Popular Digital Printing Processes: A Guide for New Photographers

Overview

Digital printmaking is a unique art that’s highly marketable to a variety of audiences. Creative individuals with an excellent eye for detail, as well as the ability to communicate their vision, have the potential to thrive in the fine arts industry, especially if they’re aware of how and where their work is accepted. Most importantly, willingness to evolve and keep an open mind are essential to the modern digital printmaker’s success.

Professionals in the industry must possess a solid work ethic, organization skills, and persistence to catch and maintain the attention of viewers. They’re required to make use of career-related supplies, such as papers, color management, ink types, and digital equipment on a regular basis in order to achieve desired results for digital prints. As with all artists, it’s proven that their diligence, multi-tasking and imagination eventually pays off.

Exemplary digital printmaking doesn’t happen overnight. Every individual who’s dedicated to the craft must nurture their skill and then identify which audience they wish to inspire. These responsibilities not only take time, but also extensive research in order to learn how to present work to sites that welcome your aesthetic.

There’s several art colleges that can assist in helping you market your work appropriately. Some individuals opt to attend traditional brick-and-mortar campuses while others are interested in having distance learning schools accommodate them. Online institutions, for instance, are among several virtual colleges in the country that are particularly attractive to full-time employees, stay-at-home parents, avid travelers, or disabled persons.

It’s crucial to begin reviewing your options in order to get your foot in the door and gain the trust of future clients, employers, and galleries. Here’s a sneak peak at some printing methods that may interest you.

Printing Techniques

1. Inkjet Prints

There’s various types of inkjet printing. However, Iris inkjet is the most common. This process requires printmakers to utilize four colors: black, yellow, magenta and cyan. Each ink is a water-based dye which enable the final product to endure moisture. Professionals have used Iris inkjet on several kinds of exotic surfaces, including Japanese rice papers, vinyl, canvas, and watercolor papers.

Other inkjet processes involve the use of six to eight different colors. The specific palette of ink colors is typically at the discretion of the artist and/or client(s). Individuals usually benefit from having more choices regarding the result of their work, as well as creating more mass appeal. Today, inkjet printers employing 8 to 12 inks are used for large format graphics on durable signage materials. This allows for an appealing look for different applications such as outdoor signage, window displays and digital wallpaper.

2. Giclee Prints

The term ‘giclee’, (pronounced ‘zhee-clay’), was invented in 1991 and means ‘a spray of color or liquid’. The word’s roots derives from the French term ‘gicluer’ which translates to ‘nozzle’. Similar to the word used to describe it, the process requires printmakers to use nozzles in order to transfer images onto a substrate.

Giclee is revered as a printmaking process that offers the best color accuracy of all techniques in the industry. The process’s finely tuned colors are known to outlive those in Iris prints and able to resist fading for at least 10 years longer. For these reasons, many high-profile private art collectors, museums, art galleries and photographic galleries, request the work of artists who use giclee printing. Simultaneously, the technique is adored by artists for the soft quality in its colors, as well as its speed and cost effectiveness. Those who opt to produce work as needed, or on-demand, are more likely to use this process.

3. Digital C Prints

This type of printing technique requires the use of a darkroom in which a professional uses a fine laser to illuminate Type-C photographic paper. Images are typically taken from raster and vector files. Digital C is a method that’s often respected for its longevity, as Lambda is known to last at least 60 years on without deteriorating. The lifespan is what gives digital C prints an edge over giclee prints which are typically given a life expectancy of about 25 years.

There’s several types of C Prints that can be produced. Metallic digital C prints provide powerful, direct hues that are give off a unique, metallic look to lure viewers in. Matte digital C prints involve a dull pearl-like surface that displays mostly neutral and earthy tones while deep matte digital C prints display softer pastel images. Glossy digital C prints, on the other hand, enhances the richness of colors by covering it with a glossy surface.

Other Key Points

1. Digital printing has helped revolutionize photography, as it enables professionals in the industry to retouch, size, crop, and correct coloring on products.

2. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, photographic processing machine operators typically work directly with digital photographs. Professional skill sets may be acquired through post-secondary schooling, although many individuals obtain on-the-job training. Employment opportunities in this field are expected to decline as more inventions begin to meet the technical needs of consumers.

3. The use of computerized features, such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver, make it possible for beginners in the digital printmaking world to learn secrets of the craft at their own pace. As self-service applications continue to materialize, the demand for professional services is expected to dissolve.

4. Seasoned digital printmakers in the fine arts sector must often balance their time between developing prints and networking to uncover new places that will help them sell their work effectively.

5. Many digital printmakers collaborate with various artists in other genres, such as photographers, painters, and sculptors, to help them expand their craft and invent new forms of products.

6. In digital printmaking, images are archived on a CD-ROM until individuals are prepared to use them. Reproduction materials, such as inks, sizes, and tables, are also properly stored.

Exploring new boundaries is almost every artist’s dream. This ideal doesn’t exclude digital printmakers. For more information on how to break into digital printing professions, it’s useful to review computer classes or relate institutions in your area.