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Loxley Colour Loxley Colour offers a huge range of products and its photographic and giclée fine art prints are ordered through downloaded ROES (Remote Order Entry System) software, so you work offline then upload a completed order. The interface is easy to use and provides a large preview of your image as well as allowing resizing. You load a folder of images, then set the options and drag and drop in the pics you want to use. Easy. There are masses of different paper sizes on offer, and further options allowing toning, borders, vignettes, mounting and texture masks. Print quality on our A3 lustre photo prints (£4.64) was brilliant, and the giclée printed A3 Hahnemühle Pearl 285gsm (£13.30) showed great detail and tone. The prints, via Royal Mail next-day delivery at £8.50, arrived as expected and were well packed in a large cardboard envelope with additional stiffeners and wrapped in paper. The Print Foundry Croydon’s The Print Foundry specialises in gallery quality giclée prints on six different archival papers. Ordering is very simple via a streamlined browser system, although only one image can be uploaded at a time. Paper type, size (customisable up to 60in), border settings and some neat branding options where you can label the back or side of your work are clearly displayed alongside a cropping preview. We went for 18x12in prints on both Ilford Gold Fibre Silk 310gsm and Harman Gloss Art Fibre Warmtone 300gsm (both from £15.60), and were really impressed by the clarity and colour rendition, with the latter’s texture especially pleasing. The prints were delivered within two working days via courier at £7.50 and the packing was outstanding; there was an outer, then an inner box, with prints individually wrapped in tissue paper and attached to hardboard for extra strength and rigidity. Digitalab Digitalab in Newcastle offers all sorts of photo printing services with regular prints and fine art versions being ordered through a browser system. Photos are added by dragging them onto the uploader and from there, the finish, paper size and any border options are easily selected. Fine art paper is available up to 24x20in and regular prints up to 60x40in in matte or gloss on Fuji Crystal Archive DPII paper. Once ordered, you can adjust the crop using a handy preview and set the image to full colour, black & white or sepia. Our A3, gloss and bordered prints (£7.10) looked superb and the colour correction, offered as standard, gave satisfying, true-to-life hues. The black & white 16x12in prints on Fine Art paper (£34) were fabulously detailed and with very neutral tones. Prints arrived the next day via courier (£12.95) and packed with images individually wrapped in tissue paper and sandwiched between hardboard.
OneVision Imaging Offering standard photographic prints and ‘finished products’, under which its fine art giclée prints fall, One Vision Imaging’s ordering system is browser based and very easy to navigate. Images are added to an online collection or album, which is retained for the future if required, which is good, and you tick those you want to use. Paper type and size are then decided, followed by Scale to Fill or Scale to Fit options. Once in the basket you can adjust the crop if your pic doesn’t fit the ratio of the paper. Our A3 lustre prints were £6.24 each and we also picked a giclée A3 print on 300gsm Smooth Art Silk Paper at £21. Print quality was excellent with bags of detail and rich colour; One Vision’s colour correction also gave a nice neutral look to the mono versions. Prints arrived the next working day for £9.66, and packing was superb with a thick cardboard outer, and with prints in tissue paper to prevent scuffs. Imaging provides a wide range of photo services and prints are ordered through its Studio Partner ROES software. Folders of images are loaded in, allowing you to prepare your order offline and perfect the look. The process is nice and simple, using a large preview which allows cropping and other simple edits. Options, of which there are a dizzying array, include Individual Prints, which are standard prints up to 30x40in, and Display within which you’ll find giclée prints up to 60x40in on six different paper types. Borders, mounting and vignetting are also easy to add. Our regular A3 prints (£5.57) were of an excellent quality, while the 16x12 bordered fine art version (£17.04) really stood out with ultra-crisp detail. Prints arrived the day after ordering and were well packed with bubble wrap around a cardboard inner, and the contents further protected in paper bags. RedwoodPro Lab Colchester’s Redwood Pro Lab provides a wide variety of services and while there’s an online portal for large runs of smaller images, professional users with bespoke requirements are encouraged to use its FTP route. This requires signingup, afterwhichyou get an email with easy-to-follow instructions; you can use your own FTP client software, or download Filezilla direct from Redwood, and once images have been transferred, you just email or phone in your instructions – it’s easy to get exactly what you want. Regular prints can be made up to 32x20in and large-format inkjet and fine art giclée prints on 300gsm photo rag paper go to 60x40in. Our A3 fine art prints were £16.56 each and very sharp with satisfying deep blacks. The lustre A3s (£6.95) looked superb and the colour grading applied really improved them. Delivery was fast, £9, and packing was great – bagged, boarded and well protected. Colorworld Imaging Newcastle-based Colorworld
Loxley’s ROES systemworks really well and prints were excellent. With very competitive prices and fleet-footed delivery it’s a superb service all round. VERDICT
One Vision’s excellent interface and online albums make ordering quick and easy. Prints were very pleasing, with great care in processing and packing. VERDICT
www.loxleycolour.com, 0845 519 5000, cs@loxleycolour.com CONTACT
www.onevisionimaging.com, 0845 862 021 CONTACT
www.theprintfoundry.co.uk, 020 3212 2024, info@theprintfoundry.co.uk CONTACT The Print Foundry’s love for fine art printing is obvious all the way from ordering to the quality of prints and packaging. A real pleasure to use. VERDICT
Colorworld makes ordering clear and easy, and results are first class with top-quality packaging. VERDICT
www.colorworldimaging.co.uk, 0191 2596926, enquiries@ colorworldimaging.co.uk CONTACT
A clear and adaptable ordering system is just the start of the good news fromDigitalab, with great image quality and bulletproof packing on its prints. VERDICT
www.redwoodphoto.com, 01206 751241, info@redwoodphoto.com CONTACT With multiple ways to order prints, competitive pricing and an emphasis on meeting bespoke requirements, Redwood offers a great service. VERDICT
www.digitalab.co.uk, 0191 2323558, info@digitalab.co.uk CONTACT
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Issue 13 | Photography News
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