Turning digital photos into printed and framed art can provide a sense of pride and accomplishment for a photographer. It’s also a great way to gather feedback and can serve as inspiration for future endeavors. It makes your visions real.
After a recent remodeling of our living room there was available wall space I decided to claimed for displaying some of my photographs. Up to this point most of my photos have lived electronically or on smaller (8″x10″ or less) printed media. This new endeavor definitely called for something more grand in scale.
For over a year I’d been contemplating the possibility of a large format inkjet printer, possibly the Epson Stylus Pro 3800, but had never follow through to make the purchase. I’ve had a number of smaller inkjet printers and I think my hesitation on this larger printer comes back to my history of not printing enough to justify the investment.
My personal history indicates my printing happens in spurts with long inactive periods between.
An inkjet printer, and its ink, is something that from my experience seems to function better through its life if regularly used instead of setting idle, drying and clogging. When you start talking about replacing the ink cartridges on a printer like the Epson 3800 you’re certainly talking serious money (over $500 for a set of 80ml ink cartridges and the maintenance tank.)
Besides, I want the finished product to be professionally framed and matted, so printing was only part of my needs.
I decided to see what was available on-line to provide a turnkey solution. With some searching I came across the “Art to Frames.” This online shop allows the uploading of your photos (currently accepts JPG and TIF formats,) having them printed on a selection of different media and finished with custom matting, framing, laminating or mounting on wood.
Art to Frames online selection process allows you to view a representation of your photo as the finished product to help select the best frame and matting.
The big question for me was, how good of a job do they do printing digital image? Printing a photo is an art form in itself, taking skill and knowledge to get the color profile and levels correct so it looks as you conceived it on you computer screen.
To answer this question I decided to send one photo and have it printed, matted and framed. I selected a photo (light rays breaking through heavy clouds over the ocean with land in the background) that while not containing a large selection of colors would be a challenge due to its narrow tonal palette, low contrast yet high detail.
I’ve since gotten the printed and framed photo back.
I’ve spent a good deal of time examining the resulting print. I’ve directly compared it to the digital image on my monitor and I have to say I’m impressed and very pleased with the results. The colors are true and the detail is well preserved.
I uploaded the photo file in TIF format which was 77mb in size and had the print printed at 24″x15.875″ on satin paper. The framing included two mats, non-glare plexi, and a Tuscan Black frame for an overall outside dimension of 31.5″x23.375″.
I placed the order on August 4th and had the finished product framed and back in my hands on August 8th. Art to Frames is located in New York and I’m in North Carolina so the shipping only took a couple of days.
How does the cost compare?
Without revealing specific details, here’s my opinions. If I’d bought “my photo” framed in an art stores I would have paid more then I did at Art to Frames. Also, if I’d printed the photo myself on an Epson 3800 and then had it custom matted and framed the cost would probably be at least the same or more, especially if printer depreciation cost and reprints are added.
The quality of Art to Frames framing and matting is probably better then what I could have accomplished on my own.
Using a one-stop on-line service like Art to Frames may not be the solution for everyone, but for now I think it’s a wiser choice for me then investing in an expensive printer and the associated cost. Yes, I’ve given up control of one phase of my post photography workflow but as long as the results are satisfactory I’m okay.
I’ve order two more prints to be framed so I’ll soon see if Art to Frames quality is consistent.