Club Meeting, Demystifying Printing - Tuesday 27th September 2022.
On Tuesday 27th September 2022, Morpeth Camera Club hosted an open meeting, inviting all camera club members
from the Northern Counties Photographic Federation, to join them in welcoming Tim Jones, the Technical Manager &
Academy Lead from Fotospeed, a key distributer of fine art papers for printing. His presentation entitled Demystifying
Printing opened with a short biography; working as a freelance photographer for fifteen years, then a digital retoucher
before joining Fotospeed where he offers technical help and tutorials. He said that printing is important to him because
an image on ones screen is not a photograph until it is printed; printing brings the image back into the real world; a
physical thing. If one could just ‘click’ to print, life could be so much easier, he said, adding that a lovely glossy image
on your screen does not always translate to a wonderful print, one has to firstly consider colour management.
Once colour management is in place one can achieve consistent results, saving paper, ink and time. He went on to
discuss profiling monitors to make sure that one is actually editing ones images with as close a correct colour as you
can and also a profile needs to be in place between screen and printer. Tim went on to discuss the pro’s and con’s of
several printers, comparing pigment and dye based inks, archive ability, and basically size, weight and sturdiness.
The choice of printer also depends on what standard of print you wish to achieve.
After a short interval Tim went on to give tips on saving money on paper, ink and time. One can print out a series of
bad prints before achieving the desired effect, which is frustrating and expensive. He went on to explain soft proofing
and hard proofing. Soft proofing is trying to emulate on your screen what you want to print. Hard proofing relates to
printing a set of small test prints on one page, adjusting as you go to achieve the results you are looking for.
Previously, Tim had requested that Morpeth club members send him images which he would print, using paper which
he considered to be appropriate to the subject. The paper you use, he said, makes all the difference to your printing.
The subject must be considered; one would not use textured paper for portraits, but may be ideal for abstract images.
Using his subjective opinion he displayed each print and explained the paper he used and why. Maintaining detail, the
intensity of monochrome, warm tones and adding depth, were all aspects of the printing which he considered for each.
To conclude the evening he invited the audience to view sample prints on display, to feel the paper on which they were
printed and hopefully, by doing so, provide inspiration for future projects.
A very interesting evening where Tim provided the audience with information on the basics of printing photographs
in our own home, gave advice on how to achieve great colour and black and white prints, and offered inspiration to
get printing. Co-Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Tim for his excellent and informative presentation.
Steph.
from the Northern Counties Photographic Federation, to join them in welcoming Tim Jones, the Technical Manager &
Academy Lead from Fotospeed, a key distributer of fine art papers for printing. His presentation entitled Demystifying
Printing opened with a short biography; working as a freelance photographer for fifteen years, then a digital retoucher
before joining Fotospeed where he offers technical help and tutorials. He said that printing is important to him because
an image on ones screen is not a photograph until it is printed; printing brings the image back into the real world; a
physical thing. If one could just ‘click’ to print, life could be so much easier, he said, adding that a lovely glossy image
on your screen does not always translate to a wonderful print, one has to firstly consider colour management.
Once colour management is in place one can achieve consistent results, saving paper, ink and time. He went on to
discuss profiling monitors to make sure that one is actually editing ones images with as close a correct colour as you
can and also a profile needs to be in place between screen and printer. Tim went on to discuss the pro’s and con’s of
several printers, comparing pigment and dye based inks, archive ability, and basically size, weight and sturdiness.
The choice of printer also depends on what standard of print you wish to achieve.
After a short interval Tim went on to give tips on saving money on paper, ink and time. One can print out a series of
bad prints before achieving the desired effect, which is frustrating and expensive. He went on to explain soft proofing
and hard proofing. Soft proofing is trying to emulate on your screen what you want to print. Hard proofing relates to
printing a set of small test prints on one page, adjusting as you go to achieve the results you are looking for.
Previously, Tim had requested that Morpeth club members send him images which he would print, using paper which
he considered to be appropriate to the subject. The paper you use, he said, makes all the difference to your printing.
The subject must be considered; one would not use textured paper for portraits, but may be ideal for abstract images.
Using his subjective opinion he displayed each print and explained the paper he used and why. Maintaining detail, the
intensity of monochrome, warm tones and adding depth, were all aspects of the printing which he considered for each.
To conclude the evening he invited the audience to view sample prints on display, to feel the paper on which they were
printed and hopefully, by doing so, provide inspiration for future projects.
A very interesting evening where Tim provided the audience with information on the basics of printing photographs
in our own home, gave advice on how to achieve great colour and black and white prints, and offered inspiration to
get printing. Co-Chair Roseanne Robinson thanked Tim for his excellent and informative presentation.
Steph.