By Jon Canfield

The latest model printers, like the HP DesignJet Z3200 and the Photosmart Pro B9180, are capable of creating prints that last over 200 years thanks to the formulation of pigment inks and the coatings on the papers we print to. Obviously, that’s a long time, and while the print might be viable for that period, improper care and handling will lead to an early death.

One problem with inkjet prints is the tendency to scratch easily. This is particularly true with prints made with pigment inks, because the pigments sit on the surface of the paper rather than being absorbed into the swellable coatings used on inkjet papers made for dye-based inks. So, rubbing against something, or the errant fingernail can ruin an otherwise perfect print and expensive sheet of paper.

The simplest solutions are usually the best, and print handling is no different. If you’re doing quality printing for exhibition, sale, or other public use, wearing a pair of cotton gloves will protect your prints from fingernails as well as oils on the skin, fingerprints on a glossy print, or other unforeseen disasters.

For fine art papers and canvas, I’ll normally use a spray protectant after the print has set for 24 hours. Desert Varnish from Moab, Lumijet Protective Spray from Hahnemuhle and Premier Art Shield from Premier Imaging Products are all good options that seal and protect the print from moisture, scratches, and fingerprints and won’t yellow as the print ages.

Print protection shouldn’t end here though. Storage and display should also have their own safety measures in place. Starting with storage, it’s best to store your prints flat. It avoids unwanted curling or bending, and handling is easier. Always use a protective sheet between each print. Acid-free tissue paper, available at most art stores or online at sites such as Light Impressions, is an inexpensive way to keep your prints from rubbing against each other.

If you’re mounting your prints for display, make sure that you’re using an acid- and lignin-free mat board and backing material. And, if your prints are going behind glass, never let the print rest against the glass.

A little extra caution up front can save time and money down the road. When you consider how much effort you spent getting to the point of creating that print, the extra effort is well worthwhile.

By David Saffir

A written Certificate of Authenticity can add real value to prints that are ready for exhibition or sale.

Most artists and photographers tell me that they are content to sign their work, and add an edition number and date. This is fine, but there is a bit more that one can do that has real customer appeal. A Certificate of Authenticity can provide vital information about the image to a prospective buyer, gallery, or collector. The certificate can include the following (and/or other items):

·         Name, location, and web address of the artist or photographer;

·         Name, location, and web address of the printmaker;

·         Type of camera or art technique used to create the image;

·         Printing device used along with the type of ink and paper used, and their archival properties;

·         Edition size and the dimensions of the prints in the edition;

·         Number of this particular print within the edition;

·         Information about the subject matter of the artwork;

·         Information about when and where the photo was taken (GPS benchmark, date, time of day);

·         A small color or black-and-white reproduction of the actual image;

·         Signature of the artist or photographer;

·         Signature of the printmaker;

·         Copyright holder’s identity, applicable law, and reproduction rights;

In a way, the Certificate is a promise of quality and value. If the edition is limited, the buyer will know where they stand if they buy the print. If the buyer elects to sell the print down the road, the Certificate helps the print hold its value (hopefully it is increasing).

A buyer will also know that the print is made from the best materials available, that it was made by an expert printmaker, and that it is designed to last. A print like this becomes a valuable addition to a collector’s gallery, or an important heirloom.

We can’t know the long-term value of an image when we first create it – but we can record its provenance for those that come after us. In my view, the Certificate adds a tangible, credible foundation to the work, and provides information that might otherwise be lost forever.

Check out the Certificate of Authenticity I created for my photograph The Wave that now hangs in the home of a private collector.

In a future post, I’ll discuss controlling publication of editions, including storing reference prints, edition sizes, choosing media, and the like.

By Marc Aguilera 

Fig-1 below shows a digital image that I shot as a JPG with my Nikon D200. From there I started Silver Efex Pro as a "Filter" which brought up the user interface in Fig 2, 3, and 4.

Figs 1 and 2                      

Figs 3 and 4

Printing neutral black-and-white images used to be a big challenge, requiring photographers to spend countless hours trying to eliminate unwanted color casts that resulted simply from using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks to create shades of gray and black. Today, printers such as my Designjet Z3200 can easily produce perfectly neutral even-toned black and white prints.

By Jon Canfield

Because I regularly cover new paper options for trade publications and have an intense interest in printing for personal and professional reasons, I’m excited about the number of new surfaces we have to print on. It seems that every month brings one or more new options, all of which are promoted as the best thing since ink was invented.

This embarrassment of riches isn’t without its drawbacks. We’re all striving for the ultimate in quality with our prints, whether they’re going on our own walls or will be hanging in a prestigious gallery for thousands to enjoy. Just as with your camera or your printer, it takes time to learn how to get the most from a particular paper. Some papers are better for black-and-white than color work; some hold ink better and can produce denser blacks. And then there is the issue of paper white: Do you want a warm, cool or neutral tone?

Just as in the emulsion film world, it takes time to really know how the paper will respond to your needs. You might carry around a couple of different films, but you probably wouldn’t keep 10 or 12 choices in your bag. It would just be too much work to really know them all well.

If you’re constantly switching to new media at every opportunity, you’ll never have the time to really learn how each paper responds to different subject matter and display conditions.

I’m not suggesting that you should find a single paper and use only that. But I am recommending that you find one paper in each type of surface that you use, then try to really learn how your work presents itself on that paper. 

For example, I love the baryta papers for black-and-white work. The traditional darkroom look and feel is ideal for many of my prints.  Quite a few choices exist in baryta papers, and to be honest, any one of them would be just fine.

But, I don’t want to mix them up and print randomly. Nor do I want to invest the time to learn how a dozen different papers react to my printing.

My approach is to use a standard test image for each new paper I test, so I can have a baseline for comparison. From this, I’ve narrowed down my baryta printing to two surfaces – HP Baryte Satin Art Paper and Hahnemuhle FineArt Baryta, giving me warm and bright-white papers.

Of course, I still look at new media when it comes out. If it looks promising, I’ll do the test printing and then try more in-depth printing to compare against my current standards. If I find one that I like better, I’ll take the time to learn the ins and outs before replacing one of my current choices. After all, experimenting is part of the fun. But in the end, we simply want perfection.