Fine Art Printing

Fine art printing is the extreme quality prints, where prints are from digital files, with high-quality inks on acid-free paper. Fine art printing is a term that refers to photos printed on high-quality paper with high-quality archival ink. It is no doubt a label that meets certain quality criteria and a label sought after by professional photographers and printers.

 

Why acid-free paper?

It is often the acid content that turns paper yellow, brittle and to break after some time. Fine art paper is made of natural fibre, hence can stand the test of time.

 

Quality prints

When looking to print something quality that will last for decades, make sure the digital paper is acid-free before using it. If you use acid-free paper and archival quality fine arts ink, your prints in decades to come will look as new as the print date. Printers used for fine art printing are usually high-end machines with over 8-12 colourant inks to allow it to have a large colour gamut. The different colours produced when mixed produce over one million colours. When you are ready to print digital files for fine art, ensure that file formats are in a form that is equivalent to Adobe Photoshop. While creating such files, you should ensure that images are in suitable and with the required size. Use 300 dpi for optimum images from the printer. Southern Cross Printing specialise in fine art printing. You can be assured of the quality of their prints.

 

Check images before printing

  • Assume the digital image was created as A4 portrait, and it is to be printed to A1 portrait size (594mm by 841mm )
  • Make sure you open your digital file in Adobe Photoshop
  • Change the image size using the menu
  • Make sure the constraint preposition button is ticked
  • Update the dimensions of A1 portrait
  • Confirm that the resolution is 300 dpi

Then sent the print out to the printer, the print out will be as good as the original image. If you want a good quality image make sure your image quality is good with a resolution of 300 dpi and at 100 printed sizes.

 

The difference between a fine art paper and a photo paper

Photo professionals are attracted by fine art paper

The difference lies in the composition of the paper, fine art paper is made of natural fibre- cotton and cellulose, and it is not artificially bleached by the use of chlorine, while photo papers meet the needs of the users who want prints viewed occasionally

 

Fine art prints are made to last

Fine art paper is used for printing high-quality prints, and it is designed to receive pigments, and the surface is designed to adhere to the ink while offering natural PH for it to stand the test of time, while photo paper cannot last long before it faces cracks, brittle and yellowing in colour.

 

Fine art allows colour alteration

Fine art paper allows emphasis on the composition of images with intense colours and contrasts, and a spectrum of grey variations to produce high-quality images while photo paper will only print average quality images but cannot withstand the elements.

 

Tools needed for successful fine art printing

It depends on individual budget, but the most prerequisite tools that will give you fine control over your fine art printing include the following

  1. Professional camera with the best lens
  2. A photo editing software like photoshop
  3. Basic colour management tools used to monitor colour calibration
  4. Professional photo printer and quality fine art paper