Jman13 Offline Upload & Sell: On
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I'm assuming you want to start printing on your own (which is what it sounds like to me, but if I'm wrong, then sorry).
I started getting into printing for myself about 6 months ago, and it's been awesome. However, I will echo the above: it's extremely personal. Monitor calibration and proper printer/paper profiles are essential, but most important is finding what looks right for each print, for you.
What I'd recommend is find a printer that fits your print size needs, of course, and go from there. The biggest thing, in my opinion (again, only 6 months of real printing experience, but I've made over 100 prints in that timeframe), is finding papers that fit your personal taste and what you have in mind for the image. There are huge varieties of papers, with unique characters and different feel, dmax, color vibrance, whiteness, surface texture and gloss, etc. I got a bunch of sample packs from major paper makers and just tried them out. Those I didn't like were very apparent to me. It took some trial and error on my part, and even a new way of thinking, as I generally dislike most matte papers, so it took some time to find a few that I liked (and now, I absolutely LOVE a good print on Rag Photographique).
I print the majority of my work on 3 papers now: Canson Rag Photographique, Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl and Canson Platine Fibre Rag. I print a bit on Red River San Gabriel Baryta as well. However, those may be nothing like what you're looking for, as every photographer likes different stuff. Some of the most popular papers are pretty 'meh' to me, but some that I like are poor to others. Finding which prints work well on which paper can take some trial and error as well, but printing is so personal that you really just need to dive in and figure it out as you go.
Good luck!
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