1. Printing off images

I have now taken all of my images and selected the ones that I want to print off.

Gareth has kindly agreed to let me use the photo printer at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archives to print off my images. Therefore I will spend a few hours over the next couple of days getting all of my images printed off.

2. Choosing the Paper

I had to decide the type of photo-paper I wanted to print my images on. I was given the choice of three different types of paper;  matte, smooth-pearl, or gloss. The style of all of the different papers are as follows .

Deciding the right type of paper to use is very important because it affects the appearance, style, mood and feel of the images. What paper my images is on is therefore very important because it

1.Gloss Paper

• very shining surface
•  smooth texture
• high colour saturation
• good for commercial/promotional images

 2. Matte Paper

• coarse, grainy texture

• not great for printing out colour images

• most expensive due to the way it is made

• gives a very rustic, natural feel

• seen as the most professional and highest quality

• not vulnerable to being marred by fingerprints and it produces a non-glare

 3. Smooth Pearl Paper

• ‘in-between’ of Gloss and Matte Paper

• ‘fine-art’ paper quality

• some (but low) gloss

• widely used in photo-books: seen as more traditional than matte paper

I have decided to go  for Smooth Pearl Paper because  felt it was a nice balance of the two paper styles. I didn’t think the style of images that the matte paper produced would work well for the type of photographs I had created. The coarse texture of matte paper, along with the fact there is no gloss means that the images would be slightly blurred and dull in appearance. This is acceptable if the

At the other extreme, gloss paper in my opinion would have over-saturated my images, and in general I do not like the glare it creates as it would be very overbearing on the page, taking away from the subtle and reflective nature I want to maintain throughout. I also find that gloss paper really compromises the quality of the images, to the extent that it makes the images look to commercial, lacking any degree of subtly and sensitivity.

Smooth Pearl paper on the other hand ensures that my images are sharp and of good quality, whilst keeping a very simplistic and basic feel /appearance. Upon reviewing a test print I really liked the clarity of the printing, the photograph was very smooth and flowed easily on the page. This paper thus ensured I would be able to print out my images in mass, knowing the quality and saturation of the images would remain consistent.

 

3. Printing off

I started the printing process of yesterday and am about half-way there. Here is a step-by-step guide I am using to print my images off…

Part 1 – Designing

• Transfer the images to a TIFF format at a resolution of 360
• Go to Abode Bridge a select all the images you need.
• In Photoshop, open a document file and apply the images into it accordingly – set it to A3
• The images are separated by different layers – activate the ‘auto-select’ button beforehand and each time you select an image it will automatically transfer to that layer
• Toggle the image size to how you want it by adjusting the corners using the shift key
• Move the images around dependent

Part 2 – Printing 

• Go to file + print. Customise the printing settings to make it specific (see screen shot below)
• Place the A3 Printing Paper in alignment to the right-hand side of the printer
• To print select ‘proceed’ and review on print preview (if not happy cancel and re-do this process)
• When happy select ‘print’

[UPDATE – I HAVE DONE 2/3 OF THE PRINTING + HOPE TO PRINT THE REST OF BY THE END OF FRIDAY]

4. Trimming the Photographs

Now I have printed off all of my images I will need to begin the process of trimming these prints down to the right size, to then place inside my photo-book. I have agreed that two different format sizes will work well in this instance – 10 x 15cm + 13 x 18cm. As I discussed with Gareth, getting these sizes perfect isn’t crucial as the merits of a hand-made style of photo-books is that I have room for error and that an anomaly isn’t always a bad thing.

To cut the images out I will use a standard A4 paper cutter. Beforehand I will need to ensure the following ………

• the grid-line is straight and secure
• the blade is sharp
• the paper is fastened in properly beforehand so that it does not move/jam during the cutting process
• have got to right measurements and cut to the markings

4. Selecting the Photo-corners

I want to use photo-corners in this photo-book to tie in with the old fashioned photo-album design I am trying to replicate. Therefore a key consideration in the process of selecting photo-corners will be to chose an old fashioned design.

Ideally (like the photo-paper) I am looking for a design which is a balanced in terms of what it adds to the page. I am aiming for my photo-corners to be a basic and simple design which blends in subtly into the page, not taking the viewers attention away from the images. At the same time I don’t wish for them to be too weak and they need to have a certain presence to them that supports but importantly, does not overpower the images.

Once I have done all my prints I will then buy some photo-corners. My instinct is to buy simple brown photo-corners which are slightly larger than standard white/black photo-corners. This subtle and neutral colour with give my images fairly established presence that is old fashioned to provide a nostalgic connection. Nevertheless I may change my mind as I have printed off. I will also discuss this with Gareth and ask for his opinion.

5. Choosing my Order + Presentation

I went through my photo-sequencing with Gareth down at the Photographic Archives. We laid my 40 final images on a big table and played around with the order.  I found that there was a lot of advantages of working with photo-sequences using real-life prints oppose to using a computer screen. It was much more visual and interactive this way and allowed me to connect and make links much clearer. It was also easier to change to order around without the restrictions of a computer screen. The sequencing took about 45 minutes do to properly. I am happy with how it has turned out.

6. Sticking the images down

To stick the images down in my book I am using self-adhesive photo-corners. My method is to put one photo-corner in first to use this as a guide to get all of my other photo-corners straight. It was quite a long and fiddly process but I am happy with the way that it turned out

7. Captions

I have kept the style of my captions very simple, including only occasional captions – a few words/sentences expressing simple and basic thoughts which help link and flow aspects of the narrative together. I find it makes my work more personal and allows my own thoughts and ideas to subtly impact/guide the viewer in the way they perceive the story.