Maximize value, don’t just minimize cost.
Posted by Rick Sader on June 20, 2011 at 9:05 amWhenever the first question from a potential new client is “How much would it cost for ___?”, I know this project isn’t going anywhere. Why? First, Lone Eagle isn’t the cheapest shop. From Day One it’s been that way by design. I’ve always positioned Lone Eagle to be more of a Nordstrom than a Kmart, i.e., providing premium-quality product & service and charging accordingly. Second, I’ve found that the more discerning clients are always more interested in finding the right materials that would provide the best results for their project and then inquiring about the cost.
An example from my personal life has nothing to do with graphics; it’s about shoes. Whenever I’ve needed a new pair of running shoes, I’ve tended to look for the model that gives the best performance and then look for the best price. First I would look for the best fit, support, comfort, traction, durability, etc. Then, and only then, was it time to look for the best price for that specific model. Sure, I end up paying more for top-quality shoes. But in the long run, I know they’ll perform really well, they won’t cause me some weird pain or injury, and they’ll last longer than “El Cheapos”.
A recent example from my large-format print shop comes to mind. An amateur artist wanted to know what it would cost to get prints of her paintings. (Ah, see? The first question was “how much?” My Spidey senses started tingling). I explained that the first step was to scan her art at a high resolution and then retouch it in Photoshop so that my proofs would match her original. My charge for this is $225. She indicated that she would shop around for a ‘reasonable price’ and then have me produce her prints using the digital file she would supply. (“Hmmm…. I guess that makes me UNreasonable” I thought to myself.) I diplomatically explained that slapping her work down onto the glass of a scanner at the library was NOT going to produce a scan anywhere close to acceptable. Also, any scan would STILL require retouching in order for the prints on my combination of printer, media, ink, & other settings to match her original. For her sake, I hope she doesn’t waste her time & money going the “el cheapo” route.
Think of value as performance divided by price. Now compare the value of the high-end running shoes to the low-end El Cheapos. Even though the cost of the high-end shoes was higher, what I got for that price was much higher, so more value. If I had spent less for the El Cheapos and gotten big blisters (or worse), you can bet my first thought would NOT be the money I had saved.
Sometimes I’ll be asked why I’ve spent so much on something. My standard reply is that I always try to get the best quality I can afford, take good care of it, and make it last…. that goes for shoes, cars, and wives! So far, my strategy has worked out really, really well.
Fine art reproduction is easy… if you know how.
Posted by Rick Sader on April 13, 2009 at 8:14 pmHmm, let’s see. So you just scan someone’s painting and then print it out… is that about it? Well, not quite. There are a number of ‘tricks’ to getting great results efficiently. Let’s go through the process from the beginning.
Fine art reproduction requires a number of steps to be done properly. The first step is the scan. High resolution flatbed scanning is one way to digitize original artwork. The first ‘trick’ is to use high enough resolution so that you’re feeding enough information to Photoshop in the retouching stage and ultimately to the printer in the printing stage. Typically, scans at 300 – 360ppi (pixels per inch) at the full dimensions should suffice. Higher resolution will be required if the artist would like prints larger than the original. The second ‘trick’ is to use the RGB color mode. If you use any other color mode, then the printer will make a conversion that may introduce color shifts. The third ‘trick’, if you’re really meticulous, is to use 16bit color instead of 8bit. This will give very fine gradations in color that may be required for some pieces. The downside is that this results in 2x larger digital file sizes.
The fourth ‘trick’ is to include a grayscale taget within the margin of the scan. This is a small 12-step grayscale piece that allows you to adjust the white point, black point, and neutral gray once you move the image into Photoshop. This step is critical.
Once in Photoshop, the “levels” command makes the white, black,and grayscale adjustments a breeze. As with any fine tuning done to the image, make sure to use adjustment layers. This allows you to tweak the adjustment, change its blending mode and opacity, or delete it without altering the original file…. very handy. These adjustment layers may include things like saturation, hue, levels, curves, etc. If you’re looking at your image on a calibrated monitor (you are calibrating your monitor, aren’t you?) then these adjustments will help you to tweak the digital file so that ultimately the print looks like what you see on your monitor.
ICC profiles for your printer, ink, media, & print resolution are also required to get great results. You may be able to download generic profiles but the best option for high-quality fine art reproduction is to create your own. There are a number of hardware/software systems available. A final step in the retouching process is usually adding a small amount of sharpening. Don’t overdo it.
Now it’s time to print a proof. Usually a small print on the intended media will suffice. This will allow you to check the tone, color accuracy, color saturation, etc. At this point, it’s important to compare your proof to the original under proper lighting. A sneaky, sinister thing called metamerism is lurking in the darkness, waiting to trip you up. Metamerism refers to the fact that a color may look different under different types of lighting. The original and the proof may ‘match’ under the (ugh) flourescent lights in your office but they may be way off under natural sunlight or in the gallery. If you don’t have a 5000K light booth, then just take your prints outside in the natural daylight. At this point, you may need to adjust the saturation, tone, etc. to get a better match.
I recently completed a very successful fine art reproduction job for a local watercolor painter, Dr. William Robinson. Bill is a very talented, self-taught portrait artist. His most recent work was a very cute portrait of his granddaugher, Miranda. All of the steps outlined above were followed in order to translate his original watercolor painting into a digital file that could be printed quickly and accurately onto Epson Somerset Velvet Fine Art Paper using an Epson 9600 inkjet printer. This printer uses the Epson 7-color UltraChrome inkset which will resist fading for many decades. Various sizes were printed according to the client’s wishes. See Bill’s website for more examples of his beautiful work.