FROM CAPTURE TO OUTPUT
THE STEPS OF THE SET-UP PROCEDURE
You might wonder what we do with your artwork between the time you leave it at our studio,
and your return to proof or pick up final prints. Well, there are several steps we go through to make sure you are as proud of the prints we create as you are your originals.
We start with hardware and software designed for digital capture, color manipulation and fine art output. We are meticulous about calibrating our equipment frequently and also create our own ink + paper profiles. What this means to you is each of your prints will display the same quality of tone and color, time after time.
“When you bring your work to us, you’re entrusting it to people who genuinely
care about what happens to your art throughout the printmaking process.”
If possible, we ask that you bring original art rather than slides or transparencies*. This results in fewer generations between original and print and allows us to control the entire process, keeping your image within our color-controlled environment.
*If this isn’t possible, that’s fine, we’ll work from your slides or transparencies—but keep in mind the quality of the slide will dictate the quality of the final image.
Your artwork is evaluated for texture and color. Does it have a matte or glossy surface? Are you using pastels, watercolor, oils or acrylic? Maybe fabric or a multimedia piece? These all require different lighting solutions—something we are sensitive to and like to discuss with you. There might be certain ways you want shadows to fall on heavily textured work or you may want to emphasize critical areas of your art—we’ll take the time to find out.
TRANSPARENCIES AND NEGATIVES
If you no longer have your original we can also work from transparencies. We’ll scan your film to create a high resolution file and the proofing process continues as above, except we’ll match to your transparency.
To prepare your art for scanning, we illuminate your work in a way that will result in the best possible print.
We capture your work with equipment designed for fine-art imaging. Our process can create 400 megapixel files that are quite accurate right out of the camera. However, we continue making adjustments until we’re satisfied with the results.
Your image is transferred to our workstation where tone and color are matched to your original.
ARCHIVING
We will archive all images as part of our service to our clients unless requested not to. Image creators retain all rights to their work and are free to do whatever they want with the files Carr Imaging produces.
We will proof until we’re satisfied with the color, then we’ll call you back to the studio for final approval. If at this point we need to continue working on your piece, we’ll do that. As long as we’re progressing—it doesn’t matter how many proofs it takes—we’ll keep at it until you’re happy with the results.
“Our fine art printers are set up to do one thing—create beautiful and accurate prints.”
THE PRINTS, INKS AND MEDIA
What does it take to make a fine print?
It starts with an image file created from an accurate scan. The file progresses through various stages of color correction and finally ends up at one of our printers.
Our ink is pigment based and we create “profiles” that help us predetermine how colors will look on the variety of papers and canvas we use. This means the print software also knows the color capabilities of each paper+ink combination; resulting in accurate color, print after print.
Pigment inks and acid free papers and canvas also mean your reproductions will be around for a long time. Testing under accelerated conditions demonstrate a life in excess of 80 years before noticeable fading occurs