I know this topic was discussed before, and I've been trying to dig the archives, but I can't seem to locate it, maybe the archives have been cleaned up?
I'm thinking of printing a portfolio of say 20 of my best photographs, and keep them in a "presentation album" (for lack of a better word). I plan on printing the photos at home myself with a Canon photo printer.
1) what paper size would you suggest? is 6x9" (excluding borders) good enough?
2) I plan on printing it at home with a Canon photo printer (most probably the iP6700D)
3) what "presentation album" would you suggest - I remember there was talk about a particular such product that was made in Germany (Prashant, was it you who asked about this?)
4) does one print titles and information about the particular photos along with the photos?
5) Is having a border fine?
Sorry these questions might sound really basic ... but I've never done this before, so please bear with me!
Thanks in advance,
Ashutosh
Posted by Adam Schallau on September 24, 2007 at 11:15 PM
Hi Ashutosh,
1) Considering that the maximum paper size for your printer is 8.5"x11", I think a 6x9 image would look fine.
5) Remember KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid". Your goal should be to avoid complexity, and to let the images speak for themselves without any fancy borders.
Hope this helped.
Best regards,
Adam
Posted by Carl Battreall on September 25, 2007 at 1:43 AM
Ashutosh,
Yup, it was me. And I must say you are lucky to be in Canada (near US). I will suggest a small size and mat for the same. And put it in a portfolio boxes you get. This helped Teju a lot, we submitted her portfolio and she has two appointments for exhibit next year.
All the best,
PrashanTeju.
And yes, I suggest not to use polypropylene cases. Just my preference.
Posted by William Vrolyk on September 25, 2007 at 3:53 PM
Ashutosh, Alain Briot has a how to print a portfolio at the Luminous Landscape site. I too was looking for info on how to create a portfolio and found it there.
Adam, my question about the printer was if anybody though it wasn't decent enough to print good quality photos. I was thinking about the iP9000, but real estate is at a premium in my apartment right now
Carl, I want to show the portfolio to exhibitors, and also publishers.
Prashant, thanks for the information - but what do you think are the advantages of being close to the US?
William, thanks for the tip - I do remember Alain's article on portfolios.
Posted by Carl Battreall on September 27, 2007 at 10:23 PM
Ashutosh,
My experience is that the gallery-museum market prefers a matted, portfolio case style of presentation, white gloves and all. I use Light Impression portfolio cases and boxes, the museum standard. Galleries and museums WANT to be impressed! If you don't have a well established reputation, then you need to blow them out of the water with your images, print quality and professional display.
While the publishing industry is all over the board and usually more casual. Sometimes they want unmatted prints (displayed in a binder style portfolio or even a simple black box) but usually, they just want a cd of jpegs or tiffs (to my dissapointment).
Err, I'm back to this question, this time concerning paper. I like matte over gloss, but that's where it all ends. Do you guys have any special favorites and reasons for doing so? I am ready to fork more money for quality.
I am in the process of putting together a portfolio for submission to galleries. I will be doing the prints on a 100% cotton rag paper with a smooth matte surface. I will be using Epson Velvet Fine Art paper in my Epson 2400 printer.
A couple of great papers that are similar in finish are Moab Entrada and Somerset Velvet. Make sure that your printer can handle these thicker papers before you buy. For the best quality prints, be sure you have high quality profiles for any paper you use.
Another thought on print size: If you print the images to 6x9 and then mat them, the visible image will be about 5.5x8.5. In my opinion this might be too small. If you can, print the images to 7x10.5 and then matt accordingly. I believe this will give a better presentation piece for you.
Thanks for the tops, Preston. I find it strange that except for the 4x6 format, there's almost non 2:3 format ratio papers available out there. How do you guys take care of this problem when you are printing 2:3 ratio photographs?
Discussion
11 repliesI'm thinking of printing a portfolio of say 20 of my best photographs, and keep them in a "presentation album" (for lack of a better word). I plan on printing the photos at home myself with a Canon photo printer.
1) what paper size would you suggest? is 6x9" (excluding borders) good enough?
2) I plan on printing it at home with a Canon photo printer (most probably the iP6700D)
3) what "presentation album" would you suggest - I remember there was talk about a particular such product that was made in Germany (Prashant, was it you who asked about this?)
4) does one print titles and information about the particular photos along with the photos?
5) Is having a border fine?
Sorry these questions might sound really basic ... but I've never done this before, so please bear with me!
Thanks in advance,
Ashutosh
1) Considering that the maximum paper size for your printer is 8.5"x11", I think a 6x9 image would look fine.
2) Do you have a question about your printer?
3) I use the Itoya Evolution Portfolio because they look nice and they're cheap.
4) I don't.
5) Remember KISS "Keep It Simple, Stupid". Your goal should be to avoid complexity, and to let the images speak for themselves without any fancy borders.
Hope this helped.
Best regards,
Adam
Yup, it was me. And I must say you are lucky to be in Canada (near US). I will suggest a small size and mat for the same. And put it in a portfolio boxes you get. This helped Teju a lot, we submitted her portfolio and she has two appointments for exhibit next year.
All the best,
PrashanTeju.
Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Carl, I want to show the portfolio to exhibitors, and also publishers.
Prashant, thanks for the information - but what do you think are the advantages of being close to the US?
William, thanks for the tip - I do remember Alain's article on portfolios.
My experience is that the gallery-museum market prefers a matted, portfolio case style of presentation, white gloves and all. I use Light Impression portfolio cases and boxes, the museum standard. Galleries and museums WANT to be impressed! If you don't have a well established reputation, then you need to blow them out of the water with your images, print quality and professional display.
While the publishing industry is all over the board and usually more casual. Sometimes they want unmatted prints (displayed in a binder style portfolio or even a simple black box) but usually, they just want a cd of jpegs or tiffs (to my dissapointment).
Hopes this helps. Good Luck.
I am in the process of putting together a portfolio for submission to galleries. I will be doing the prints on a 100% cotton rag paper with a smooth matte surface. I will be using Epson Velvet Fine Art paper in my Epson 2400 printer.
A couple of great papers that are similar in finish are Moab Entrada and Somerset Velvet. Make sure that your printer can handle these thicker papers before you buy. For the best quality prints, be sure you have high quality profiles for any paper you use.
Another thought on print size: If you print the images to 6x9 and then mat them, the visible image will be about 5.5x8.5. In my opinion this might be too small. If you can, print the images to 7x10.5 and then matt accordingly. I believe this will give a better presentation piece for you.
I wish you well on your project!
-PB