FAQ: Photographers

Yes, getting beautiful prints of your own photos can be an expensive endeavor.  The costs of hardware and consumables, and the time necessary to become expert can really add up.  Why go to all that effort?  Two reasons:

1.  Creative control.  We believe printing is as much a part of the process as shooting and editing.  As your understanding of printmaking grows, you will learn new ways to consolidate your expression into the process- blowing open new doors to creativity.

2.  Margins.  While licensing your photography may seem simpler, the compensation for a print can often be counted in cents over dollars.  More photographers are finding that by printing their own work they can make a living wage off prints alone and finally take photography from a side-hustle to a full-time career.  Even with apportioning the cost of a printer into your costs, you will find printing yourself to be significantly less expensive than hiring a print shop to do it for you.

Breathing Color media is identified by the ink type it is designed to accept.  Common ink types include water based (aqueous), solvent, UV, and latex.  Confirm printer's your ink type to ensure compatibility with the media you've selected. 

Generally Aqueous is the preferred ink type for photographers.  Ink for aqueous printers may be more expensive and print time may be slower, but the results are definitely worth it.  Most aqueous printers have lower up-front costs and offer superior detail and deeper saturations.

You may not have heard of us, but hit the forums or ask your local print shop and it's a different story.   Our customers know us as the industry's best kept secret- the true pro's silver bullet, setting their work apart.  We spend less on marketing than the brands you're familiar with, but what we don't spend on marketing is allocated into our manufacturing and R&D process.  Our highly advanced inkjet coatings are simply more expensive to produce than traditional coatings.  A domestic manufacturer direct model allows us to sell higher quality products at a fraction of the cost.

Although it's not an absolute must, for true assurance we suggest wearing white, cotton gloves while handling any BC inkjet media.  This will help prevent the transfer of dirt and oils to the highly absorbent inkjet receptive coating.

When not in use, media should be stored in its original packaging, just as you received it.  More about handling and storage practices can be found on the Printmaking section of our blog.

Banding is most often caused by a hardware malfunction such as a clogged nozzle.  The steps below can help you identify the issue:

1. Check your printer's manual to ensure it can handle media of the relevant thickness and weight.  Ensure your BC media doesn't exceed these maximum specifications.

2. Perform a nozzle check.  Visit our blog, topcoatED, to learn how to perform a nozzle check and other essential printer maintenance.

3. If your nozzle check results pass, confirm your platen gap and other print settings.

4.  Still seeing banding?  Contact Support for more help

Wrapping photo paper with paper sleeves as other manufacturers do can lead to damage to the surface of the media.  By replacing a conventional sleeve with a small strip of tape to hold the roll, we avoid potential abrasions. Although designed to release cleanly, in some climates this tape can leave behind residue on the media.  We compensate for any potential media loss by including a few extra feet of material beyond the advertised roll length.

Minute surface imperfections are, to some extent, within tolerances and a natural by product of the base metal.  Our inkjet receptive coating for Allure is designed to fill and level these defects but every so often.  Our QC designates an allowable number of specks per sheet, according to sheet size. 

Full-size (48" x 96") and half-size (48" x 48") sheets are made with tolerances for more imperfections as we intentionally route around these blemishes when milling our pre-cut sizes.

Most often these small imperfections will not effect the quality of the final print.  If you believe you have received a pack or sheet of Allure with noticeable blemishes outside of standard tolerance please contact support and be ready to provide images and return the product.