Digital wedding shoot:how do you print your proofs

[william_carter]

I'll be shooting a couple of weddings this summer. The last weddings I shot were before I went digital. There was a thread here a while ago regarding "proofless" weddings (e.g., websites, CDs, etc., rather than paper proofs). I may go that route if I think I can sell it to the clients. But, for those of you who shoot digitally who DO give the clients paper proofs, I'm wondering how many of you do the printing yourselves versus sending it to a lab and, if you do it yourself, how do you do it? I'm very proficient at printing and own Epson 9600, 4000, and R800 printers. I obviously could print a couple hundred 4x6s, but I can't think of any logical way to do it (i.e., a way that won't take me months). I could print the 4x6 proofs on 8.5x11 sheets on any of our three printers, but then I'd have to cut them down, which is time consuming (and I'd end up scratching some of them during cutting). Or I could load 4x6 sheets into the R800 and print them individually, but I just can't see hitting "Print" two hundred separate times. I can't do it on a roll of 4x6 paper, because the R800 doesn't have a built-in roll paper cutter, so I'd still have to cut each by hand. The 4000 does have a built-in cutter, but I'd still have to hit print separately for each individual print for the printer to cut after each image (besides, I don't think the 4000 will take roll paper that small, will it?)

Epson does include an application called FIlm Factory. I've never had the need to use it, but it looks like it would do the trick -- you select a bunch of images, tell the software what size you want them, and hit print. The problem I see is that you have to tell the software whether to print vertical or horizontal (portrait or landscape or "rotated landscape" whatever that means). Obviously, some photos will be vertical and some horizontal, so I'd have to rotate them all to the same orientation for this to work (unless I'm missing something -- anybody using Film Factory?). I guess I could rotate each image to be vertical or horizontal when I save after editing. Still sounds like a bit of a pain.

A larger issue is, even if there's some efficient way for me to print a couple hundred 4x6s, would it just be more economical to have it done by a lab anyway? As an example of lab pricing, whcc.com advertises 70 cents per 4x6 from digital files, which would be a total of $140 for 200 prints. A 100 sheet pack of 4x6 Premium Glossy costs $14. So, assume I'd print 200 4x6 pictures, the paper alone would cost me $28. I have no idea what my ink costs per 4x6 would be, but I do know that the R800 inks are expensive. Anybody have a feel for R800 4x6 print costs?

Thanks!

[SteveEllis]

I may have started the proofless wedding discussion that you read. I know I started one at some time anyway. I still see pros and cons for both methods, but I have not gone proofless yet. For now I am having proof portfolios printed and assembled by my lab. They are pages that are available in 10x13 or 8x10 and can have 4, 6, 8 or 12-up per page. I think the max limit of pages is 70 and I do 4-up books. Therefore I am limited to 300 images per book, so I usually end up with two books. This ends up costing quite a bit, but the time it saves me is well worth it.

I used to use 4x6 proofs, but I felt that my clients were taking them and having them copied, so I switched to the smaller image sizes of the portfolios. Cost for me was about the same either way and these come back to me completely assembled and ready for delivery. No stuffing them into a proof album.

I am still toying with the other methods to see if tey will work for me. I use online proofing combined with my proof books and I also offer slide shows and I am starting to offer cd's of the images for them to keep to see if this works or not. I'll be interested to see what others are doing as well.

Hope that helps some.

[Frederick_Rider]

So far, all of my clients seem to accept digital proofs over 100's of paper proofs. In order to faciliate the ordering process, I have begun printing contact sheets using Photo Mechanic. I also provide a spreadsheet to faciliate the ordering process. I use a Xerox Phaser 6100 to print the contact sheets.

[Charles_Matter]

I currently have several PS actions to batch process the files to what a lab that I use ask for, and have them proof.
Like a lot of labs..they claim to be digitally proficient..but really aren't. They are unable (or unwilling ) to provide me with printer profiles..etc. So far it's been convenient..to a point. Problem is...they judge color balance and exposure.."by eye" (swear to God!!); and the last few times we've had "discussions" over them making changes to files that I had specifically set up to match others. I also do all final prints myself on a 2200, and finals seldom match the proofs. Occasionally this leads to client discussions, too.
So..I'm exploring using the roll paper adaptor for the 2200. Files would all be left horizontal..and there would need to be some automated printing command set-up as well. Perhaps a PS action would do the trick..anyone??? Only issue I can see would be numbering. Perhaps leaving a small border, and including a command in the batch printing instructions to print the file name in the border??
(I really DON't want to hand number a set of 350 proofs..:-) )

[AlanDee]

Regarding printing a large quantity of images, you can use Qimage to do the job. I often convert the RAW files to TIFF, open the folder in Qimage, select any combination of images (click, SH+click, CTL+click), click on a print size to add all selected images to queue, change the print quantity of any image iin the queue. Qimage does all the portrait/landscape orientation automatically. It excels at resizing the image to various page sizes, picture package printing, batch renaming, batch converting to JPGs, basic image manipulation, etc... It's uses ICC in the workflow and does a great job at color space conversion (aRGB to printer's gamut, for instance) and sharpening. Check it out, I am a happy user of this software.
For printing proofs, consider a cheap Canon Pixma printer like the iP4000/5000. My local Fry's store often discounts them to $100/149 after rebates. Buy supplies online and the cost per print drops to about 25-35 cents each. The image quality is amazing and you get your print in 30 seconds. I was so impressed, I bought a i9900 and have bpth going at the same time from Qimage. My 8X10 to 13X19 prints often floored my customers. Of course, I tell them in advance about print life and proper storage of these prints.

[JanuszBlicharski]

>>A larger issue is, even if there's some efficient way for me to print a couple hundred 4x6s, would it just be more economical to have it done by a lab anyway? As an example of lab pricing, whcc.com advertises 70 cents per 4x6 from digital files, which would be a total of $140 for 200 prints. A 100 sheet pack of 4x6 Premium Glossy costs $14. So, assume I'd print 200 4x6 pictures, the paper alone would cost me $28<<

Do not bother with Epson proofs. It is waste of time and money. Take your 200 proofs to Costco and they will print them for $24 (12 cents per 4x6 print) sometimes in an hour. Since you do your own printing I assume you know how to color corect and you know basics of color management. The only difference beetween pro lab and Costco/Sams/Walmart is cost. You have to remember to ask operator to turn off any auto color corections and you will get the same quality as from WHCC. If you prefer you can create contact sheet at size 12x18 (you can easily fit 30 images on this paper size) fold it in the middle bind it with spiral binding and proofing 200 images wil cost you $21 and will look quite impressive. 12x 18 cost at Costco $2.99 and I use it for 12x12 ZookBook albums. On this size you can fit 2 8x10 so 8x10 can cost you only $1.50
I own Fuji Pictro printer that many years ago I paid $12K and see no reason to use it. All my wedding prints are done by Costco even those that I send to Zookbinders for flush mounting.

Janusz Blicharski

[Ed_Rogers]

We print 9up via ACDsee for a proof book. That works nice and is cost effective. Using Epson 1280 glossy paper. Much better quality then the labs.

For print runs up to 30-50 we print in house up to 24x36. For runs more than that we use Bay Photo Lab. Really great group. The only reason I use them is because they closely match my quality of printing which is very high. Their automated ordering system is absolutly fantastic and more cost effective for large orders, especially of 4x6 size. Factor in the wear & tear and time as well.

Regards,

Ed
Rogers Photography