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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Technology & Products
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New KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo and Fine-Art Papers at LexJet

KODAK has introduced foNew KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo and Fine Art Papersur new photo and fine art papers that supplement and complement Kodak’s growing line of Professional Inkjet media for wide-format printing that are now available at LexJet: KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Fibre Glossy Fine Art Paper / 285g, KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Fibre Satin Fine Art Paper / 285g, KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Smooth Fine Art Paper / 315g, and KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Textured Fine Art Paper / 315g.

All four inkjet papers were designed to be compatible with the latest printer and ink technology from Canon, Epson and HP, maximizing the color gamut and fidelity their next-generation printers provide…

KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Fibre Glossy Fine Art Paper / 285g: This ultra-glossy, ultra-smooth fibre paper was designed to replicate the fibre-based papers traditionally used in darkroom processing. Universally compatible with dye and pigmented inks, this is a great choice for the photographer, artist or reproduction company that requires a high-end look for their work.

KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Fibre Satin Fine Art Paper / 285g: This is the satin version of Kodak’s new fibre paper. It’s a bright white digital baryta paper with a “semi-glazed” surface that accepts all dye and pigmented inks.

KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Smooth Fine Art Paper / 315g: As the name implies, it has a smooth, silky surface on a 100% cotton acid free base that captures extreme detail. With the look and feel of traditional art paper it provides high-end, timeless appeal for photo albums, cards, photo restorations and more.

KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Textured Fine Art Paper / 315g: For a unique painterly look, this natural white alpha cellulose paper with a coarse, structured surface replicates traditional artist papers for all types of reproductions, including fine art, photo restorations and art and photo albums.

The new inkjet photo papers are available in various sheet and roll sizes up to 44 inches wide. For more information, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products
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A Second Opinion: Sunset Fibre Rag Reviewed at Shutterbug

Inkjet photo paper reviewIf you’re looking for an in-depth review on LexJet’s latest fine art/photographic paper, Sunset Fibre Rag, and how it might fit into your workflow check out George Schaub’s post at Shutterbug. Schaub tested 17″ x 22″ sheets of Sunset Fibre Rag on an Epson 4900, putting the paper through its paces in both color and black-and-white images.

“I tested the paper on monochrome, color and low saturation images, and worked with Photoshop CS6 Beta software on a MacBook Pro V6.2. The monochrome images displayed a deep, rich black with fine repro of the mid-tone values. When an image had a range of bright highlights, the slightly warm base added to their reproduction while not muting their place in the image. This encouraged me to work with numerous images that often came out too contrasty on pure gloss or metallic base papers (and too flat on purely matte surfaces) and I found that they had newfound life on the LexJet surface,” wrote Schaub.

Schaub’s review covers the entire process, from print preparation to the characteristics the paper brought out of the images Schaub printed, and all the details in between. As an example, Schaub writes: “And when you rub your finger across the surface of the paper you get that satisfying sound that only a medium to heavyweight fine art paper delivers. That is what could count as a ‘feel the material’ type of qualification, but I often use that as part of how I judge a paper. The weight of the paper makes it easy to work with when matting and mounting, and the durability is a strong factor in paper choice.”

To read the entire review of Sunset Fibre Rag, click here. And, for more information about Sunset Fibre Rag, the Sunset line of fine art and photo papers, or anything else in the inkjet printing workflow, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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LexJet Sunset Award: Enter to Win a $200 Gift Certificate and More at PhotoPro Expo

Win awards and prizes at the PhotoPro Expo 2012Billed as the Super Bowl of Photography, the PhotoPro Expo takes place on Super Bowl Weekend, Feb. 2-5 at the Marriott River Center in Covington, Ky., just across the river from Cincinnati. As part of the educational weekend, which features an all-star lineup of speakers, there’s also a Print Competition and Exhibition.

The Print Competition features more than $5,000 in awards and prizes, including the coveted LexJet Sunset Award. The winner of the LexJet Sunset Award and the handsome trophy will also receive a $200 gift certificate toward the purchase of any of the fine art and photo papers and canvases in LexJet’s Sunset portfolio of inkjet media for professional photographic and fine art printing.

To qualify for the LexJet Sunset Award, the entries must be printed on any LexJet photo or fine art paper and meet PhotoPro Expo’s print competition submission requirements.

All registrations must be completed at printcompetition.com before shipping or hand delivering your entries. Shipped cases must be received by Jan. 30 and hand-delivered submissions by 3 p.m., Feb. 1. Click here for all the Print Competition details and rules.

Divisions include Portrait, Wedding, Gallery, Digital Artistry, Rising Star, Albums and Specialists. The winner of each Category within those Divisions – the Portrait Division, for instance, includes General, Children, Senior, Fashion and Best Categories – will be chosen by judges during the Expo and recognized at the awards ceremony. In addition, Top Honors will be given to the PhotoPro Network Photographer of the Year (plus a $200 cash prize), Best of Show ($150 cash prize), People’s Choice Award ($100 cash prize), Best Black & White Award ($100 cash prize) and PhotoPro Network TOP 10 Awards ($50 gift certificates).

Speakers include Photoshop guru Scott Kelby, the legendary Jerry Ghionis, Skip Cohen of Skip’s Summer School, top portrait photographer Kirk Volklain, NYC fashion photographer Lindsay Adler, best-selling Speed Lighting author Syl Arena, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet, branding expert Sarah Petty, Smithsonian American History museum featured artist Joel Grimes, and retouch and image enhancement authority Janice Wendt.

For more information and to register for the show go to http://photopronetwork.com/ or call PhotoPro Network HQ at 606-928-5333. And, for more information about the LexJet Sunset Award, contact Tom Gruss at 800-453-9538 or email tom.gruss@lexjet.com. 

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Breaking the Mold with Large Format Inkjet Printing

Printing and framing at American MouldingIt wasn’t a stretch for Melbourne, Fla.-based American Moulding to re-direct its business into large format inkjet printing, but it did break the mold and continues to do so with great success. American Moulding started out about 12 years ago as a distribution company for picture frame moulding and supplies. When the economy took a turn for the worse, American Moulding’s primary distribution business took a hit.

Rather than mourn the decline, American Moulding took a proactive approach and decided to start printing. Since that time three years ago the company has tripled its revenues, outpacing its original picture framing distribution business model. In other words, American Moulding’s product line has shifted almost entirely to large format inkjet printing for artists, corporations and interior decorators, while leveraging its previous expertise in framing by offering a fully finished, high-quality product.

“We do art reproduction and framing, so now it’s the total package. We had brand equity in the American Moulding name and we didn’t want to lose that with companies we were already working for. We have one large client who helped drive that for us. We did most of the framing for their art galleries and other venues. The door opened up for us when they asked if we could print a small background for them, so we bought an Epson 3800. Then the requests came in more frequently and that’s when we expanded into a 24-inch [Epson 7880] and two 44-inch printers [a Canon iPF8100 and an Epson 9900],” says Chris Bryant, owner of American Moulding. “Cutting out the distribution business was nerve-wracking at first, but we’ve been able to exceed our revenues. We’ve managed to grow it and continue to grow it by introducing new products and becoming more of a credible source with our clients. Every day and every week we continue to win more business.”

Printing fine art and photographyAnother key component of American Moulding’s success has been customer service. Bryant has a simple explanation for American Moulding’s customer service philosophy: “We become an extension of who they are.”

Bryant explains that their concept is to be on call as if they were in the office next door, ready for action at a moment’s notice. “That way, if there’s a problem, they can call us as if we were right there on their property with them. The more we do that the deeper we ingrain ourselves in the fabric of what they do, so it makes us more in line and in tune with their philosophies.”

The most difficult part of the transition to large format printing was getting the workflow and color management issues down pat. The team at American Moulding buckled down, learned the software and utilized the technology to its fullest so that it was print-ready almost from day one.

“That was probably the biggest adjustment – making sure we had a critical eye in evaluating the art and colors and that we were getting it right every time. We’re still learning every day, but we did a good job from the beginning. The feedback we were getting from our clients was that we were getting it right the first time, rather than having to color proof it two or three times to get it right. They started having confidence in what we were doing and began shifting more work our way. We have a three-person signoff on each piece of art we produce just to evaluate color,” explains Bryant. “We went from printing small jobs of one or two prints to running limited editions. Now we have about 150 pieces of art that are still active and it grows every day.”

Building a large format inkjet printing business
Chris Bryant and Heather Bailey of American Moulding. Their customer service philosophy is simple: To be an extension of their client's business.

Bryant adds that keeping up with the latest technology and printable media has played a crucial role in the company’s growth. American Moulding is not afraid to experiment and try new media out, much to the delight of their clients.

“Canvas always comes out great, but I like playing with the fine art and watercolor papers. We also love the Sunset Photo Metallic Paper and the artists we work with love it as well. We don’t put it on everything and overuse it, but the art we print on it just jumps off the paper and the artists jump at the chance to work with it. Some paint specifically for that paper,” explains Bryant. “LexJet is constantly introducing new products to us, and they have lot of the same philosophies we have in customer service. They touch base regularly to learn more about who we are and what we do so that they’re able to give us new product ideas to effectively move our business forward. Our customer specialist, Rob Finkel, and his team have been awesome and helped us get over some of the learning curve. LexJet has been a catalyst in our growth.” 

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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Picture This Gallery Wins DECOR Magazine’s Technology Integration Award

Large format inkjet printing has not only been a life-saver for Picture This Gallery in Hermitage, Tenn., it’s also led to the custom frame shop’s recognition as both an innovator and as one of the top businesses in its market space. Picture This co-owner Donald Chambers says the gallery’s diversification into inkjet printing has allowed it to grow in a tough economy.

Picture This Gallery runs three Epson printers from LexJet, providing its customers with a diverse selection of LexJet media, including Premium Archival Matte, Sunset Select Matte Canvas and Sunset Photo Metallic Paper.

“Printing has brought a lot of new clients in and has kept our business in the forefront of people’s minds. People don’t frame every day, but they need other things besides framing. I get so many comments about how convenient we are as a one-stop shop; our clients love the fact that they don’t have to run all over town to get everything done,” explains Chambers. “We have diversified our shop so much from being just a custom framing business to offering all kinds of services, like scanning, artist reproduction work, printing canvas and fine art papers, photo restoration and all kinds of graphics work. All of LexJet’s equipment and media ties into our success and it’s one of the things that kept our business going through the hard times. There were a lot of small frame shops that dropped by the wayside during those hard years.”

It’s this holistic approach to Picture This Gallery’s business that was instrumental in winning DECOR Magazine’s Technology Integration Award for the second time (Picture This won the inaugural award in 2006). The award is given to the frame shop/gallery owner making the best use of technology. According to the magazine, “The annual DECOR Top Art & Framing Retailers Awards recognize excellence in 11 specific categories: best interior design (two winners), best backroom design (two winners), marketing, technology integration, best store website, best e-newsletter, best local community outreach, best artist’s show, and best new services.”

In addition to technology diversification, another successful program has been Third Thursday, a free art event held at Picture This every (you guessed it) third Thursday. The event draws between 500 and 600 people each month who come to see local talent at the shop’s 4,000 square foot art gallery and sample wine and hors d’oeuvres.

“We feature two different artists each month and rotate our gallery every two months. We work with two other local businesses here – a wine store that provides our wine and a French bistro that provides all the hors d’oeuvres. We have an email list and we drop a couple of ads each month for it. It’s something else that keeps our store in people’s minds,” says Chambers.

Winners of the annual DECOR Top Art & Framing Retailers Awards will be profiled later this month in the November issue of DECOR Magazine and at its website: www.decormagazine.com.

Posted on by LexJet Posted in News & Trends
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Hahnemühle Discusses Their ‘Green’ Production Processes

LexJet is a proud reseller of Hahnemühle FineArt papers for inkjet photo and fine-art printing. So we are pleased to share this paper that Hahnemϋhle recently released describing the environmentally friendly production processes used in their papermaking.

Hahnemühle FineArt GmbH located in Dassel, Germany celebrated its 425th anniversary this year, making it one of the world’s oldest continuously trading paper mills. Throughout its history, Hahnemühle has been uniquely sensitive to environmental issues in an industry that is notorious for its exploitation of the natural world. Today Hahnemühle continues to lead with its innovative and infinitely sustainable production processes.

Joerg Adomat, Hahenmuhle CEO
Joerg Adomat, Hahnemuhle CEO

Joerg Adomat, Hahnemühle CEO, states, “The green rooster, the brother of the Hahnemühle red rooster, was created to show that we care about the environment. Caring means offering environmentally sound products, using green power production and sponsoring environmental initiatives. In doing so, last year we saved 3000 tons of carbon dioxide, introduced bamboo fiber and sugar cane waste- based papers and donated more than $100,000 to environmental initiatives.”

The main resources necessary for the production of paper are water, pulp and a tremendous amount of electrical energy. Hahnemühle has addressed all of these from a product quality and sustainability perspective:

Water: The Hahnemühle paper mill was originally established on the banks of the pure, spring-fed Ilme river near the town of Dassel in the beautiful Solling region of Lower Saxony, Germany. Today this region has been designated as a Nature Protection Area by a European Flora Fauna Habitat directive. As a resident of this beautiful area, Hahnemühle has adapted sustainable fresh water and contaminant-free sewage recycling programs that exceed even the most stringent FFH directives. Now, 425 years later, the water of the Ilme is still classified as “drinking quality”!

Pulp: The Hahnemühle product portfolio encompasses more than 500 different types of fine art, filter and technical papers, many of which are used in precision industrial and medical applications that require the highest degree of purity. Since many of these applications rule out the use of recycled paper fibers, the importance of using sustainable forest resources becomes paramount to our green initiatives.

HahnemuhleFineArtGreenRoosterWe use pulp from 20 different deciduous and conifer tree species worldwide and insist that our suppliers be certified for sustainable forestry practices that meet or exceed the equivalent of Forest Stewardship Council directives.

In addition to wood pulp, we also use six different types of cotton linters and rags made from the super-soft, non-aging fibers of totally renewable cotton plant seed vessels. In recent years Hahnemühle has developed two new “green” papers that have been added to the Digital FineArt Collection. The first was Bamboo 290gsm made from the fast growing fibers of the bamboo plant. The latest is Sugar Cane 300gsm, 75% of which is made from bagasse fibers, a by-product of sugar cane processing that would otherwise be burned. Cotton fibers gleaned from recycling our own paper waste make up the remaining 25%.

Electricity: The production of paper is an energy-intensive process; most of which is electrical. In January of 2009, Hahnemühle switched to one of Europe’s most eco-friendly electrical energy providers called LichtBlick. The power provided by this company is generated entirely from easily sustainable power sources. No atomic, coal, gas or petroleum fuels are used. This will allow us to eliminate approximately 3,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, a figure that roughly equals our total paper production for a year!

Recycling: Whenever possible, we process our own paper trimming waste and return it directly into the production cycle. The excess waste trimmings that we cannot use are accumulated and forwarded to other fabricators, effectively eliminating virtually all our mill waste. Finally, all Hahnemühle packaging is made from fully recyclable materials. For more information visit www.green-rooster.com or www.hahnemuhledirect.com.

LexJet sells two Hahnemühle canvases (in sheets and rolls) and 22 different types of papers from the Hahnemühle Digital FineArt collection, including Hahnemühle’s environmentally friendly Bamboo 290 g and Sugar Cane 300 g papers.

Call a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538 for personalized assistance in selecting the right Hahnemuhle materials for your printmaking requirements and fast, economical delivery of your order.