm. I plan to blog about my 2-week Winter Olympics experience later, probably after the Olympics are over because I don’t have time to blog about it right away. While watching the Olympics, I noticed that the time was 12:12 pm, and again at 4:44 pm, which looks like a double whammy, but I think these number sequences are positive signs, which really don’t have to do with any whammy.

(In the above snapshot, I once loomed the Olympic rings with rubber bands and Rainbow Loom toy, but I think I used the wrong colors)

It is Day 4 of the Winter Olympics 2018 as well as Mardis Gras 2018. I didn’t go to UCI today because I wasn’t sure if they were going to do any celebration for Mardis Gras. I might drop by on Wednesday. While driving to the Canon office, I noticed my time was 5:55 pm.

(This is a snapshot of a Mardis Gras mask I made at UCI one year. I decided to keep it for fun, just in case I get invited to an Illuminati Party one day. It is actually hanging upside down because the peacock feather is on top of the mask, and I like peacocks because they are pretty and elegant birds).

Today’s workshop is about printing like a professional by picking the right printing paper, and making sure the color looks good, especially on the paper you have chosen.

MOAB, Canon, and Canson brands all have paper for printing. MOAB papers are double-sided so you can print photos on both sides.

Taking preparatory steps for printing:

Choosing the right printer has many factors to consider.

• Pigment or Dye
• Maximum printing width
• Number of inks needed. The more the printer has the better.
• Ink efficiency
• Nozzle clogging
• Switching between matte black to photo black
• Paper handling
• Three Canon printers include Pro-100 which costs around $600, Pro-1000 which costs $1300, and Pro-2000 which costs $2500.
• Pigment is water resistant
• MOAB has protective spray for photograph protection.

Connecting your printer.

USB or Wi-Fi? You need a long cable for USB, but USB is more reliable. Wi-Fi doesn’t always work properly.

Software to Printer

Lightroom, Photoshop, Phase One Capture One, or Canon Print Studio Pro? Decide on which is most sufficient for your own needs. I only use Photoshop because it is enough for me.

Which paper to use?

Consider the paper thickness, such as 190, 200 or 300 g/m²

Paper Tint: Cool or warm undertone? Cool tends to have a pink undertone while warm tends to have a yellow undertone.

Paper Finish involves the type of paper, such as matte, luster, glossy, or baryta. Glossy displays sharp pictures. I think matte tends to flatten a photograph, especially if there are a lot of dark areas in the photo. It is better to use luster or glossy for photographs with dark areas because the image will be sharper.

Optical Brightening Agents: With or Without?

Such products make your paper turn yellow over time, as the paper or photograph ages. So, it is not worth using, unless you want yellowed paper or yellowed photograph. Otherwise, use a cool-toned white paper without any optical brightening agent.

Decisions

It is all about personal preference, what you want to do, and which best fits your needs. Also, take in consideration your personal style, and which paper best fits your style and artwork. If you can buy sample packs, then it is a good idea because it allows you to test different papers and keep samples of the paper with your work so you know what it really looks like.

Matching print to the monitor display

Calibrate your monitor, and make sure it isn’t too bright.

For the web, the monitor is usually very bright. For print, use 80.

Make sure you use neutral-colored light as well as neutral-colored walls in your room

Use quality ICC Profile from computer to printer

Always use RGB for printing. Adobe RGB has more colors.

Matte paper uses less number of colors, which is too limited for Adobe RGB.

Using particular paper affects how your photograph will print as well as the appearance of the actual colors.

Shoot raw so it doesn’t matter what the color base that you will use on your camera.

Print specific edit

Use the proper printing process

Print Preparations Editing

Choose different paper characteristics.

Print white and black tests.

Make level adjustments to compensate.

Canon Pattern Print

Pattern Print:  color versus brightness

Non-brand inks will clog the nozzle, as well as the colors and print might come out differently from its actual appearance. It will also mess up your printer, in which I have experienced. That is why I stopped using non-brand inks. I now only use HP inks and HP glossy paper because my printer is HP.

The Entrada MOAB Paper comes in to colors: natural bright and bright.

For more information about printing, you can contact Wasio Photography on the internet.