FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Giclée Fine Art Prints
Toronto Image Works has a long term commitment to bringing our clients
new and improved digital technologies. As an example of this commitment
we offer Giclée Fine Art Print Reproductions, the reproduction
technology of choice in fine art printing. Giclée is a digital
process that applies archival inks to archival paper and canvas. Image
quality, sharpness, and colour saturation place these prints in a league
of their own. The Giclée process offers amazing control over
the colour and hue saturation of your images before they are printed.
We can do prints up to 34"x46" and now with our new Large Format Epson
StylusPRO roll fed printers we can print images up to 44" wide
by any length on archival fine art papers and canvas as well as photo
based print materials.
Q: What is a Giclée print?
A: Giclée Fine Art Print (pronounced zhee-clay)
is a unique method of fine art reproduction using archival dye based
inks on archival watercolour papers and canvas as well as glossy & matte
photobase papers.
Q: How long will they last?
A: Properly matched inks and papers can last from 60
- 200 years under continuous lighting conditions. For some of the best
data on longevity visit the most respected web site www.wilhelm-research.com
Q: If I want to bring in my files how should I go about it?
A: Colour calibration of scans, monitors and printing
devices is always a challenge. Using self-calibrating monitors like
the Apple monitors with Colorsync 3 is very helpful. The only way to
ensure a consistent result from your file to the final print is to have
a test strip created and printed from the file after making sure it
has all the right information in the highlights and shadows. Files should
be scanned at 300 dpi at the size you want to print it. You can go as
low as 150dpi with good results and going to 300dpi is only recommended
if you have a lot of fine detail in the image.
Q: What do I get when I supply an original and request a set
up and print?
A: If you bring us an original we will scan it with
the appropriate scanner (either drum or Imacon) colour balance, density
correct, sharpen and dust bust to your satisfaction. It usually takes
several tests before we call you in for approval. Clients are then encouraged
to let us know what changes to make, keeping in mind that there are
limitations as to what we can do with a file. We would then post the
test with a note such as "less yellow, darker and a bit more contrast".
Q: Who uses this service?
A: Artists, photographers, designers and architects
are the largest group using this service. Many artists who do original
paintings or watercolours will have us do a copy neg or transparency
and then have us scan and match it to the original. Photographers have
also adopted this technology and have produced photographic quality
prints using this technology.
Q: Can I do B&W prints with this technology?
A: We have optimized B&W profiles that allow us to
do prints up to 44" wide by any length on our roll fed Epson SylusPRO
printers. We can highly recommend Epson's 'Ultra Giclée' acid
and optical brightener free UltraSmooth Fine Art paper for beautiful
B&W prints.
Q: What materials do you print on?
A: We print on a variety of papers as well as canvas.
Our Giclée watercolour papers are Arches cold and hot press.
Our Epson papers include Premium Lustre and Glossy (photo based), Enhanced
Matte, UltraSmooth Fine Art and Somerset Velvet for matte printing.
We also have Hahnemühle fine art papers for those seeking a matte
finish archival paper with bright whites.
Q: Can I coat these prints to protect them?
A: Yes, and we do sell some sprays for that job. If
you can avoid coating them we recommend that you don't. In 20 or 30
years there is always a chance that the coating may yellow.
CHROMIRA Digital Output
Q: What is a Chromira Printer?
A: The CHROMIRA represents the state of the art in
large format high speed direct digital printing, easily rivalling the
quality of a LightJet or Lambda. This high resolution LED imaging technology
incorporates a wide colour gamut and higher visual resolution (425 dpi)
than is available with other technologies. High quality, digital images
at photo prices.
Q: What is the resolution of a Chromira Printer?
A: The Chromira's native resolution is 300 dpi, although
we have achieved acceptable results with files as low as 72 dpi! The
Chromira's advanced interpolation and print technology creates an astounding
visual resolution of 425 dpi.
Q: How do I prepare my files for the Chromira?
A: Files should be prepared at size at no greater a
resolution than 300 dpi. If borders are required in the final print
then they must be included in the file. Supported file formats are RGB
JPEG (no paths) and RGB TIFF (no layers and no compression).
Q: Do you have profiles for the Chromira?
A: Yes. The profiles are available here.
There is a 'Readme' file with general usage instructions included in
each profile's zip archive. (Zip files can be unpacked by WinZip, Windows
XP, and Stuffit expander for MAC.)
Scala
Dear Scala Users,
We regret to inform you that we will no longer be processing Agfa's
Scala film as of Tuesday, September 6, 2005. We are sorry for any inconvenience
this may cause.
The Last of the Scala Labs:
MAIN PHOTO SERVICES INC.
827 South Main Street
Santa Ana
California
92701
Toll Free: 1-800-640-MAIN
Web: www.mainphoto.com
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