Sunset Coatings Featured in Sign & Digital Graphics Magazine

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In the February edition of Sign & Digital Graphics magazine, LexJet’s Sunset Gloss Coating and Sunset Satin Coating were highlighted in the publication’s “Product Reviews,” under “Coatings for Canvas.”

In November, we released the next generation of the two coatings to offer easier application, a clear, crisp finish, greater UV protection and a formula that is NMP-free and complies with safety and health regulations.

We’re thrilled to receive the press coverage, and we’d love to hear from our customers, too. Have you tried the new Sunset Gloss Coating and/or Sunset Satin Coating? Please tell us about your experience in the comments below.

Get Recognized with a Sunset Print Award at Photo Competitions across the U.S.

Sunset Print Award

The Sunset Print Award, which debuted in 2009, will once again be presented at local, state and regional photography competitions across the U.S. in 2015, starting in January.

“The Sunset Print Award has become the coveted award in the photography market, and from my perspective as a board member of the Professional Photographers of Michigan we couldn’t be more appreciative of the award,” says Tina Timmons, owner of The Portrait Gallery in Vassar, Mich., a previous Sunset Award Winner who also prints for other photographers for competition.

The winners of Sunset Print Awards at each competition will then be eligible for the National Sunset Print Award, judged by a panel of expert judges in November at LexJet headquarters in Sarasota, Fla. Click here to read about this year’s National Sunset Print Award competition and the winners. And, to see all the winners since 2009, and the stories behind the images, click here.

Winners at each competition where a Sunset Print Award is presented also receive a beautiful crystal trophy (pictured above), a lapel pin and a $250 gift certificate good toward the purchase of Sunset award-winning inkjet photo papers, fine art papers, coatings and canvas.

Go to www.sunsetprint.com/competitions/ to see the most current list of competitions presenting a Sunset Print Award, and check back here regularly, as more are being added over the next month.

To find out more about the Sunset Print Award and upcoming competitions, as well as a gallery of previous winners and information on Sunset inkjet media, go to www.sunsetprint.com, or contact a LexJet print expert at 800-453-9538.

Step 2 in Color Management: Printer and Media Color Gamut

In Step 1 of the color management to-do list we discussed how the quality of your monitor impacts the precision of your output. Step 2 of 3 focuses on understanding how your printer and the inkjet media choices affect color.

Print accuracy doesn’t rely solely on your use of a custom profile and an accurate monitor, though these two components guide you toward the closest possible result. There are two additional variables that can have a big impact on the types of colors you can hit with any printer…

The first is the gamut of the printer. How an ink is formulated in order to print a Coca-Cola red or a Pepsi blue, for example, may differ slightly from technology to technology.

These days I field a lot of questions about choosing between an 8-color system and a 12-color system.  Or, should I use the 9-color or the 11-color printer? Is there a noticeable difference between them?

The answer is yes, there is a noticeable difference any time you add colors. However, the next question I usually follow up with is, “What are you using the printer to print?”

When considering printing technology, there are printers made for higher-speed production (HP Z5200, Canon S Series, Epson T Series, to name a few) that can print a sellable photographic image, but would not be the ideal to use for an artist, photographer or fine art reproduction house. These printers have fewer inks, which cuts down on gamut but improves on speed in most cases.

If you’re in the market for a printer, talk to a LexJet customer specialist and explain the market you are in. We will make sure that you are using the right equipment for the job.

If you are seeing a color that is in your photograph or art piece that you just can’t nail with your printer, it may be out of gamut for the printer or out of gamut for the media you chose to print to.

If you’ve calibrated the monitor, make sure your printer is running at 100 percent capacity, that you’ve soft-proofed the image with the chosen rendering intent, and used a specific printer profile to print. If it still doesn’t portray what’s on your screen, then either of the above mentioned may be at fault.

Now I just spit out a bunch of jargon that may be foreign to you, so click on the links to the tutorials here to find out more…

Download and install ICC Profiles:

PC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W-F-k8z5io

MAC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuOhztAqoyY

How to Softproof before Printing using Photoshop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahf9yEPO4zA

How to print using ICC Profiles (find your printer and computer combination):

http://www.youtube.com/user/LexJet/search?query=Printing+Through

Color gamut difference between a gloss and matte photo paper.
Figure 1 shows the difference in gamut between a gloss and a matte paper in the high, mid and low range of color (top to bottom). The gloss paper is our Sunset Gloss Photo Paper (red line) and the matte our Premium Archival Matte Paper (green line) as profiled on the Canon IPF8400 with the X-Rite DTP70. Click on the image for a larger version.

You can’t do anything to increase the gamut of the printer, but you can make the right decision based on your needs at the time you purchase the equipment. Making sure you use the right equipment for the type of work you are doing will dramatically increase the quality of your print.

Our second extremely important variable to understand is the media with which you choose to print. The less reflective the media, the less light that reflects back into your eyes, and therefore, the lower the gamut and detail your print will realize (see Figure 1).

Artists have come to love matte watercolor papers and canvas, yet always demand the best color on those surfaces. This is where the owner or production manager at a fine art reproduction house runs into the biggest conflict.

The reflectivity of your media is not the only aspect of the printable supplies that affects color outcome.  White point can change your gamut as well. The brighter the white point, the more gamut you’ll pick up, not to mention an increase in that lovely term the experts like to use, Dmax, which is the darkest measurable value your printer-media combination can hit.

For canvas, Sunset Select Gloss Canvas has the highest dynamic range and color gamut of the canvas offerings LexJet produces. The highest-gamut matte canvas is our Sunset Select Matte Canvas, which has a very punchy white base. Partnering the Sunset Coating line with Sunset Select Matte Canvas has been a very popular choice amongst artists and photographers.

If you are trying to appease the artist crowd who prefer fine art papers, the highest-range matte paper is Sunset Fibre Matte (a very smooth bright-white fiber cellulose paper). If you need 100% cotton with a smooth finish, Sunset Hot Press Rag will be close behind.

If they would like texture on their cotton paper our latest addition to the line is Sunset Bright Velvet Rag.  This paper has the highest Dmax of our cotton line and prints very elegant-looking velvet-textured prints.

On the photographic side of media options, all of our bright white glossy and semi-glossy fibre-based papers put out a phenomenal range. They are all meant to emulate different versions of old-style air dried chemical bath papers that film photographers were used to exposing in the darkroom. These papers include Sunset Fibre Gloss, Sunset Fibre Elite and Sunset Fibre Satin.

Our newest paper in this category is Sunset Fibre Rag, which is 100% cotton and has a warm tone to the base. Even though it is warm in tone, the range is very large and the texture is very fitting to that style of paper.

For RC photo-based paper replicas, nothing tops the gamut of the Sunset Photo Gloss Paper. It reflects the most light, has a high-gloss wet-looking surface like one you would receive from a photo lab providing chemical-style glossy prints.

Also ever so popular for printers looking for a beautiful thick luster paper (e-surface) is our Sunset Photo eSatin Paper. This paper has a very cool white point and the surface is the most popular amongst the RC-emulating class of papers.

LexJet will provide you with the ICC profiles for every media above mentioned. If we do not list one here for your technology we will happily make one for you free of charge! Next time, we’ll tackle Step 3 in the color management to-do list: understanding ICC Profiles and settings. In the meantime, feel free to call us any time at 800-453-9538 with questions.

LexJet Now Offers High-Speed, Economical Canvas Stretching Machine

Canvas Wrap MachineLexJet was recently tapped as the exclusive North American distributor of two economical, production-oriented canvas stretcher machines from Meath, Ireland-based GAPP Engineering: the Canvas Stretch Master and Studio Canvas Master.

The Studio Canvas Master, which retails at less than $3,000, can wrap up to 35 canvas prints per hour while the Canvas Stretch Master, which retails below $11,000, can wrap up to 60 canvas prints per hour. Both are pneumatically operated and available in two models: one that can stretch canvas prints up to 48″ x 48″ and one that can stretch canvas prints up to 60″ x 60″.

“Print shops, photographers and fine art reproduction companies now have a true turnkey canvas printing partner with LexJet. The canvas stretching machines are the perfect complement to our line of canvas products, which includes Fredrix Print Canvas, LexJet Sunset Canvas, Sunset Coatings, Sunset Stretcher Bars and the latest printer technology from Canon, Epson and HP,” says Alex Ried, LexJet product manager.

The Canvas Stretch Master is easy to install, simple to operate and takes up relatively little shop space since it sets up against the wall like a vertical panel saw. Virtually maintenance-free, the Canvas Stretch Master requires only a 120 psi air compressor to run it.

“We just started doing canvas wraps on the Canvas Stretch Master. It’s simple to use, doesn’t have a lot of moving parts, is solidly built and does the job well,” says Adam Rutkowski, operations manager for Linemark, Upper Marlboro, Md. “The machine will be a big help to us as we grow our market for canvas wraps.”

The Studio Canvas Master can be either bench- or wall-mounted, depending on space needs, and is ideal for imaging professionals who don’t require a high-production machine but are looking for an easier and more consistent method for finishing canvas.

Both machines feature guides that ensure even stapling, control points for flexible and consistent tensioning, and adjustments that allow for the stretching of other materials, like fabric. Constructed of steel and high-quality parts both machines are built to provide stability and durability for consistent and uninterrupted production.

The Canvas Stretch Master and Studio Canvas Master are available for demonstration at LexJet’s Sarasota headquarters and are expected to begin shipping in June. For more information and to schedule a demonstration, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

To see a video demonstration of the Canvas Stretch Master check out the embedded video below…

Another Classic Success Story: Cali Color

Inkjet printing photos and fine artIn a previous post, we profiled Keith Fabry Inc., a traditional reprographics company that embraced digital and responded to market demand accordingly. In the same vein, but from a different traditional path, Cali Color in Sacramento also embraced digital technology and its market response was similarly successful.

Where Keith Fabry Inc. gravitated toward more commercial point of purchase and corporate work, Cali Color explored the niches that made the most sense based on its experience and expertise. The commonality between the two, beyond large-format digital inkjet printing, is a savvy sense of customer awareness. Both understood and continue to understand demand and what, exactly, their respective markets demand.

Cali Color always had a handle on where its markets were headed, which is why the evolution from chemical process to digital process was relatively smooth and seamless. In short, Cali Color listens to its customers, anticipating demand so that its supply in the demand-and-supply equation is a perfect match.

While all this may be common sense, particularly in hindsight, as many similar companies found out in those revolutionary emerging-digital ’90s, it was difficult to see the forest for the trees, to repeat a cliché. Cali Color not only saw the forest, but the surrounding countryside as well.

Reproducing artwork on canvas with inkjet printingAs Cali Color’s owner, Patrick O’Kane, explains: “In the early ’90s we got into digital because designers were making the transition from traditional mock-up to computer mock-up. They didn’t have any way to proof the images they were doing on the computer because there were no desktop digital printers at that time. We invested a lot of money in a Canon color copier and a Fiery controller, which allowed us to hook the computers to the color copier to output.”

Though Cali Color made the move, it wasn’t easy. Matching Pantone colors with a toner-based, four-color printer was quite challenging, to say the least, but Cali Color made it work. Cali Color then moved to wide format with the acquisition of a 36-inch Encad NovaJet Pro to better serve those same designers. Cali Color had not yet purposed the printer for photographic and fine art reproduction since everything was still transparency-based. “We thought it was a great thing, but looking back it had a dot pattern the size of golf ball dimples,” says O’Kane.

Once digital cameras arrived on the scene, the possibilities for digital printing arrived as well. Cali Color, as O’Kane puts it, took a step back and evaluated their business and the landscape around it, plunging into inkjet photo reproduction with an Epson 9600.

Laminating photo inkjet prints“We had the option to go inkjet or LightJet. The reason we decided to go inkjet was the initial cost of getting into the technology and because there were a lot of substrates available that we could offer our customers that we couldn’t with LightJet,” explains O’Kane. “We offered the entire giclee process and that took off quite quickly; a lot of people were looking for alternatives and the quality was much better than any offset processes available.”

O’Kane says that since that time, Cali Color shut down its negative development processes and stopped doing traditional photographic printing and E6, becoming fully digital about three years ago. Cali Color’s earlier assessment at the digital crossroads proved prophetic as the versatility of inkjet ensured a satisfied and secure market.

“With all the materials LexJet was coming out with and improving, it gave our customers many different options. Now we offer most everything LexJet has to offer in the Sunset line. We found that our volume increased, so we’ve built a very nice niche in the fine art market. We also do a fair amount of trade show graphics, which has gotten us into other substrates like LexJet’s Water-Resistant Satin Cloth and cold PSA laminates,” says O’Kane. “What we’ve found, even in this economy, is that our client base is actually getting wider, including other states and the Bay Area. We’ve built a reputation based on quality. We’ve combined our equipment and our darkroom techniques from years ago, transferring those techniques for use on the computer.”

O’Kane says Cali Color prints a lot of canvas, from limited editions and custom gallery wraps to large décor jobs. The keys are consistency, economy and value-added service, he says, to be competitive in this market.

Mounting inkjet prints on art boards“When it comes to a price point, LexJet’s Sunset canvases are great; they’re perfect for bidding on larger jobs, and I’m confident that the material we’re printing on will look great for years to come,” says O’Kane. “And, the Sunset Coatings are the best products I’ve seen in the way of protecting canvas prints… ever. I was using another coating, but it had to be diluted with distilled water and the dilution varied depending on the time of year I was doing it. I ruined more prints than I save. The Sunset product is ready to use out of the can and it doesn’t matter what humidity or temperature I’m dealing with. It’s an incredible product.”

O’Kane says his favorite print media for fine art and photography, aside from canvas, are Sunset Textured Fine Art and Sunset Hot Press Rag. “Our clients love those papers,” he says. “They’re consistent from batch to batch so I don’t have to worry about printing the same image six months down the road and having an issue with matching texture or anything else.”

For bin prints that people buy off the shelf from the artists and frame themselves, O’Kane uses LexJet’s Premium Archival Matte. “The fine art papers are generally reserved for limited editions, but if they’re selling prints that people can leaf through a bin to buy, Premium Archival Matte is a lot better paper for that since it’s less expensive. It also behaves a lot better than other matte papers I’ve used in that weight, and it’s archival.”

It’s all about options, and Cali Color makes sure its customers have plenty of them, whether it’s a large décor project or a laminated trade show graphic. It’s also about taking time to educate customers about those options, the thinking behind choosing materials and the printing process itself.

“We take time with our customers. The one thing digital has done it has made the photographer a darkroom technician. Some like it and some don’t. Some people have a handle on color, and some don’t. So, when we get a file from a customer, we take time to look at it. If we see deficiencies in that file – color, density, size, enough pixels to do the size they want – we’ll stop and talk to the customer to let them know our concerns,” says O’Kane. “I arrange a time with new customers to come in and we go through each individual file so we can show them if we make changes what the images will look like and how I feel it will be better. Back in the day when we were doing traditional processes, that’s what we did and made the best possible print we could by altering it – changing color density and burning and dodging.”

In other words, Cali Color is an open book to its clients. O’Kane shares information on how they calibrate their equipment, offer tutorials on color management and file preparation and gives talks to art and photography groups.

“I don’t think there are any huge trade secrets, so the more information I can give my customer, the more predictable the results are every time I get a file from them. It makes a difference, and it really doesn’t take that long,” says O’Kane.

The Highlander Studios Finds a Better Way to Stretch Canvas

Selling inkjet canvas wrapsThe Highlander Studios in Kilmarnock, Va., has evolved over the years so that printing has become as much of its business, if not more, than photography. Owner Charles Lawson has found that, when it comes to printing, customers are looking for more than just the usual prints of their photographs.

To keep up with that demand, and to keep the business growing, The Highlander Studios has recently emphasized stretched inkjet canvas wraps. In doing so, Lawson has encountered the Goldilocks Syndrome, where finding that just-right process for creating canvas wraps can be elusive.

Doing it by hand, while less expensive, is time-consuming. Using an automated system, like the Tensador II, requires a larger upfront investment and subsequently more volume to justify it. Stretcher kits save time, but often lack the quality and durability Lawson would like to ensure a long-lasting stretched canvas.

“I felt like I was stretching something around a piece of balsa wood. They achieved the goal of having a gallery wrap, but left a lot to be desired when it came to humidity resistance and other environmental factors,” says Lawson. “We had a young artist who bought a ton of stretched canvases and I worked my hands down to blisters trying to stretch them all with pliers, so I started looking at the automated machine a lot harder, but we typically don’t have the kind of volume to justify it.”

Lawson’s search for a better way led him to try LexJet’s new Sunset Stretcher Kits and he found that they’re a perfect match for the volume he does and the quality he’s after.

“The Sunset Stretcher Kits are a lot sturdier than other kits we’ve worked with. They’re built better and made out of better materials. It’s a whole different ballgame,” says Lawson.

Lawson expects the canvas wrap business to ramp up for him during the senior photo season when he plans to roll it out as an alternative print product. “People seem to like them, they’re different and it’s not something my competition is doing,” says Lawson.

Using inkjet canvas wraps for senior pictures
Senior photo season provides The Highlander Studios with an excellent avenue for selling inkjet canvas wraps using Sunset Stretcher Kits.

Another angle Lawson is taking with canvas wraps is creating personalized baby photo montages through photoduds.com. Lawson allows the customer, working through the templates he buys through photoduds.com, to pick out the design the design, colors and text elements.

“They’re really part of the process and making their own unique print for their home. I do all the retouching and laying out, and they come out with a 16×16 gallery wrapped print they’ve designed for themselves,” says Lawson. “It’s great when you can get customers involved in the process within designated template parameters. It creates more ownership in the product and helps with repeat business. We really do it more as a less expensive promotional item to help get people in the door.”

In the fall, Lawson says they’ll be busy with artist’s reproductions as they prepare for the avalanche of spring shows and gallery presentations. Then, the mix of materials will expand from photo papers and canvas to Sunset Cotton Etching and other art papers.

Selling marketing banners
The Highlander Studios also sells marketing banners printed on LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth.

“We have even started marketing for the artists using banner stands with Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. We’re in a rural area so we have to do a little of everything. We have to change it up all the time, and it gives me a chance to try all of LexJet’s stuff,” adds Lawson.