GeorgetownTag:

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
Leave a comment

Promoting Tourism with Inkjet Prints in Retractable Banner Stands

Promotional Banners by Grizzly Creek Gallery

Award-winning photographer Gary Haines, owner of Grizzly Creek Gallery, also has an eye for design and printed pieces that catch the eyes of passersby.

Banner Stand GraphicsThe historic Colorado mountain mining town in which Grizzly Creek Gallery is located, Georgetown, recently needed banners for a booth the town was setting up at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver to promote tourism.

The answer was the combination of outstanding photography, design and print services that Haines offers. In this case Haines created two 36″ x 84″ banners and one 39 1/4″ x 83″ banner.

Haines used a larger photo for the background and then laid out smaller photos on top of the background, created in Photoshop. All the photos but one are from Haines’ portfolio of local Georgetown color.

The smaller photos were completed with drop shadows and bevels to give the banners a three-dimensional quality and bring more attention to the message: that Georgetown is a great place to visit for a variety of reasons.

Banner Stand GraphicsThe banners were printed on LexJet 5.5 Mil Matte Opaque Display Film with an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 inkjet printer. Haines used two LexJet Giant Mosquito Retractable Banner Stands (the 36″ x 84″ banners) and a LexJet Orient Retractable Banner Stand.

“The colors turned out great on the Display Film. Each banner and stand comes with its own carrying case and you can re-use them and swap out banners very easily, so the entire package creates a really nice and easy-to-use display for my clients,” says Haines.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
Leave a comment

Printing Custom Fine Art Photo Coasters for Additional Sales

Printing fine art photo coasters

In a previous post here at the LexJet Blog, Gary Haines, owner of Grizzly Creek Gallery in Georgetown, Colo., had introduced a line of posters featuring select pieces from his fine art landscape photography. As mentioned in that post, the posters serve two purposes: To give those who can’t afford the exquisitely printed and finished larger works access to Haines’ outdoor work and to provide Haines with an additional revenue stream by capturing those who would otherwise have walked out of the gallery without buying anything.

Fine art photographic printing
The large art gallery floats are similar in construction to the fine art photo coasters pictured above, printed on Sunset Photo eSatin, laminated and mounted to MDF.

Haines took that same concept and applied it to coasters. Now clientele have a nice Colorado keepsake to take home that also has a practical use. I recently visited Haines and couldn’t help myself; after chatting for a bit, the next thing you know I’m walking out with three coasters.

The coasters are similar to the large art gallery floats that adorn Grizzly Creek Gallery, which are printed on LexJet Sunset Photo eSatin Paper, mounted to 1/4″ or 3/8″ MDF and laminated with a luster laminate. The difference is, of course, the size. Plus the art gallery floats have a one inch framework behind them so they float off the wall while the coasters are more like small plaques with beveled edges.

Most of the coasters are printed on Sunset Photo eSatin, but some are also printed on LexJet Sunset Photo Metallic Paper. Haines likes the shine the Metallic paper provides, especially on his various renditions of aspen groves.

Haines gang prints the coaster images and sends them to DuraPlaq in Longmont, Colo., who then laminate the images to the MDF blanks. Picture This – Superior in Lafayette, Colo., usually takes care of the larger art gallery floats using the same basic process.

Inkjet printing fine art photography
For smaller test prints and posters, Gary Haines uses LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper.

“Sunset Photo eSatin has a heavier weight and is more durable than most photo papers. I also really like the colors I get when I print on it as well as the surface texture; it’s like the darkroom papers we used to use,” explains Haines.

As noted in the previous post, Haines produces posters and test prints on LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper. It’s similar in look and feel to Sunset Photo eSatin, but it’s less expensive and thinner. In other words, it’s a good alternative for more economical photo products like posters.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
Leave a comment

Affordable Inkjet Printed Posters Contribute to Cash Flow

Posters fine art inkjet printing

When you think “Colorado vacation” you normally think of skiing and other snow sports, but Colorado’s busiest tourist season actually occurs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That’s when it starts really hopping in Georgetown, an old mining community – now a tourist destination – that sits in a valley on the approaches to the Eisenhower Tunnel and the alpine areas for which Colorado is famous.

In downtown Georgetown you’ll find Grizzly Creek Gallery and its proprietor, Gary Haines, featured here at the LexJet Blog previously for his high-end, award-winning outdoor landscape photography and printing.

The problem, if you can really call it that, is that Haines’ work fetches a high price, as well it should. The stunning work of masterfully captured light in beautiful alpine meadows and woods from around Colorado is painstakingly rendered on the finest LexJet Sunset fine art and photo papers and framed to perfection.

Posters inkjet printing fine art photographyFor those who can’t afford finished fine art pieces but love the images, Haines started printing and offering posters of his high end work earlier this year. It’s the proverbial win-win. Haines captures buyers who would have otherwise walked out empty handed, while retaining those who want something of exquisite quality and at a much larger size hanging up in their home or office.

He prints the 19 in. x 38 in. panoramas with his Epson Stylus Pro 9900 on LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper. The paper is an excellent choice because it dries quickly for long runs and retains a quality look you simply don’t get from a typical poster paper.

“It’s relatively inexpensive to print when you’re designing and printing them yourself, they dry quickly and people who buy the posters really like it. We just roll them up, put them in a nice tube with an attractive sticker that displays the image, along with the price and bar code,” says Haines. “They’re designed in Photoshop and printed through the driver. I have a LaCie monitor calibrated to the printer, so whatever I see on the screen is what will print out.”

Haines is currently offering six different panoramas on posters, including the image that won the Landscape/Nature/Fine Art category in LexJet’s Shine On! photo contest, Winter Serenity.

“Since the posters are such a new item, I’ve seen a small uptick in sales of five to ten percent,” explains Haines. “As spring and summer approaches I expect to see more sales, especially from the tourists who purchase images of Colorado at a more affordable price.”