Landscape Prints

[smr]

Hi,

I'd like to get some of my images printed so I can hang them on my wall, and I'm just wondering how best to go about doing so as I've never had any of my images printed before.

I'm thinking of having them framed and mounted with the black frame and white mount. I'm not against canvas prints but I'd prefer picture frames I think, unless there's any other kind of print output you could recommend.

What kind of things should I be looking at in terms of paper type, quality, finish etc. and can you recommend any good companies who do all of this ?

Thanks

Joel

It very much depends on how much you're intending to spend and what size you want to go to. Costs can vary wildly!

You can get cheap C-type prints on glossy paper at A4 size for as little as 80p with DSCL. Same company will charge you £8 on Hahnemuhle fine art paper. The problem is that until you see a range of different papers it's impossible to know the differences between them. Other companies such as Loxley, ThePrintSpace and WhiteWall all charge slightly more than DSCL. A quick search here will reveal mixed results.

It also depends what type of images you're getting printed. I find that images where colour and contrast are a significant part of the image need to go on papers that work best for that (generally glossy) whereas if you're looking for a softer, muted look, then matt papers work quite nicely.

Ultimately, it's going to be about how much you want to spend. Framing & mounting costs will make the £10 cost of the print fade into obscurity. Printing on canvas, metal or acrylic is also an option - but again, I find that the image needs to suit the medium. Canvas (for example) has texture which might detract from an image that is intended to be smooth and blurry (ICM for example).

I got into it by printing cheap with DSCL, then learning how to cut my own mounts (can be done with tools costing less than £50 and I wrote a tutorial here) and setting images into charity shop bought frames. It's an inexpensive way of getting into printing. Now, I print my own on a variety of different papers depending on the image, and I still mount them myself and still get frames from charity shops. Although I'm quite picky these days

I'd be happy to print off an A4 image for you on a couple of different papers and post them out so you can see how they look. It is quite difficult to guage what paper to use without actually holding them and seeing how they respond to light. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

 

[droj]

I guess that every other town has a framer. Hopefully you will feel that your prints are worth the cost.

Otherwise, you can buy in standard-dimension frames, and get your images printed & mounted to suit, in which case you might want to consider how your print sizes relate to standard frame sizes. Some frames might come with a mount but that's more than likely to have an A4, A3 etc. aperture.

A bright white mount can suit a monochrome image, but I feel that colour is often better served by an off-white.

I'd go for a C-type paper, it's economical - get samples, or try a few small prints out by way of proofs first, because file preparation can be an issue too.

I can't understand why people print on canvas - canvas is for paintings. And tents.

 

[wookie6262]

I tend to buy Ikea frames and then mount prints to suit. I have a mountcutter so it is cheap and I print the images myself. I'm with droj in that off white is a good standard colour for mounts. The paper is hugely personal and very subject dependent

 

[Brentor]

Paper types and frames are a personal choice. I prefer frameless prints. I use acrylic, aluminium, wood and diabond as backings. The latter was following a Natural History Museum exhibition I visited and I asked them what they used. I use DSCL for cheaper prints, but for best quality I use Loxley.

 

[tijuana taxi]

I print at home, also have a mount cutter and use Snow White board for colour photos, the majority of my frames come from charity shops.