My printing studio

I have around 1,000 square feet of office / studio space near my house, and I have turned the entry room of the space into my large format printer and roll paper storage space. Since the rest of my space isn’t clean at the moment, here are just a few images of the entry space.

On one wall I have my Epson 9890” wide format printer, on another wall I have my Canon iPF8300 44” wide format printer, and on another wall I have a custom made rack which can accommodate up to 13 rolls of paper.

The room is lit only by track lighting, all supplied by Solux. All of the bulbs are their 3500 degree Kelvin wide flood models.

Two printers and the paper rack on the right hand side.

Custom roll paper rack

My custom rack (which needs to be painted) can accommodate up to 13 rolls of paper, up to 44 inches wide. I use 1 1/4 PVC pipes that are cut in 5 foot lengths to hold each roll. I can easily grab a roll and load it onto either of the printers. If I only had one wide format printer, I would give some thought to buy a bunch of that model’s spindle, but that cost can quickly add up. Both of these printers are hooked up over ethernet, and I can just print away from the other room. If I have a big print job that requires a ton of interaction with a printer, I just roll a printer into the other room where I can monitor the printer closely from my desk.

I also have an Epson Pro 3880, a Canon iPF5100, a Canon Pro 9000 II and a Canon Pro 9500 II in my main work room. I will post photos of the other room when I get it nice and cleaned up.

If you are interested in creating better photographic prints, I am now offering private full-day mentoring sessions at my printing studio. This is an opportunity for you and I to work side by side to create beautiful prints from your own digital files. We can work on whatever you wish to work on, from digital capture to Lightroom workflow to digital output. The world is your oyster, and I am here to assist. Typical items that are usually covered:

• Color management
• Lightroom processing and workflow
• Soft proofing
• Black and white printing
• What to look for in a good print
• Paper choices
• Print sharpening
• Upsizing files for large format output
• Editing images for a portfolio
• Mat cutting and presentation ideas

These sessions are very informal, and are designed around getting information to you that is relative to your goals.

You can read more about these sessions here.

One on One Printing mentoring

If you are interested in creating better photographic prints, I am now offering private full-day mentoring sessions at my printing studio. This is an opportunity for you and I to work side by side to create beautiful prints from your own digital files. We can work on whatever you wish to work on, from digital capture to Lightroom workflow to digital output. The world is your oyster, and I am here to assist. Typical items that are usually covered:

• Color management
• Lightroom processing and workflow
• Soft proofing
• Black and white printing
• What to look for in a good print
• Paper choices
• Print sharpening
• Upsizing files for large format output
• Editing images for a portfolio
• Mat cutting and presentation ideas

These sessions are very informal, and are designed around getting information to you that is relative to your goals.

My location and equipment

Here is the equipment that I have in my studio in Houston, Texas (Memorial area, west of downtown):

• Canon iPF 8300 large format 44” 12-ink pigment ink printer
• Epson Stylus Pro 3880 17” pigment ink printer
• Epson Stylus R2400 13” pigment ink printer
• Epson Stylus R2880 13” pigment ink printer
• Epson Stylus R3000 13” pigment ink printer
• Canon PRO-1 13” pigment ink printer
• Canon PRO-10 13” pigment ink printer
• Canon PRO-100 13” dye ink printer
• Mac Pro desktop
• Dual LCD displays (NEC PA-272W 27” and Apple 30” Cinema)
• X-Rite i1 and iO scanning table for profiling
• X-Rite iSis
• GTI display booth with D50 light source
• Epson V750 flatbed scanner
• Plenty of workspace to layout prints
• All Moab Paper products, including Colorado Fiber Satine, Entrada Bright 300gsm, Somerset Museum Rag, Silckrock Metallic Pearl as well as Crane Silver Rag, Epson Exhibition Fiber, Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl and Photo Rag.

The Cost

The cost of this all day (10 hours) session is $950, and will include the use of all printing materials, matting materials and perhaps the use of my assistant’s time if he is around to help out. A typical day will begin at 8am, and will end around 6pm. I have found it best to have a casual lunch break away from the studio to break the long day up. Oh, and lunch is on me. I also have an espresso maker in the office for those who need caffeine at all hours of the day.

The Signup process

All you need to do is to send me an email at andybiggs@gmail.com, and we can take it from there. My schedule is busy with Gura Gear and my photographic safaris, but we can carve out some time that works for both of us.