TPF Recommendations / Educational Videos

Here at The Photographer's Framer, we strive to deliver "PERFECT" prints, mounted with care, protected by Conservation Grade Materials, and framed "By Hand"... It's an extensive process; one that ACTUALLY starts long before we ever see YOUR images or start to work on bringing your vision from the viewfinder to paper and ultimately your client's walls.

Many of you are just starting out in the whole PRINT & FRAMING world and it can become overwhelming very quickly.  There are so many acronyms, nuances, and unknowns when you are just getting started that many photogs simply avoid "PRODUCTS" like the plague and deliver digitals with a smile.  We see this as a travesty, both for you as a business owner AND for your clients who oftentimes know even less about prints or frames than you.  Your ART deserves the best; the best paper, the best inks, the best acrylic/glass, the best everything.  Even if you don't ultimately use our product lines, we want ALL photogs to learn, believe, and understand this simple fact.... YOUR WORK IS WALL WORTHY!!!!

Here are a few recommendations and some video links to assist you on this journey.  We are here to help!

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

  • CALIBRATE your screen with the use of a spectrophotometer... we recommend the X-Rite i1 Display Pro.... $239 on Amazon.  This will ensure that the color display on your screen is in alignment with the color drivers used by most professional photography printers.
  • EDIT in a "dimly-lit" or "relatively dark" place... with a Screen Brightness of no more than 60%... This limits the risk that a print will be "blown-out" or "too flat" once printed on paper vs. backlit on a screen.
  • EDIT your images for PRINT as well as for SCREEN.  Most Photogs forget that these are two very different mediums.  One is heavily backlit and brings life to an image from behind, the other is a reflective medium that is lit from the front.  It is even worth creating two different versions of an image in your workflow... one for PRINT and the other for SCREEN. (see bullet 4)
  • EDIT in RAW and SAVE in TIFF file types whenever possible... the .jpg or .jpeg format is "highly compressed" and a significant portion of the data captured by your camera is lost FOREVER once saved as a .jpg or .jpeg.  The TIFF file format saves 90% or more of the RAW data and delivers significantly more data to the printer that will ultimately render your image to paper.  Some platforms/servers do not support the TIFF file format, but we will ALWAYS accept a TIFF if sent via DropBox or WeTransfer (simply reference your Order No. within the email). ***We recommend saving images for SCREEN as .jpg or .jpeg and images for PRINT as .TIFF.***
  • CROP LAST... when editing images, whether for PRINT or for SCREEN, wait until the last step to CROP.  We would recommend saving ALL "soft-edits" without cropping.  Once clients choose the images they want, you can CROP during the "final-edit" or POST- processing phase of your workflow.  This practice allows for more flexibility around imaging and design; changing aspect ratios after cropping can become difficult, and sometimes even impossible.
  • CROP LOOSE... remember that some of your image will ultimately live "behind the mat" once mounted and framed.  We strive to limit this image loss to 1/2" per side, but even this small amount can become problematic on smaller framed prints.  It is ALWAYS easier to crop tighter prior to printing rather than trying to add "white-space" or render extra background.

IF ANY OF THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE OR IF YOU NEED FURTHER CLARIFICATION... PLEASE EMAIL US DIRECTLY WITH YOUR QUESTIONS / COMMENTS TO hello@thephotographersframer.com.

VIDEO LINKS: