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Posted on by LexJet Posted in Tips & Tricks
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Learn How to Get More From Your Wide-Format Inkjet Printer

By Eileen Fritsch

Décor Photography: Because photographing food is one of Humphreys’ specialties as a commercial photographer, he offers many artistic images of fresh fruits and vegetables in The Carlysle Collection, his online site for décor photography. Many of his images are ideal for the walls of restaurants, kitchens, or food stores. Humphreys will make prints of any of the images in the collection in sizes ranging from 8 x 10 in. up to 30 x 40 in. Typically, he uses either LexJet’s Sunset Select Canvas or Sunset Photo eSatin Paper. To see more of Humphreys’ décor photography, visit www.thecarlyslecollection.com
Décor Photography: Because food is one of Humphreys’ specialties as a commercial photographer, he offers artistic images of fresh fruits and vegetables in The Carlysle Collection, his online site for décor photography. Humphreys will make prints of any image in the collection in sizes ranging from 8 x 10 in. up to 30 x 40 in. Photo ©David Humphreys

At PhotoPlus Expo, which opens Oct. 22 in New York, many sessions will help photography professionals adapt to the changing economics of the photography business. Some sessions will explain how to branch out into new fields such as weddings, portraiture, cinematography, or fine-art photography. Other sessions will talk about different marketing channels and techniques, including websites, social networks, personal branding, photo books, and selling stock direct.  It will be a very timely conference, and I expect to return with many new ideas and sources of helpful information.

Many of the business diversification and marketing themes at PhotoPlus Expo dovetail nicely with the content I’m developing for future issues of LexJet’s In Focus newsletter. If you’re not familiar with In Focus, check out the current issue and explore the archives.

One of the main editorial goals of In Focus is to help photography professionals find ways to generate new revenues, especially by doing more with the pro-model Canon, Epson, and HP printers they purchase from LexJet.

For example, for the most recent issue of In Focus, I profiled David Humphreys an accomplished, Addy-award-winning commercial photographer who runs the Fabphotos studio in Baton Rouge, LA.  He owns both an HP Designjet Z3100 and an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 and uses a variety of materials from LexJet, including LexJet Sunset Select Canvas, Sunset Coatings, and Sunset Photo eSatin Paper.

His primary business is high-end product photography for corporate clients, publications, and organizations. But he also markets décor prints online through The Carlysle Collection and creates one-of-a-kind, photo-collage prints that he sells through fine-art galleries.  And with connections he made through the gallery, he has started making prints and limited-edition reproductions for artists and other photographers.

Although this diversification has helped his photography business, Humphreys says it does require almost constant attention to marketing, including learning more about new markets for your work, finding ways to differentiate yourself, and producing and promoting high-quality work that people will gravitate to.

During the transition from film to digital photography, Humphreys says he invested a lot of time and money in researching and buying new equipment. Now he is focusing on generating more revenues with the equipment he already owns—including his printers.

“I used to send all my work to a lab,” says Humphreys. “But now I not only print 95% of my own work, but I also do high-end printing for other photographers and artists.” When he shoots products for commercial clients, he will sometimes print banners and displays for them as well.

Humphreys uses different signature photos in his e-mails, depending on whether he is corresponding with clients for his editorial, fine-art, or decor photography.
Humphreys uses different signature photos in his e-mails, depending on whether he is corresponding with clients for his editorial, fine-art, or decor photography.

As printing has become a more important part of his business, Humphreys relies on LexJet for continuing advice and support (which is partly why we publish In Focus).

 “I feel like I can call my rep Darren Vena any time, ask him questions, and have him research different types of materials for me,” says Humphreys. “The information LexJet shares with its customers is a wonderful thing.”

If you’d like to learn more about how to get more from your printer, call a LexJet account specialist for more details at 800-453-9538 or subscribe to LexJet’s In Focus newsletter.

In addition to the In Focus article, Finding New Markets for Photography Talents, you may also be interested in the article that describes Fantastic Deals on New Printers Through Oct. 31.

Posted on by LexJet Posted in News & Trends
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Company Donates a Canvas Print for Each One Purchased

PictureItOnCanvasMed3

By Justin Craft

Here’s yet another great example of how a LexJet customer is using his talents to help worthy causes. What makes this story even better is that this buy one/give one program can help support the charitable works of pro photographers nationwide.  

For every canvas print purchased from Picture It On Canvas from now until the end of 2009, the company will donate one canvas print to charity.  Since this buy one/give one program was introduced in April, prints have been donated to a number of organizations, including an adoption agency, an organization that feeds the hungry and the homeless, and Operation Love: Reunited, a foundation of photographers who provide free photography sessions to military families before or after deployment overseas.

Bob McKeon, president of Picture It On Canvas, says the buy one/give one program was inspired by the conscious capitalism model used by Tom’s Shoes and other companies. Tom’s Shoes donates one pair of shoes to people in need for every pair of shoes it sells. After watching a TV commercial about Tom’s Shoes, McKeon decided to try something similar. 

Although a canvas print can’t provide the immediate relief that new shoes can give to child living in poverty, high-quality photographic prints on canvas can help non-profit organizations visually tell their stories or raise funds. For example, the adoption agency plans to use the prints to display portraits of the foster children in their offices.  OpLov Reunited is donating the prints to their volunteer photographers.  Other non-profits will use the prints for silent auction prizes, for their hallways and offices, and as awards to various volunteers and donors.

Founded in 2007, Picture It On Canvas is an online business devoted exclusively to printing photographs on canvas. To provide top-quality, long-lasting prints with spot-on colors, the company prints on LexJet Sunset Select canvas using ImagePrint RIP software with a 44-in. Epson Stylus Pro 9800 printers and UltraChrome K3 pigment inks.

“We receive outstanding results with this combination of printers, media, inks and RIP software,” says McKeon.  He praises LexJet staff members for helping the company resolve color-management issues.   

Prints are available in 19 different sizes, stretched on either thinner bars (for framing) or thicker bars so that the print can be hung on the wall without a frame. All prints receive a protective coating that increases their resistance to light fading and water.

Picture It On Canvas offers a variety of custom treatments including the addition of text, vignetting, colorization, sepia toning, or oil-painting-like effects. A single print can be also be split and printed as three separate canvas panels. Backplates can be attached to the back of the print, featuring the studio’s name and logo or information about the print itself. 

Consumers tend to order most of their canvas prints around Christmas and other gift-giving occasions. But Picture It On Canvas receives orders throughout the year from professional wedding and portrait photographers, many of whom actively support community causes.

“Photographers have wonderful, giving hearts,” says McKeon. “They donate a lot of time to photographing military families, sick children, and the less fortunate.” He believes the buy one/give one program can help photography pros further increase the beneficial impact of their charitable work.

For more details on the buy one/give one program, visit the Picture It On Canvas website: www.pictureitoncanvas.com