Photo to canvas service

[barton]

Hi,

I wondered if any of you offer a photo to canavs service to your customers.

If so, which printer do you use ?

Thanks Liam

[realhotglass]

G'day Liam,

Most framers I know that do that here in Oz use Epson printers (4800, 9600 models etc).

I believe Epson has been the market innovator and leader in inkjet advances with the best inks etc for some years, but others are supposedly catching up . . . fast.

Talk to Lion PFS if you want some pricing on Epson, I have seen Epson in their recent past catalogue or two issued.

I also believe that this is one market framers could embrace to get themselves more versatile (niche), especially if they get into photo restoration, or maybe take their own local photos for printing, framing and selling to local and tourist markets (where applicable).

Market locally to have people bring in their snaps to be scanned and printed onto larger hanging works too.
Gallery wraps etc, move with the times (adapt), where needed to meet a changing market.

[Merlin]

Hi Liam

I use the Epson R2400 to transfer to small canvas. Using the Inkflow system from LION.

However, to answer your question commercially. My local printer (retired from the printing profession and now doing it as a hobby) has got the Epson 9600. Using the K3 inks. (the hobby has now taken over the garage)

He/We do a very good trade together for box canvas/gallery wraps as RHG was saying.

[Moglet]

Hi Liam,

I will be hopefully offering a photo-to-canvas service in the new year. I currently have 2 Epson 2100 printers and an Epson 7600 Pro long format printer. However, they are not the easiest to use from a colour management perspective, particularly on PC's (cf. Mac's).

I would recommend finding a supplier that can help you with both the printer and also the colour management side of things. A properly calibrated system will save you time, materials, and unnecessary frustration.

Fwiw, do see what Canon have to offer. Their product has always been excellent, and from what I've heard from others, the colour management between scanner-PC-printer can be easier.

Hope this helps!

[Merlin]

Hi Áine

With my Epson, I use Fotospeed paper for which I get a free ICC profile.

It works a dream. The colours are as exact to the original.

Together with an Epson 4490 scanner.

However, you are right, other options seem just as good.

[Steve N]

Hi Guys,
We do printing on Epson 40 inch wide printer ( dont ask me the model no) as to colour management, you can have the best system set up, but it's really down to the customer, if they do not have any colour management i.e. calibrated monitor, you can still get unpredictable results, with the customer saying you are printing the wrong colours, it can be a minefield.

Steve N

[Moglet]

....you can still get unpredictable results, with the customer saying you are printing the wrong colours, it can be a minefield....

Very true, Steve. When I take photo restoration orders, I always advise the customer that for the standard level of service, I cannot guarantee a 100% colour match, and that if they want ultra-fine tuning of colour, that it could cost substantially more. To date, they have been happy with the work I produce. It's a very useful caveat to add when taking on any general reproduction work (fine art giclée's being one obvious exception).

[daviddeer]

If you want real advice speak to this company.
Bodoni systems
Speak to Bruce, he is the man in the know.

They will give you the exact specifications of the system you need.
For the ideal setup (and speaking as someone who has to colour match scans of oil paintings) you will need to spend around £8 - 10,000. Including an NEC monitor, spectrophotometer, monitor calibrator, and printer. Not to mention canvas and inks!

Just to correct Merlin the 9600 uses 'ultrachrome' inks not 'K3 Ultrachrome inks'.

I have personally tested printers from canon, Roland, Fuji, Colourspan, Kodak, HP and Xerox. They Roland has a wide enough colour Gamut for the job but they start at £15,000 and colour matching hexachrome inksets is complex to say the least. The others cannot offer a wide enough gamut for effective reproduction.

The Epson offers value for money. If you are not worried about exact colour matching then go for one of the others, Mutoh offer exceptionally keenly priced printers and you can churn out 'Ebay wall art' all day at minimal cost. It is essential to have the original next to the monitor. Even then, because you are using an emmisive source you must use a printers eye to account for the reflective qualities of the substrate and the saturation of blacks that the Epson lays down. Check your inks have longevity and a colour gamut equivalent to K3 inks, I couldn't get close with lyson inks as well as the propensity for continuous ink systems to block the print heads and invalidate your warranty. Then try the 4 or 5 giclee varnishes for ease of use, longevity, appearance etc, apply the with spray guns (airless and compressed air), brushes (try several types) and rollers (test rollers from 10 or 11 sources to find the right one).

I am not dumbing down the users of other systems but the longevity and accuracy of digital print relies heavily on the intial outlay. Print manufacturers will be happy to show you unmatched prints, but you try getting them to print a Cruse scanned image on canvas. 488mb files just chew up their rips and print heads (if you're using a file size under 180mb forget about quality).
On a final note, get a mac with at least 2 gb of ram and 2 x 180gb hard drives. They have an easy to understand graphical interface for colour matching.

Personally, for the money and the number of jobs you get I would use a print service, unless you are doing photographs then an Epson 4800 would suffice. I spent 18 months researching before I bought my Epson 9800, downloaded numerous Flaar reports at $200+ each and finally plumped for the Epson. Now all I need is £12,000 and I can get an Epson Stylus Pro 11880 (Dream on!).

These are only my experiences and opinions but I hope this helps.

[Vix]

Hi Liam

DCP systems in Sheffield may also be a good company for you to contact. They hold roadshows where you can go and talk to the experts about all the printers they sell including Epson & HP and have demonstrations of the above.

Their website has all the products they sell. Sure you'll be able to find it if you google dcp systems.

Hope this helps

Vix.

[Moglet]

Hi again, Liam,

Another company that might be worth contacting is Colour Confidence. They supply and support all sorts of professional graphics monitors (bought my EIZO from them - image quality is stunning!!! ), plus calibration equipment and all things colour management. Very friendly, professional and helpful!

[barton]

Hi,

Thanks for all the info. (Particually David, very detailed but its scared me as to how complex it sounds.

It all sounds a lot more complex than I thought it would be.

It's going to take me a while to get my head around this one.

I am interested in offering a sevice of printing our photos on canvas, rather than producing prints for artists.

So I guess I am looking for a happy medium printer that is maybe upto 36" wide.

I will do some more reading and get in contact with the companies.

Thanks again Liam