It’s nothing new to report how interesting the photographic lab scene has become in the last ten years.
We’ve gone from mom-and-pop print shops and Wal Mart labs, to online ordering and a plethora of choices of online labs and products offered by different labs. Basically, labs can and will print anything on anything nowadays.
So today, while working as a “conservator” for the Rafaelli Collection, I am helping the owner of the estate find outlets for printing retail prints for sale directly to the public. Demand is high, and there are a lot of projects attached to Ron Raffaelli’s fantastic collection of rock-and-roll imagery from the golden era of rock – the late 1960’s.
Today’s photo lab visit is in Dallas – Full Color east of Downtown Dallas, to see what they offer and what they can do for the Collection.
On a parallel track, I am also looking for a new personal archival printer, and as usual the Epson line of inkjet printers is still the printer’s printer. I’ve been using Epson since they emerged as the leader in photographic printing for artists, and they have been through some rocky patches over the years, but still have an outstanding product.
Of course, knowledge on HOW TO PRINT is as critical as what printer to use and what to print particular images on (what paper). The right printer profile, the right settings on the printer software interface, and the right settings in Adobe Photoshop — If you get it all correct — can produce fantastic results.