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p.4 #1 · p.4 #1 · How can commercial prints be so bad vs home-made prints? | |
Steve Perry wrote:
I tired a variety of commercial print labs and came to the same conclusions - I'm better off doing it myself. Every time I tired a print from a lab and compared it to the same image done from my own printer, it wasn't even close. I went through a period where I think I tried about a half dozen of the big name labs, and while some did better than others, they just couldn't beat the detail, color, and tonal range I was getting at home.
Sad thing is, I hate printing, and I'm never going to be accused of being an expert at it. However, even my meager skills are enough to easily beat out the big labs with my Canon iPF 6400. I'd really love to find a lab that could do better so I could sell my printer and never have to do it myself again, but so far, no takers. ...Show more →
The challenge of big name labs is their business is not high quality prints on good/fine art paper - its volume business. If you are lucky and soft proof the image before sending it in, you have a chance of obtaining a good print. The OP should try to find an online printer who advertises Fine Art Giclee Printing, not just any print shop
Home printing high quality / fine art prints is really only for those who print regularly -- otherwise the incremental cost of each print can be very high -- print cartridges dry out quite quickly and this made the marginal cost very high for me.
The OP would be better to find a printer local to them who regularly produces fine art/ reference quality museum reproduction prints for artists. This is what I did. While I used "the Printshop"in London for over 15 years - a fantastic online Fine Art Giclee Printing shop - the quality of my prints was transformed when I found a local printer -- his prints were 10-15% more expensive, his workflow, choice of papers and end products were simply extraordinary. Working with a printer, rather than learning this and buying the gear is a very rewarding exercise too -- it is good to have a 3rd party view of your shots too.
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