Digital BW, The Print

I'm planning to order some 40x50 prints on an Epson 9600 in the near 
future and would be interested in recommendations and advice from those 
with experience printing at this size.

One print shop I contacted has recommended against my first choice for 
paper (Epson premium luster), saying it's relatively thin, so large 
prints are more prone to damage, creases and scuffs. He recommended 
going with a matte paper, like Epson enhanced matte or Ultrasmooth, or 
a watercolor paper. I'm not a fan of textured papers or those with 
flaking issues. What are your favorite paper in this format, especially 
among the luster or semi-glossy papers?

Also, I have an option of getting the prints packaged in 3" tubes or 
flat between foamcore. Any recommendations here?

Thanks

mccarvill wrote:

> I'm planning to order some 40x50 prints on an Epson 9600 in the near
> future and would be interested in recommendations and advice from those
> with experience printing at this size.
>
> One print shop I contacted has recommended against my first choice for
> paper (Epson premium luster), saying it's relatively thin, so large
> prints are more prone to damage, creases and scuffs. He recommended
> going with a matte paper, like Epson enhanced matte or Ultrasmooth, or
> a watercolor paper. I'm not a fan of textured papers or those with
> flaking issues. What are your favorite paper in this format, especially
> among the luster or semi-glossy papers?
>
> Also, I have an option of getting the prints packaged in 3" tubes or
> flat between foamcore. Any recommendations here?
>
> Thanks

Since you are using inches, I assume you are in the USA. You should note 
that the largest "normal" size for matte boards in the USA is 40x60 
inches. This begs the question of how you are going to display your 
prints. My largest size for prints on paper is around 30x40 inches 
because of the 40x60 inch limitation on matte board. Anything larger I 
put on canvas and frame in a floater frame without glass. But... there 
are many paths to the waterfall.

Shipping a print of any size in a 3" tube is IMHO a bad idea. Why can't 
your vendor use a 6" tube? A 3" tube will most likely put a marked curl 
in your print. Most art papers would be difficult to roll tight enough 
to get into the tube that small, and the risk of damage in getting a 
large print into a tiny tube is something to consider.

These are just some things that your vendor should have told you be 
evidently didn't.
--
Bruce Watson

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, hogarth@s... wrote:
>
> mccarvill wrote:
> 
> > I'm planning to order some 40x50 prints on an Epson 9600 in the near


Objects that large may have to be shipped by truck freight if you ship 
it flat.

Good points, Bruce.

I intend to mat them, so I should probably stick to 30 x 40 too. Just 
curious – what's your finished size on a 30 x 40 print, including the 
mat? 

And I'll either get 6" tubes or have them packaged between sheets of 
foam core.

Mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, hogarth@s... 
wrote:
>
> mccarvill wrote:
> 
> > I'm planning to order some 40x50 prints on an Epson 9600 in the 
near
> > future and would be interested in recommendations and advice from 
those
> > with experience printing at this size.
> >
> > One print shop I contacted has recommended against my first 
choice for
> > paper (Epson premium luster), saying it's relatively thin, so 
large
> > prints are more prone to damage, creases and scuffs. He 
recommended
> > going with a matte paper, like Epson enhanced matte or 
Ultrasmooth, or
> > a watercolor paper. I'm not a fan of textured papers or those with
> > flaking issues. What are your favorite paper in this format, 
especially
> > among the luster or semi-glossy papers?
> >
> > Also, I have an option of getting the prints packaged in 3" tubes 
or
> > flat between foamcore. Any recommendations here?
> >
> > Thanks
> 
> Since you are using inches, I assume you are in the USA. You should 
note 
> that the largest "normal" size for matte boards in the USA is 40x60 
> inches. This begs the question of how you are going to display your 
> prints. My largest size for prints on paper is around 30x40 inches 
> because of the 40x60 inch limitation on matte board. Anything 
larger I 
> put on canvas and frame in a floater frame without glass. But... 
there 
> are many paths to the waterfall.
> 
> Shipping a print of any size in a 3" tube is IMHO a bad idea. Why 
can't 
> your vendor use a 6" tube? A 3" tube will most likely put a marked 
curl 
> in your print. Most art papers would be difficult to roll tight 
enough 
> to get into the tube that small, and the risk of damage in getting 
a 

> large print into a tiny tube is something to consider.
> 
> These are just some things that your vendor should have told you be 
> evidently didn't.
> --
> Bruce Watson
>

mccarvill wrote:

> Good points, Bruce.
>
> I intend to mat them, so I should probably stick to 30 x 40 too. Just
> curious \ufffd what's your finished size on a 30 x 40 print, including the
> mat?
>
> And I'll either get 6" tubes or have them packaged between sheets of
> foam core.
>
> Mark

I'm hardly what anyone would want to use as a guide! But since you asked...

My size in that range is 100 x 80 cm (39.4 x 31.5 in). My frame size 
then is 48 x 39.5 in. Not a lot of waste left from a 40 x 60 in. sheet 
of matte board ;-)

You can do the math and see how wide the window boarder is. 
Interestingly, I've found that as a print gets larger, the matting 
boarder tends to get smaller. Unfortunately, the window matte also seems 
to want to get thicker too. I'm using 8-ply matte boards at that size. 
That little extra thickness helps control the large print and keeps it 
from touching the glazing, but more importantly it just looks more 
proportional to me.

That's what I do, more or less. It varies depending on the image of 
course. But just because it works for me doesn't mean that anyone else 
has to do it that way. Clearly, YMMV.
--
Bruce Watson