| Q. | I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT I NEED - CAN YOU HELP?
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| A. | We excel at helping our clients find the solutions the need. We'll work one-on-one with you to understand our problem and recommend solutions to fit your budget, schedule and space. Look at our case study below: |
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| Q. | HOW LARGE CAN YOU MAKE A DIGITAL PRINT?
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| A. | Our printers can print up to 5 feet wide by any length.
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| Q. | WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE?
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| A. | Printers: 30" Roland VersaCamm printer-cutter and a 62" Roland Soljet, both running Eco-Solvent outdoor ink; 60" Encad NovaJet 1000i; 60"HP Z6100 and 44"HP Z3100, Canon IPF5000, all with aqueous based archival pigment ink.
Mounters and Laminators: AGL Encore Maxim 64" hot and cold laminator and a Coda 54" cold-mount machine.
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| Q. | WHAT IS YOUR PRODUCTION TURNAROUND TIME?
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| A. | Generally, allow one day for a print, one day for the laminating step and one day for mounting. Film copywork is usually 4-5 days and drum scanning, one day. Reproduction of artwork requires a few days for color balance, contrast control and approval test strips before the final print. For special projects and large quantities, allow 2-3 additional production days.
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| Q. | WHAT IF I NEED MY WORK DONE SOONER?
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| A. | Photo Colorgraphix can accommodate your deadline. Priority charges will apply to some or all of the project, depending on how much sooner you need it than normal turnaround, from 50% to 100%. The number of days you need to shave off dictates the additional rush charges.
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| Q. | DO YOU MAKE GICLÉE? WHAT IS A GICLÉE? (pronounced ghee-clay)
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| A. | Yes, we make giclées on photo-base paper, watercolor paper, canvas, and other fabrics, and even on vinyl. A giclée is the industry name for any high-quality print made on an inkjet printer. The term stems from the French word for "spatter" or "spray", which is what inkjet nozzles to lay down ink to print an image.
For more information:
Read the article "Giclées: Know the Score, 10 questions to ask a digital printmaker" or
See
"The Story of Giclée"
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| Q. | WHAT SIZE ENLARGEMENT OR POSTER CAN I GET FROM MY DIGITAL FILE?
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| A. | The single most important factor determining print quality or size is the resolution or file size (in megabytes). The larger the resolution, pixels per inch, the bigger you can enlarge the image. The more total pixels (height and width in pixels) there are in the file, the more information there is to work with. For instance, to get a really fine photographic print 16x20, you would need a file size of 38MB or greater. See "File Size Chart"
A secondary factor for consideration in how big your file can reproduce is the end purpose. If your requirement is for a billboard or banner that will be viewed from a great distance, the resolution can be less.
If a file or image is deemed by PhotoColorgraphix to be inferior for its intended purpose, we will advise the client and can proceed on a "print regardless" policy.
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| Q. | WHAT IS RESAMPLING?
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| A. | Resampling, upsizing or "up-rezzing" is a technique by which the file size is increased by adding pixels. This is not recommended, because it "makes up" information from existing pixels, and degrades image quality if used to excess (over 20%). Programs such as Genuine Fractals or Pixel-Smart can be used on a limited basis to pump more size into your file, but it better to start out big rather than invent pixels. See the effects of too much resampling (see picture examples)
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| Q. | I HAVE A PIECE OF ART THAT I WANT TO REPRODUCE. WHERE DO I START?
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| A. | The first step in reproducing your artwork is to photograph it onto 4x5 transparency film. Next is the drum scan at the appropriate resolution for the intended reproduction size. Color correction and contrast control steps will help bring the fine art repro close to the original, and test strips are printed for approval before the final print. For more information, see "Artwork Reproduction" (link to both the "Art" face page and to the Misc Art Repro Facts??)
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| Q. | WHY DO YOU USE FILM INSTEAD OF A DIGITAL CAMERA TO COPY ARTWORK?
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| A. | Color transparency film has a much greater contrast range and color density saturation capability and sensitivity than the small sensor area in a digital camera devoted to image capture. Plus, when you see the developed transparency you have a visual reference. Film is the prime product around which all color separation (scanning) techniques have been developed for over 70 years.
By including color guides and gray scales with the image and using cross-polarized lighting, transparency film will yield a superb scanned image, with detailed highlight separation and good shadow detail without apparent "noise" or unwanted artifacts. Additionally, on the drum scanner, the yielded image can support a resolution of tremendous enlargement versus a 10 megapixel camera, which under ideal conditions can possibly reproduce an acceptable 20x24 print reproduction. When copying and reproducing large art pieces as big as 54"x72", digital camera s could be sorely lacking. (with the possible exception of very pricey high-end 100+ megapixel units.)
The most appropriate use of a digital camera for copying artwork is for creating digital files for online submission to art competitions, or for casual documentation for internet-related "reference-only" purposes.
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| Q. | DRUM SCAN VS FLATBED SCAN
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| A. | For fine art reproduction, a drum scan is essential to extract every detail from the film. The durm scanner is designed to keep every part of the transparency in focus. A drum scanner uses PMT (Photo Multiplier Tube) technology, where the light source is pinpointed to capture information pixel by pixel as the drum spins.
Flatbed scanners use CCD sensors and a diffused light source that scans in a linear swath , which produces a less-than-sharp scan. Most flatbed scanners have "sweet spots" and "dead spots", have difficulty separating details in highlights, and tend to produce noise in dark areas, trying to put information in the shadows that it can't actually "see".
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| Q. | HOW DO I SUBMIT FILES? WHAT FORMAT(S)?
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| A. | Formats accepted are: TIF; JPG; EPS; or PDF only. No native page layouts or word documents, please. File format conversion fee- $75.
You may bring your files to us in person on a CD, DVD or USB portable hard drive. You may also mail or send your material to us via any commercial carrier. Include a proof print for reference and/or color matching.
You may e-mail the file if 10MB or less to: colorgrfx1@verizon.net A telephone call will alert us that a file is coming.
We also have an FTP site for your convenience in submitting large files.
Name of file should be in all lower case and no spaces (or underscore_for_spaces). All files should be Zipped (create archive) for safest transmittal. (See "File Setup Guidelines for Wide Format Printing"
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| Q. | WHAT OTHER SPECS SHOULD I BE AWARE OF FOR FILE PREP?
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| A. | For best quality reproductions, RESOLUTION of images should be at least 160dpi at output size for regular posters; for Art Reproduction your native resolution at 100% output size should be at least 240 dpi. Quality is not guaranteed from images with less than 100dpi or interpolated (upsized) images. Low resolution jpgs or gifs taken from the web or any upsized (interpolated) lo-res images are not appropriate for blowing up to large format sizes.
PHOTOSHOP: Resolution at least 160-240 dpi at 100%; Save flattened file as TIF, 8-bit. (You can use LZW compression if you plan on e-mailing the file)
ILLUSTRATOR/COREL/FREEHAND: Convert all type to outlines (objects). Any raster images (photos) that have been imported into the vector program should be a minimum of 180dpi at blowup size. Embed links and flatten. Save / export as EPS.
QUARK: If you have created a document in Quark (or other page layout or word processing program) for offset printing and wish to use it also as a wide format poster, save/export as an EPS or create a PDF. As a further safeguard, rasterize the pdf or eps to make sure all elements and text flow are correct.
Additional fees are charged for file conversions or for files that do not conform to these guidelines.
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| Q. | DO YOU SHIP?
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| A. | Yes! Not only can we ship your finished product, but we can also package it securely for shipment. We can use your choice of carrier on your account number, or we can ship it on our account and bill you accordingly with a small markup.
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