Printing Photographs

I have been performing print order fulfillment for Acclaim Images since October 2004. Purchased an Epson Stylus Pro 9600 large format digital printer in January 2005. This printer can print up to 44" wide - it's huge! Since all of the digital photo files were from Acclaim Images, most of them were done by professional, semi-pros, or good amateur photographers (with a few exceptions).

What prompted me to purchase my own printer is the lack of local suppliers, their under utilized printers, and their outrageous prices. So in late January I began producing the photo enlargements myself as Allreds Photo; I took lots of time to learn about stretching and mounting canvas prints. I read 2 books on matting, framing, and mounting photography and canvas prints. Plus, there's lots of info out there on the web. The sites I found most useful were usually on the suppliers websites (i.e., framing info on the frame supplier's website).

Because I felt the need to diversify, I launched my own website, Allreds Photo.com in May of 2005. We offer canvas prints, photo enlargements, photo posters, framed canvas prints, and framing and matting services at reasonable prices with exceptional service.


Also - News Flash! - just began offering photos mounted on wood plaques - people that show animals such as horses and dogs, love to use these at shows. They are sturdy, heavy enough to stay put, and can be wiped off. I did one as a prototype for some people in Butte Falls, Oregon that have a young Arabian Stallion. They show him on the National Circuit in Class 'A' Arab horse shows and wanted something to showcase a professional photo of him. It's a great marketing tool...

That's pretty much it for now. I started this weblog with the purpose of tracking problems encountered with large format printing and the solutions utilized.

The first problem I encountered about 2 months into using the Epson 9600 was a color problem: the oranges started coming out too yellow/not enough magenta. Solution to follow soon.

My latest dilemma is ink coming off canvas prints at the edges of the stretcher bars - it doesn't happen 100% of the time. I think it's because of the protective acrylic spray that's applied prior to stretching. Experiments and results to follow.

Okay - now I'm signing off...