Archive 2013 · How to you light your prints?

ben egbert
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · How to you light your prints?

I print on mat and don't use glass or plex to avoid reflections. But it would be nice to have better lighting.

I have a mix of late afternoon light on some images and indoor incandescent ceiling light for all. Some areas are very dark. The few that get afternoon light actually work fine as is until after the sun sets.

This is a living room so I can't really eliminate the ceiling light but in some cases I could enhance it.

Also, I want to avoid built in lights as I don't want to tear my walls apart. Perhaps small lights that are below and mounted to the wall with a discrete cord leading to it? How do the new LED lights work for color?

Apr 17, 2013 at 01:52 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · How to you light your prints?

After much Googling. I found many solutions, but still have some questions.

Art light advice tends to be too old to include LED. Looks like they prefer halogen then incandescent and do not like florescent at all. So what about LED? I used a LED flashlight to see how I liked it and it looked pretty good.

However, most LED models that attach to the frame are battery powered. Not going battery powered. The few LED's versions I found were spots and track lighting. not an option.

I think I prefer a frame mounted lamp with a long tubular light, at least 14 inches long as my pictures are 24 inches wide. I can deal with the cord. I wish I could find one in LED, if not second choice would be halogen.

They usually like 3000K. Seems pretty red to me.

Edit:

Found one here but $427, gulp. I see most versions with transformers really bump the cost.

http://www.hogarthlighting.com/acatalog/pencil-picture-lights-standard-sizes.html

Apr 17, 2013 at 03:17 PM

papageno
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · How to you light your prints?

If you want the print to look like it should--and you make your own prints--print specifically for the location and the lighting you will be using.

Two knocks on florescent lights: too much UV which can fade prints quickly and that florescents are discontinuous spectra (which means no light may be emitted at some specific wavelengths. They also tend to be spikey so you have way too much light of other wavelengths. All this means that some colors in the print may be profoundly altered.

I have not seen data on LEDS but wonder if similar issues are a factor.

It all comes back to what the practical answers are, which to me means make prints specifically for that situation.

Apr 17, 2013 at 03:27 PM

Bernie
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · How to you light your prints?

When printing proofs, I look at them under 4 different lights. First there's daylight by a window. Then I have the old style tree lamp with different lamps in each socket -- normal incandescent, daylight Reveal, and a warm daylight spiral fluorescent.

That gives me an idea of how it might look in a number of situations.

Apr 17, 2013 at 03:57 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · How to you light your prints?

Ben, coincidentally I was just starting to research the same issue. I found that museum quality lighting was halogen and is now being converted to LED. LED lamps emit almost no UV and art work should last longer. The color is similar. I did not pick a supplier because I have a huge lighting store nearby and was going to stop there next. The first vendor I found on the internet was Lumicrest. They have dimmable museum quality LED bulbs in the $30-60 range.

Due to my camping experience, I have become a great believer in LED lighting. I converted all of my lamps to LED and even replaced the fluorescent fixtures. As I remember it the power consumption for LEDs was about 15% as much as tungsten and well less than half that of fluorescents.

Apr 17, 2013 at 04:01 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · How to you light your prints?

Camperjim wrote:
Ben, coincidentally I was just starting to research the same issue. I found that museum quality lighting was halogen and is now being converted to LED. LED lamps emit almost no UV and art work should last longer. The color is similar. I did not pick a supplier because I have a huge lighting store nearby and was going to stop there next. The first vendor I found on the internet was Lumicrest. They have dimmable museum quality LED bulbs in the $30-60 range.

Due to my camping experience, I have become a great believer in LED lighting. I converted...Show more →

Hi Jim, I too think LED is the way to go, just not battery powered. I guess the transformers are where the cost is. You can find lots of LED battery powered for reasonable price.

Apr 17, 2013 at 04:18 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · How to you light your prints?

Bernie wrote:
When printing proofs, I look at them under 4 different lights. First there's daylight by a window. Then I have the old style tree lamp with different lamps in each socket -- normal incandescent, daylight Reveal, and a warm daylight spiral fluorescent.

That gives me an idea of how it might look in a number of situations.

Test my prints now under an OTT light said to be daylight. The problem is, I have no current way to control the light where the prints hang and one or two places are simply too dark.

Apr 17, 2013 at 04:20 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · How to you light your prints?

papageno wrote:
If you want the print to look like it should--and you make your own prints--print specifically for the location and the lighting you will be using.

Two knocks on florescent lights: too much UV which can fade prints quickly and that florescents are discontinuous spectra (which means no light may be emitted at some specific wavelengths. They also tend to be spikey so you have way too much light of other wavelengths. All this means that some colors in the print may be profoundly altered.

I have not seen data on LEDS but wonder if similar issues are a factor.

It all comes...Show more →

I don't think I could make my prints bright enough for the 2-3 places that are simply too dark. The rest are ok. It is only in these dark areas that I would add lights. At least for now.

Apr 17, 2013 at 04:21 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · How to you light your prints?

ben egbert wrote:
Hi Jim, I too think LED is the way to go, just not battery powered. I guess the transformers are where the cost is. You can find lots of LED battery powered for reasonable price.

Again, check the Lumicrest webpages. These bulbs are dimmable and are useable in any standard 120v fixture. There is no transformer. I would plan on a track lighting system and then leave the lighting on continuously. Power consumption is minimal. Lumicrest and other vendors provide a choice of colors. The standard has been 2700K which closely matches halogen. I would consider the 4000K bulbs which provide a whiter light.

Apr 17, 2013 at 04:59 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · How to you light your prints?

Camperjim wrote:
Again, check the Lumicrest webpages. These bulbs are dimmable and are useable in any standard 120v fixture. There is no transformer. I would plan on a track lighting system and then leave the lighting on continuously. Power consumption is minimal. Lumicrest and other vendors provide a choice of colors. The standard has been 2700K which closely matches halogen. I would consider the 4000K bulbs which provide a whiter light.

Hi Jim. Did not want to tear into my walls to add tracks, I was hoping for the type that mounts to the frame. But I will check out Lumicrest. The local Lowes has several LED screw in bulbs available these days, but none that are tubular like the old flourescent. But maybe I can find a spt type frame mount and use a screw in LED. Ok, before I get deeper I need to visit that web page. Thanks.

Apr 18, 2013 at 09:36 AM


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