Photography News 101 - Web

Buyers’ guide

Printing for pleasure

Love seeing your best shots on a screen? Imagine how much satisfaction you could get from mounting your masterpieces as huge, high-quality prints framed on the living room wall. Here’s how to make that dream a reality

it in the viewfinder and pressing the shutter button, to spending ages editing in front of the computer. How you get to that is up to you. There’s a case for investing in a photo-quality home printer – ideally a dedicated unit, but multipurpose machines are viable options. If not, many printing services are out there, especially online, or plenty of physical shops depending on where you live. There is no right or wrong, with pros and cons to both. Home printing

MILLIONS, MAYBE BILLIONS, of photographs are taken every day. Not all of them should make it to print, of course, but our focus is on your passion as a keen photographer. Capture an image you are truly proud of, and you should make the most of it. Get it printed, so it can be framed, hung on your wall, put into your portfolio or even sold. What’s more, the finished print represents the end of a journey, from previsualising an image, composing

means you can output whenever you want, using an incredible variety of media – we feature some leading brands here. Use a pro printing business and there's a good choice of media, going as large as you like. Most offer a range of presentation styles, too, so if you want a print in acrylic, on canvas or framed, that is perfectly possible. So, our message is simple: get printing and your photography will never look back.

Innova Art › innovaart.com

whether printing colour or black & white, while physical handling rates highly thanks to the resin-coated base, including an anti-curl layer for flatness before and after printing. Free, generic ICC profiles can be downloaded. Sheets and roll sizes are available, with a 50-sheet pack of A3+ paper priced at around £60.

The range of inkjet media from Innova has gained a new arrival, Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte 260gsm. Compatible with dye and pigment inkjet printers, this paper is suited to small or large prints, with its matte finish ensuring the viewer is untroubled by surface reflections. A wide colour gamut and ability to deliver detail ensures great results,

Canon › canon.co.uk

Fotospeed › fotospeed.com

This is wireless and uses six inks, available in six colour multipacks with the option of standard 7ml at £13.99 each, or high-yield 11ml tanks at £18.49. A standard six-pack costs £79.99, while a four-colour (black/cyan/magenta/ yellow) high-yield set is £69.49. If your budget extends to £700, the ImagePrograf Pro-300 is within reach. This A3+ unit is a step up quality-wise from the iP8750, using ten Lucia Pro inks, with matte and photo black, two magentas, red and chroma optimiser – a replacement cartridge costs £17.49.

Canon’s range covers all sectors of the market, from portable mini printers and home models, through to money-saving MegaTanks and professional models. Here’s our pick of photo-quality versions to check out. The Pixma G550 is a dedicated A4 printer and its six refillable, dye-based ink tanks are mess- free. Ink costs £13.99 for 60ml of each colour – a full set of refills can give up to 3800 6x4in prints. The maintenance tank is quick to replace at home and costs £8.69. Moving to A3+ size, the Pixma iP8750 is nicely priced at £239.99.

white surface. Its wide colour gamut makes it a great paper for fine-art scenics. Another non-OBA paper for maximum life, Legacy Gloss 325 gives an unglazed, glossy finish, reminiscent of air-dried darkroom paper. A high D-Max rating means you get blacks deep enough to fall into and a wide colour gamut, so it’s great for colour and mono. Finally, Fotospeed releases a new YouTube video every week,

Fotospeed’s own paper line-up is extensive – and among the very best around – so its website is well worth a visit. There you will find not just its own papers, but many other leading brands – plus a wide selection of imaging hardware like colour management kits, printers and inks. With such a fab choice of papers, you’re not going to go wrong whatever you pick, but here’s two to check out. Platinum Cotton 305 is an OBA-free material with a smooth, natural

so that’s a great source for picking up printing advice.

Epson › epson.co.uk

with models for A4 and A3+. The EcoTank ET-8550 costs £700, with Claria ET Premium inks £16 for each colour. When you run low on an ink, simply top up. We conclude our Epson tour with the SureColor SC-P700 (A3+) and P900 (A2), £679 and £1080, respectively – both top-end units for those demanding the best output at home. They use UltraChrome Pro 10 inks, with a ten- colour system that has matte and photo black inks on constant tap; no time- or ink-wasting switching between media.

Epson is a leading light in printing, and its photo-quality range has models to suit all purposes, budgets and environments. For a unit that could sit in the living room due to its small footprint – and is user-friendly for the whole family – the Expression Photo XP-8700 fits the bill. Up to A4, it can copy, scan and print – and costs £130. It accepts Claria Photo HD inks; a six-colour multipack is £62 and larger-capacity singles £19 each. Running costs are an obvious consideration. Epson has cartridge-free EcoTank printers

Issue 101 | Photography News 25

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