Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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Photo Rag Printing Tips

Photo rag is digital printing paper that is 100 percent cotton. It is used by professional and fine art photographers who want to create images that will maintain their quality for decades or more. When using photo rag paper, there are many options to consider that will affect the longevity of the print, and define the photographer's style.

Coating

    Photo rag paper has a coating which helps to create a wide range of contrast and colors. Make sure you are printing on the coated surface. Sometimes this surface is visually apparent; other times you may have to refer to the paper instructions to determine the correct side. Some photo rag papers are coated on both sides.

Surfaces

    Surface styles for photo rag paper range from glossy to matte. In between these may be pearl, semi-glossy and luster, though the terms and resulting paper surfaces may vary between manufacturers. Consider paper surface in picturing how dark the shadows of your print should be, as glossy paper will produce more black density (known as D-Max) than will a matte paper.

Weight

    Weight of paper is often described in "gsm," or grams per square meter. Higher gsm values result in thicker paper. Paper manufacturers usually offer a sample pack that allows you to experiment with the different surfaces and thicknesses. Since your printer may not be able to accept a certain thickness of paper, or may print sharper on one surface versus another, sample packs are helpful.

Brightness

    Brightness describes reflected light, with the number highest to 100 providing the brightest white highlights and greater contrast. Less bright papers may be called warm-tone, which produce creamier highlights and less contast. Some very bright papers achieve their look with a chemical called OBA, or Optical Brightening Agent. Whether or not OBA will slowly degrade the quality of your photo rag print is a debated topic, with some photographers opting to not use OBA-treated papers.

Ink

    Most photographers making photo rag prints use high-quality inkjet printers. The best-quality of these printers will use pigment ink as opposed to dye ink. Though a pigment ink printer is more expensive, it is worth the investment if you are making the choice to print on photo rag paper. Certain printers have different inks for printing on different paper surfaces as well, such as a glossy black cartridge versus a matte black cartridge.

Printer Profiles

    Printer profiles allow the computer to translate the colors seen on the monitor into the color produced by the printer. It is important to have the correct profile when working with a specific ink and paper combination. When starting to make photo rag prints, it is easiest to use the same manufacturer of paper as your printer because of the matching profile. Printer profiles may be downloaded for free, purchased, or custom-created using profiling software and a spectrometer.

Test Strips

    Test strips are recommended before making a full-sized print. In your imaging software, select an area of your print that contains a full range of shadows, highlights, and mid-tones, or contains the most important colors in the image. If there is an undesirable result in the printed test strip, the printer profile may need to be adjusted. As a quick-fix, some photographers will resort instead to creating an adjustment layer in the imaging software that can be added to the image to change color saturation or contrast.


Photo Rag Printing Tips

Photo rag is digital printing paper that is 100 percent cotton. It is used by professional and fine art photographers who want to create images that will maintain their quality for decades or more. When using photo rag paper, there are many options to consider that will affect the longevity of the print, and define the photographer's style.

Coating

    Photo rag paper has a coating which helps to create a wide range of contrast and colors. Make sure you are printing on the coated surface. Sometimes this surface is visually apparent; other times you may have to refer to the paper instructions to determine the correct side.

    Enhance your photography skill,The Top Secret Photography Techniques

    . Some photo rag papers are coated on both sides.

Surfaces

    Surface styles for photo rag paper range from glossy to matte. In between these may be pearl, semi-glossy and luster, though the terms and resulting paper surfaces may vary between manufacturers. Consider paper surface in picturing how dark the shadows of your print should be, as glossy paper will produce more black density (known as D-Max) than will a matte paper.

Weight

    Weight of paper is often described in "gsm," or grams per square meter. Higher gsm values result in thicker paper. Paper manufacturers usually offer a sample pack that allows you to experiment with the different surfaces and thicknesses. Since your printer may not be able to accept a certain thickness of paper, or may print sharper on one surface versus another, sample packs are helpful.

Brightness

    Brightness describes reflected light, with the number highest to 100 providing the brightest white highlights and greater contrast. Less bright papers may be called warm-tone, which produce creamier highlights and less contast. Some very bright papers achieve their look with a chemical called OBA, or Optical Brightening Agent. Whether or not OBA will slowly degrade the quality of your photo rag print is a debated topic, with some photographers opting to not use OBA-treated papers.

Ink

    Most photographers making photo rag prints use high-quality inkjet printers. The best-quality of these printers will use pigment ink as opposed to dye ink. Though a pigment ink printer is more expensive, it is worth the investment if you are making the choice to print on photo rag paper. Certain printers have different inks for printing on different paper surfaces as well, such as a glossy black cartridge versus a matte black cartridge.

Printer Profiles

    Printer profiles allow the computer to translate the colors seen on the monitor into the color produced by the printer. It is important to have the correct profile when working with a specific ink and paper combination. When starting to make photo rag prints, it is easiest to use the same manufacturer of paper as your printer because of the matching profile. Printer profiles may be downloaded for free, purchased, or custom-created using profiling software and a spectrometer.

Test Strips

    Test strips are recommended before making a full-sized print. In your imaging software, select an area of your print that contains a full range of shadows, highlights, and mid-tones, or contains the most important colors in the image. If there is an undesirable result in the printed test strip, the printer profile may need to be adjusted. As a quick-fix, some photographers will resort instead to creating an adjustment layer in the imaging software that can be added to the image to change color saturation or contrast.



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