Tag: fine art printing

fine art printing

Mounted Giclée Prints – Print Finishes

Did you know that we offer a variety of different mounting services? Our mounted giclée prints really give you a special finished product either to keep or to sell.

Canvas Wraps

Canvas wraps are an incredibly popular, elegant and versatile option for displaying your images as an alternative to traditional framing techniques. Fine art canvas wraps from The Artist’s Print Room involve printing your image directly onto either the Hahnemühle Daguerre or Canson Infinity Museum Pro Canvas both are premium quality and ensure archival qualities. Both of these canvas options have a stunning matte finish and provide an incredible image sharpness, really highlighting the colours in your print.

The canvas print is then stretched and hand wrapped precisely around wooden bars to give a taught finish. Due to the drying process of the prints, dispatch time for canvas wraps is between 7 and 10 days. All our fine art canvas wraps are ready to hang with fixings attached to the back bar. This allows your print to hang flush to the wall as soon as it’s delivered and unpacked!

As your image is wrapped around the bars, you have various options for the sides, you can go for one solid colour, black, white or any other colour you select! Alternatively, there is the option of having your image covering the sides you can also select from landscape, portrait or square prints, giving you so many options to may your canvas wrap truly unique.

Acrylic Sandwich Style Mounted Prints

Acrylic  sandwich style mounted prints are an elegant, modern and minimalist way of displaying your fine art images as alternative to traditional framing techniques. In addition to this, acrylic sandwich style mounts give a sophisticated dramatic and stunning impact.

Acrylic sandwich style mounted prints are ideal for commercial environments – many businesses use this technique to create signage. Additionally, this form of mounting is ideal for displaying wall art in your home or exhibition images.

Your fine art print is printed as it would be when producing a traditional fine art giclée print. However, it is then  sandwiched between two pieces of acrylic  (select from either a 5mm white or a 10mm clear backing) this backing prevents any warping of your image occurring. The process of acrylic face mounting is complex and intricate which entails careful handling and a lot of precision. Here at The Artist’s Print Room you can trust us to get this right, each and every time. We take great care in all the products we produce which makes us unique when compared to mass production photographic labs.

The acrylic sandwich style mounting gives your image a beautiful high gloss finish which is shatter proof in addition to being dust and damp proof. The final product is a pure statement piece being bold, beautiful rigid and durable. For wall hanging fixings, choose either polished 25mm high aluminium stand-offs or a 9mm MDF French cleat sub-frame attached to the back. With these wall hanging your print will be ready to hang straight away!

MDF & Foam Board Mounting

If you have decided not to frame your fine art giclée print, you could utilise our MDF or foam board mounting options instead. This process makes your final print more robust and durable. By not having your image behind glass you are also able to directly hang your image without any distractions to the stunning paper texture and finish.

Furthermore, foam board and MDF mounting provide great options for exhibition prints, however, foam board is a much lighter weight option and can. be ideal for ease of transportation. Both are available in bespoke sizes or in common paper sizes.

Due to the complex processes involved in MDF and foam board mounting, please allow 14-21 days for your prints to be delivered.

Photo Blocks

Photo blocks are an alternative mounted giclée print option. These popular products provide a wonderful gift for friends and family and are a great alternative to traditional framing options. These are ideal for both artists and photographers to display their works in a stylish way and create a great talking point.

Your fine are giclée print will be sandwiched between two thick acrylic blocks providing a durable finish, leaving your giclée print protected from dust and damage. We offer three different photo block sizes; 7″ x 5″, 10″ x 8″ and 11″ x 14″ and please allow 14 working days for your photo block to be delivered.

You can order your mounted giclée prints through our easy to use step-by-step online ordering system in which you can select the substrate you would like your image printed on and also sizing options are included.

 

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Smartphone Photography Tips

Most of us have one; a smartphone. These modern phones tend to have pretty good cameras so there isn’t much stopping you from excellent photography. With your phone on you most of the time, why not get snap happy when you’re out and about?! Here we will take you through a few smartphone photography tips to help you take better photographs:

Clean your lens!

Firstly, you’ve quite possibly got your phone in your hand, pocket or bag for a fair bit of time throughout the day. First things first, clean your lens! It’s likely to have dirt and dust on so it’s worth giving this a quick wipe over – ideally with a microfibre cloth to ensure you’re not leaving any scratches behind.

Focus

A lot of smartphones will automatically focus, they will select an object which they believe you are trying to photograph. However, if there is something in your foreground or background that you would like a particular focus on, just tap on your screen. On an iPhone, you’ll see a little yellow box appear – this is now where your camera will focus. It will ensure that your selected object is sharp in the final photograph.

Crop your images

Editing your images can be very straightforward. Many smartphones will have easy to use functions to crop your image. Crop your photograph to take out any distractions that you may not want. It’s worth considering though, if you crop your image, you are quite possibly losing some quality so your image may not print so well (if that’s your desired outcome).

Exposure

Sometimes your phone may not pick up the lighting correctly to show off your subject to its best ability. In that case, you can edit the exposure. On an iPhone, when you have selected your focus (and the little yellow box has appeared) just slide up and down on the right hand side of this box to edit the exposure level. This is a great tool for editing the shadows or highlighting detail in your photography.

Composition

An excellent tool on your phone is the grid feature. This places a three-by-three grid across your screen making it much easier to implement the rule of thirds. Using the grid can also help ensure your image is straight and can also assist in creating leading lines throughout your image.

Zoom with your feet

Smartphones give you the option of zooming in digitally. This is all well and good, however, you will lose resolution by doing so. You’ll lose pixels and it will produce a much worse quality print, so therefore, zoom with your feet! Head over to get as close to your subject as possible. The image quality will thank you for it!

Smartphone Apps

If you want to take your smartphone photography even further, there are thousands of apps available to download, both free or paid for. These apps can offer extra features that your phone software doesn’t have as standard. Apps such as ProShot which is available on both iOS and Android gives you full manual control over options such as exposure, ISO and shutter speed. Furthermore to this, there are apps that are ideal for image editing including Lightroom and Photoshop but you’ll find these are express versions for use on mobile devices with limited capabilities.

If you would like your smartphone photography printed, this is something we can offer. Please bear in mind though that there is a limit to the print size we can offer due to the resolution of these images. We can generally enlarge images by 125-150%, however, the success of this is primarily down to the starting file size. Please feel free to contact us for further information.

Do you have any further smartphone photography tips? What particular tricks do you use to create incredible photography from your phone? We would love to hear them so please feel free to share on our Facebook and Instagram pages! Also, tag us in your smartphone photography images by using the hashtag #TAPR, we would love to see your work!

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Technical Support

Did you know that we also offer bespoke technical support services alongside our fine art giclée printing?

From the comfort of your own home we can provide a support service to help you ensure your image processing programmes are set up correctly and accurately. Alternatively, we can help run through some of the most common settings and tools you would need as either an artist or photographer. We can cover both Photoshop and Lightroom, whichever you require; or both!

Additionally, we can provide services to assist you in calibrating your monitor and installing or embedding ICC profiles. This is particularly useful when you are planning on printing your artwork as you will be able to see a more accurate representation of the final colours, tones and hues to be expected in your prints.

Talking and showing you through each step, we can answer any of your technical questions. We want to help make your life easier so you can have more time and freedom to create your art or photography without having to worry about the technical issues which can be all so time consuming.

Furthermore, we don’t even have to come to your home as we can offer this service remotely, through Skype or by telephone and remote access.

Lightroom

Lightroom - The Artist's Print RoomThis programme offers you the full set of tools for you to edit your image files to exactly how you would like them to look. You can find more about Lightroom here. We can take you step-by-step through the set up process and show you how to save your preferences and ensure that everything is running smoothly so you can take control of the image editing process.

Photoshop

Photoshop - The Artist's Print RoomPhotoshop is an extremely powerful tool used for image editing and image manipulation which is used by many professional photographers and artists. We can ensure that Photoshop is set up correctly for you and show you how profiling and colour management works through this programme. More information about Photoshop can be found here.

Technical Support

Our technical support services are available either in person (travel expenses apply) by travelling to you or as a remote service. All our technical support is bespoke to your individual requirements and questions.

We charge a standard hourly rate for these services and you can book using our simple to use online booking form. When you book, please feel free to give us a brief description on what you would like to discuss or require assistance  with and we will then be in touch to discuss further and arrange a suitable time and date for the technical support to take place.

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

 

Stunning prints require a stunning finish

Stunning prints really deserve a special and stunning finish. So, if you’re looking for that something that’s different and extra special to finish your print, why not choose to have deckled edges? This option is available on all paper types we offer and print on. You will find that this finish can really add a special touch to both your fine art reproductions and photography work. You’ll also find that deckled edge prints give a truly expensive and exclusive looking finished product.

Deckled Edge Print - The Artist's Print RoomDeckled edge prints provide a wonderfully, beautiful finish to any print. With the gentle feathered but uneven edges, your print is guaranteed to stand out. Additionally, deckled edge prints look incredible once float mounted against a contrasting colour backing board. You will also find that this finish really adds to the texture of the cotton rag papers we offer, such as, the Hahnemühle Museum Etching. We find that the deckled edging gives the best results with with cotton rag papers, however, we can produce on any paper type. View all of our paper options here.Deckled Edge - The Artist's Print Room

We hand deckled the prints here at The Artist’s Print Room (yes, that means tearing each edge individually, by hand, one at a time!) This option is available for prints both with borders or without borders, it’s up to you which you would prefer. To order deckled edge prints, simply use our step-by-step online order form to specify your requirements.

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Gloss Fine Art Papers

So, here we will run through the gloss fine art papers we offer in addition to the textured and smooth fine art papers previously looked at.

Gloss Fine Art Papers

The most important thing to be aware of here when considering a gloss fine art paper is that when we talk about gloss, this tends to be more of a subtle lustre or satin finish. Not the high gloss on your standard photographic prints that you get produced. These finishes are much more subtle and arguably more exquisitely beautiful.

Canson® Infinity Platine Fibre Rag
Canson Platine Rag - The Artist's Print Room
©Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag

The Canson® Infinity Platine Fibre Rag is a combination of the combination of the premium 100% cotton Platinum paper that Canson has supplied for many years to the original Platinum and Platine photographic market, with the latest microporous coating. The paper contains no optical brighteners, thus not affecting the longevity of the print. An excellent choice of paper for both black and white or colour images. A 310gsm which overall provides a stunning satin finish to your image.

Hahnemühle PhotoRag Satin
Photo Rag Satin - The Artist's Print Room
©Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin

As above, this paper from but from Hahnemühle is a 310gsm,  and has a satin finish. A smooth surface and 100% cotton rag, the paper has a lovely natural white tone. A unique paper in that when you image is printed on this paper, the unprinted areas remain matt, however, the printed areas have a slight sheen. Your image almost shimmers in the light.

Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl
FineArt Pearl - The Artist's Print Room
©Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl

The Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl is a 285gsm paper and provides your prints with a sensational pearl finish. This paper isn’t cotton rag like others previously mentioned, it’s a 100% a-cellulose paper (which is wood pulp) and has a bright white tone. Due to this bright white, prints will have impressive colour contrasts and the black in your images will have an incredible depth.

Hahnemühle PhotoRag Baryta
Photo Rag Baryta - The Artist's Print Room
©Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta

Photo Rag Baryta is a 315gsm, 100% cotton paper and the ‘glossiest’ paper we offer. Using barium sulphate in the inkjet coating, ensuring the typical gloss that makes this paper a genuine replacement for traditional Baryta papers from analogue labs. The coating on this paper provides a water resistance and the tone of the base paper lends well to black and white prints.

ILFORD Gold Fibre Silk
Ilford Fibre Silk 310gsm

The ILFORD Galerie Gold Fibre Silk 310gsm is a stunning traditional fibre based substrate. This fine art paper has both the look and feel of a traditional baryta paper which many artists and photographers love. With a high quality finish, it produces stunning black and white images in addition to colour prints, thanks to its excellent sharpness and wide colour gamut.

 

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

 

 

 

Smooth Fine Art Papers

So previously we looked at textured fine art papers, but how about smooth fine art papers? All the papers listed below have a matte finish which are ideal for both photographers and artists for artwork reproductions.

Smooth Fine Art Papers

When paper is produced in the paper mill, smooth fine art papers are created with a much more smooth felt in comparison to the textured papers, this then produces the surface on the finished product. A smooth fine art paper can often be a good go to when just starting out or often used with portrait photography. It’s important to remember that when a paper is described as smooth it is not completely devoid of texture though!

Hahnemühle Bamboo
Hahnemühle Bamboo - The Artist's Print Room
©Hahnemühle Bamboo

This Bamboo paper is made from 90% bamboo fibres and the additional 10% is made from cotton. More environmentally friendly than the cotton papers due to the fast growing bamboo, this paper has a lovely warm white colour to it. Due to it’s tone, it is ideal for warm coloured prints and monochrome images.

Canson® Infinity Rag Photographique 310gsm
anson® Infinity Rag Photographique 310gsm - The Artist's Print Room
©Canson Infinity Rag Photographique

This paper from Canson is 100% cotton and has an exceptional smooth white tone. During the manufacturing process, natural minerals are added and therefore give this tone to the paper. A very unique, smooth surface, however, there is still a tactile element to the paper which you can see in the close up image. This paper provides one of the highest achievable Dmax on the market, therefore making it a perfect solution for both fine art photography prints and art reproductions.

Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White
hahnemuehle photorag bright white - The Artist's Print Room
©Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White

Hahnemühle’s most famous paper is probably their Photo Rag and this paper is a brighter version of their Photo Rag 308gsm. As above, a 100% cotton paper but with a bright white tone. A smooth surface, this paper can really make your colours ‘pop’ and really add definition to black and white imagery.

 

 

 

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Bespoke Greetings Cards

Did you know that you don’t just have to have your work reproduced as standard prints? You can also create bespoke, stunning greetings cards from your art or photography. By having your image printed on a card, you’re really giving loved ones something bespoke, personal and special. You could take your favourite holiday image, whether this be either a photograph or a painting of the scenery and turn it into greetings cards that your recipient can keep and frame.

Our greetings cards are digitally printed using pigment inks and FSC approved acid free 300gsm card. This allows you to order quantities as low as six-cards per design, provided they are on the same substrate (we also provide discounts for larger quantities). We offer various sizes including; 6×4″, 7×5″ or 8×5.6″ all available as either portrait or landscape (folded along the long side or short side). Additionally, we can produce square cards for something a little different which are 145x145mm. Each greetings card can be printed either with or without a border and we also include a small thumbnail on the back of each card of your work and also the image title, your name and website address.

But, the best bit! You don’t need to worry about downloading a template and having to layout the design yourself! We are happy to take that pressure away from you. Once you upload your image through our online ordering system we will design and proof your greetings cards (free of charge!) Of course, we will send you a proof for approval before going to print ensuring you’re happy with your personalised product. Our minimum order is just six greetings cards per design and all are provided with corresponding envelopes and are sent to you flat packed and pre-creased so your cards are ready for their handwritten note and then the postbox!

Turnaround time for greetings cards printing is between three and seven days, however, this can be slightly longer at peak times so please check with us if you’re working to a tight deadline.

Did you know that we are the only fine art printing company in the UK which has been accredited by Canson Infinity, Hahnemühle Fine Art, Epson Digigraphie, ILFORD and the Fine Art Trade Guild? Also, why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

ILFORD Gold Fibre Silk

Following on from our exciting news that we’ve been accredited as an ILFORD Certified Print Partner, we would like to bring you a new fine art paper option for your fine art prints; ILFORD Gold Fibre Silk.

ILFORD Gold Fibre Silk

The ILFORD Galerie Gold Fibre Silk 310gsm is a stunning traditional fibre based substrate. This fine art paper has both the look and feel of a traditional baryta paper which many artists and photographers love. With a high quality finish, it produces stunning black and white images in addition to colour prints, thanks to its excellent sharpness and wide colour gamut.

Ilford Fibre Silk 310gsm

The ILFORD Gold Fibre Silk features an inkjet layer coated directly onto a true baryta (barium sulphate) layer and fibre base to produce images with exceptional gamut for vivid colour reproduction as well as creamy whites and velvety blacks for the unique look of traditional silver halide photo paper. This paper also creates high definition images with an extended tonal range and excellent archival properties making it a must for exhibition quality prints. This versatile media is perfect for colour images with vibrancy and depth or for producing a sympathetic re-creation of a traditional black and white images. As with true black and white images, the photographer can create the look of chemically toned sepia, gold, selenium and blue images but unlike chemical toning, the number of variations are only limited by the photographer’s imagination.

ILFORD

ILFORD was founded in 1879 and since then has been a name people associate with photography. The company has evolved over the years, however, their drive and passion to provide customers with world class products is still as strong as it was over 140 years ago.

Why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

Certificates of Authenticity

Following on from our recent blog post about Limited Edition Prints, another important aspect to consider as an artist, are certificates of authenticity. These can provide your customers reassurance in your product as well as protecting the integrity of your finished print and prove a vital part in the resale of your artwork. Certificates of authenticity are designed to protect and authenticate your fine art prints, these certificates add a perceived layer of value and trust to your customer.

What is involved?

Overall, there are typically there are a certain few things that should be featured on each certificate of authenticity, this includes;

Title of the artwork: arguably one of the most important features. What’s the name of your piece?

Artist: Again, as above, one of the most vital pieces. This if your ‘stamp’ and seal of approval on the certificate. This ensures your link to the work and gives you the recognition that you deserve.

The date: This may seem an obvious aspect, but it is worthwhile to at least add the year to the certificate of authenticity.

Certificate/print number: Particularly important if your print is part of an
edition. For example print number 1 of 500 – this information should be included on each of the certificates of authenticity – every certificate will then contain a different edition number. Each print will then have the corresponding number pencilled on to provide a pair! One certificate to one print.

Material/Printer/Inks: These are other variables that can add perceived value to your piece. By detailing the substrate printed on in addition to the quality inks, this highlights and ensures the archival qualities of your fine art print.

Finally, you, as the artist should sign the certificate in addition to signing the print too! Additionally, on the certificates of authenticity that we provide, you can find a declaration of intent, signed by both the artist and publisher.

How do certificates of authenticity benefit you?

By supplying certificates of authenticity with each of your prints you show your dedication as an artist and this can make your artwork easier to sell as well as potentially increasing the sales value. By having this document linked to your work, your customers can have the confidence in purchase. Sadly, there is no guaranteed way to 100% prove the piece is authentic further down the line when it comes to reselling, however, providing a certificate of authenticity provides good reassurance where possible. In addition to this, many companies, including fine art paper manufacturers and organisations such as ArtSure from the Fine Art Trade Guild offer services where you can upload details to an online register to give an extra level of confidence.

Here at The Artist’s Print Room we can provide certificates of authenticity with each print. Please contact us to discuss your particular requirements and we will be more than happy to help.

Why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.

 

 

Hahnemühle Mill Visit

We are off on a trip! After meeting with Hahnemühle back in March at The Photography Show, we have been invited to visit the paper mill over in Dassel, Germany. We will be meeting with Henrik Bernander the Global Sales Director of Hahnemühle.

We are looking forward to our trip which is coming up in July and we are currently putting a list of questions together to ask about the paper production process and the variety of fine art papers that Hahnemühle offer. However, we would like to open this up to you too…..

Do you have any questions you would like answers to? Please send us any burning questions you may have for Hahnemühle and we will be more than happy to ask them on your behalf! Just submit your questions below.

Submit your questions for Henrik Bernander, the Vice President of Hahnemuhle
Thank You.
Submit

 

As a Hahnemühle Certified Studio we are particularly excited about seeing the paper manufacturers headquarters.

Why not sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with news, products and future competitions at The Artist’s Print Room – just complete the form below.