Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

36 25 January 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

14

Photodisenchantment

Manyprintersusea ‘photoenhancement’

modebydefault,intendingtomakephotoprintslook

theirbest.However,theresultscansometimeslook

over-saturated,toohighin contrast,ordownrightlurid.

It’sgenerallybettertoedityourimagessotheyhave

yourdesiredbrightness,contrastandcolour rendition,

and to switch off any enhancements.

15

Colourspace

Thestandardcolourspacefordigitalimageryis

sRGB.Themainalternativeis AdobeRGB,whichis

oftenfavouredbylandscapephotographersforits

extendedrangein thecyanandgreenareasof the

spectrum.Whicheveryouuse,you’llneedtoensure

thattheprintingcolourspaceis thesameasthe

workingcolourspace,otherwise the results will be

hugely inaccurate.

10

Notouching
Photoprintsthatarecreatedwith
dye-basedinksonglossypaperareprettymuch
touch-dryevenastheyhittheprinter’soutput
tray.That’sbecausetheinkpassesthroughthe
paper’sprotectiveglossycoveringbeforefixing
intothepaper.Evenso,it’sbesttoletthemdry
fora fewminutesbeforetouchingthesurface.
Withlargermoleculesthatremainonthesurface
of thepaper,pigment-basedinkstakemuch
longertodryandarepronetosmudging if you
touch them within a few minutes.

12

Yo u ’ v eb e e n

framed

Anotherpluspointforgetting

yourlarge-formatprints

createdbyanonlinelabis

thatmanyincludemounting

andframingservices.Youcan

thereforegetthecomplete,

finishedproductdeliveredto

yourdoor,readytohang on

the wall. Job done!

Technique PRINTING

9

Nozzlecheck
If younoticefaintlinesacrossyourphoto
prints,it’slikelythatsomeof thenozzlesin the
printheadareblocked.Runa nozzlecheckroutine
fromtheprinterpropertiesdialogbox,oronboard
menu,andselecta cleaningcycleif required.
Stubbornblocksmay require a ‘deep cleaning’
cycle,if featured.

Faintlinesacrossprintsarea tell-talesignof blocked
nozzles. Run a cleaning cycle if required

13

Speedkills

Thestandardphoto

printqualitysettingshould

enablerapidresultsandis

generallyfineforoutputting

postcard-sizedprintsin justa few

seconds.Whenprintingat A4,or

largersizesif youhavea bigger

printer,it’sworthswitchingtothe

bestqualitymode.Printsmay

takeabouttwiceaslongto

create,at aroundtwominutes

formostA4printers,butthe

higherresolutionenablesmore

detail,bettertonaldefinitionand

smoother colour gradations.

11

Theawaygame

Homeprintingis

unbeatableforimmediacybut

thereareadvantagesin

havingyourprintscreatedby

anonlinelab.There’smuch

morechoicein sizesand

aspectratios,typicallyranging

uptoaround60x40inposter

prints.You’llalsogeta wider

selectionof finishestochoose

from,oftenincludingacrylic,

aluminiumDibond,boxed

canvasprintsandmore.

Ourfavouritelabsfor

large-formatprintinginclude

LoxleyColour(www.

loxleycolour.com)and

Whitewall (www.whitewall.

com).

It’sworthswitchingtothebestquality print setting when

creating A4 or larger prints

If youusetheAdobeRGBcolourspaceforshootingand

image editing, ensure that this is selected for printing as well

Toensureyourphotoprintslook‘right’,editthem for best

effect and switch off any auto enhancements

Printerswithpigment-basedinksareoftenpreferredforblack& whitephotoprinting,
especially on matte media, but it can take several minutes for prints to become touch-dry

‘Runa nozzlecheckroutine

fromtheprinter properties

dialog box’