Ben Rubinstein
pro member
Hi and apologies for cross posting this on LL and photo.net that you may also see!
I'm on the point of switching to printed A4 sheets of photographic paper for use as proofing sheets which will be then bound into a nice hardback book (actually very cheap at your local universities thesis binding service and they offer nice extras such as slipcase etc) and presented to my wedding clients as their proofing book.
I've tried offset services such as Illuma Memory books but the paper, the printing quality and the colour have been found wanting by my clients and pushing a service that the client doesn't like is the business equivelent of comitting suicide! I have until now been giving chemical prints in a slip in album but all too often I never hear from the couple again as they are divided up among the family or having real and loose photographic prints does not inspire thinking of future orders.
I thought of having the pages printed at my local lab but I have a price requirement which they are having trouble matching plus the size, 12X8" is not standard for the bookbinders and hence there is an extra charge.
I'll tell you what I'm looking for and you tell me if you can help me at all.
I need an A4 printer, not bigger, I don't have the space or need for any larger sizes, it is only with bulk printing (I will be printing a minimum of 100 sheets at a time) that it could be considered economical.
I need colour printing on ARCHIVAL matte paper that is as vibrant, colour true (I am familiar with calibration) preferably with the original printer software and not an expensive RIP) as the Fuji Crystal Archive or Kodak Endura Matte papers that I'm used to. I realise that inkjet won't look like a chemical print but the prints/paper must look photographic and not 'consumer inkjet', I need something which is on the same level of quality as my chemical prints otherwise the clients will moan that they can do as well on their inkjets at home!
I need an ink/paper combination that does not show metamarism, including with prints which have both B&W and colour elements.
I literally need to be able to leave the paper in the tray, set the 100 A4 sheets to print (don't know how to do that, all I have in a B&W laser printer and have never printed from PS) and come back the next morning and find them done and ready. I don't want to have to worry about a print cartridge going faint or blocking while the printer continues to print 99 sheets of paper wasting me huge amounts of money. If there is the slightest problem I want the printed to stop and flash me a warning, not carry on or crash my system (can you tell I use windows? )
Is double sided printing possible on any of these papers that you will suggest to me? That would save me paper..
I don't know what print prices and paper costs are for inkjet, I need to keep the price of printing each A4 sheet, including cleaning the heads the ink and the paper, etc, to under or equivelent to 50p per page. Any more than that and I can send it to the lab for the same price. I know most of you are in the US but would you know if this was possible/probable?
I was looking at the Epson R800 which was well priced but I know nothing else.
I would appreciate all your advice based on my very specific needs.
Thanks.
I'm on the point of switching to printed A4 sheets of photographic paper for use as proofing sheets which will be then bound into a nice hardback book (actually very cheap at your local universities thesis binding service and they offer nice extras such as slipcase etc) and presented to my wedding clients as their proofing book.
I've tried offset services such as Illuma Memory books but the paper, the printing quality and the colour have been found wanting by my clients and pushing a service that the client doesn't like is the business equivelent of comitting suicide! I have until now been giving chemical prints in a slip in album but all too often I never hear from the couple again as they are divided up among the family or having real and loose photographic prints does not inspire thinking of future orders.
I thought of having the pages printed at my local lab but I have a price requirement which they are having trouble matching plus the size, 12X8" is not standard for the bookbinders and hence there is an extra charge.
I'll tell you what I'm looking for and you tell me if you can help me at all.
I need an A4 printer, not bigger, I don't have the space or need for any larger sizes, it is only with bulk printing (I will be printing a minimum of 100 sheets at a time) that it could be considered economical.
I need colour printing on ARCHIVAL matte paper that is as vibrant, colour true (I am familiar with calibration) preferably with the original printer software and not an expensive RIP) as the Fuji Crystal Archive or Kodak Endura Matte papers that I'm used to. I realise that inkjet won't look like a chemical print but the prints/paper must look photographic and not 'consumer inkjet', I need something which is on the same level of quality as my chemical prints otherwise the clients will moan that they can do as well on their inkjets at home!
I need an ink/paper combination that does not show metamarism, including with prints which have both B&W and colour elements.
I literally need to be able to leave the paper in the tray, set the 100 A4 sheets to print (don't know how to do that, all I have in a B&W laser printer and have never printed from PS) and come back the next morning and find them done and ready. I don't want to have to worry about a print cartridge going faint or blocking while the printer continues to print 99 sheets of paper wasting me huge amounts of money. If there is the slightest problem I want the printed to stop and flash me a warning, not carry on or crash my system (can you tell I use windows? )
Is double sided printing possible on any of these papers that you will suggest to me? That would save me paper..
I don't know what print prices and paper costs are for inkjet, I need to keep the price of printing each A4 sheet, including cleaning the heads the ink and the paper, etc, to under or equivelent to 50p per page. Any more than that and I can send it to the lab for the same price. I know most of you are in the US but would you know if this was possible/probable?
I was looking at the Epson R800 which was well priced but I know nothing else.
I would appreciate all your advice based on my very specific needs.
Thanks.
