Finished, Printed, and displayed ArtRage Artwork

[screenpainter]

Ole what a great piece for your wall. The color fidelity looks great on the Epson!

[byroncallas]

Fantastic Ole. looks like a fine printing.

If you don't mind me asking, were were the print dimensions and resolution of your original exported AR file; and what was the dpI for the Espon printing?


Best, Byron

[Sketchism71]

Terrific Sketch. Yes, it came out quite nice - good light, lots of atmosphere and the detail and color subtlety in His Majesty are all quite fine. Not bad at all. 20 x 30 is a pretty nice size for getting a better feel for the work. Congratulations.

Which process did you use at Costco, and what did they charge you. Maybe you could post some of your printing specifics as useful input for others. Orderly information for people would include (and anything you don't know just say "I don't know.").

1. What was the pixel size the file you gave the printer.
2. What was your final print size.
3. What was the printing dpi (or was it a continuous tone photographic reproduction.
4. Do you know of anything specific the printer did with your file before printing (like color correction, re-sampling up, etc.) or did you just give it to him and pretty much took care of everything like magic without your involvement).
5. Did you see a color proof before printing? If yes, did the final match the proof (good/bad/etc??)
6. What process was used for printing (four or six color ink jet, laser printing, offset lithography (not in this case), photographic process reproduction, giclee, etc.)
7. What was the printing substrate: glossy or matte paper or card stock; canvas and what kind; photographic reproduction stock; etc.
8.. What is you honest opinion of the result? What's better than you expected? What's worse? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
9. What did it cost?
10.What did you learn?
11. Would you use the process again for work you are going to hang on your wall? For selling to clients?
12. Do you have any recommendations that come from your experience?

If everyone posted even half of this stuff it would give others a more realistic experience about what to expect. Since the thread is intended as a resource, it would be great if you found a few minutes to kick it off. (How's THAT for putting you on the spot - see, your friends can be jerks after all ).

Again, congrats Sketch. Looks great from where I sit. I bet it will look splendid in your home.

Byron

First off, Ole, your painting looks AWESOME! Nice splash of color and it really stands out in that room!

Ok Byron, let me see if I can tackle some of your questions;

1. The final pixel size of the image that was uploaded to Costco's photo web site was 4500 x 3026 at 150 dpi (ppi). That was not what I painted it at. I painted it at 17" x 11" at 200 dpi. I used photoshop to crop and resize it to the above pixel and dpi. That pixel size equaled 30" x 20" which is the largest size Costco offers as a print.

2. The final print size was 20" x 30" (4500 x 3026) at 150 dpi. I sized it to the exact size because I wasn't sure how they would do it if I sent them a size that did not match their standard 30 x 20 print size.

3. I'm not sure what the final DPI was it was printed at. I don't know if they just printed the image I sent or adjusted it somehow.

4. When uploading a file to Costco, there is a selection you can choose to either have them color correct (among other things) or not. I chose the "not" selection. I wanted it left alone just to see how it turned out as a raw image from AR. No adjustments were done by me or them as far as I know.

5. I did not see a color proof per se, however it did give me a print preview to show if any cropping would occur to have it fit the size of the print.

6. I have no idea what process was used for printing. Might be able to find out somewhere buried in their websit but again, this is a seperate company that contracts out to Costco so information about the actual printing process might be found at the company that actually did it. (PNI Digital Media).

7. Not really sure the substrate but the choice was poster size and a choice of gloss or lustre. I chose lustre.

8. My honest opinion of the result is "Better than expected" especially for the money. $8.99 per print. It looks awesome framed and I am very pleased with it. However, it seems a bit thin and fragile and I notice at certain angles, I can still see waves in it from it being rolled up in the tube it was shipped in. That also may be my poor framing ability!

9. Well I learned this is a reliable company with a decent product and very fast service. It was easy and you really didn't have to do much other than upload the file. VERY EASY.

10. I will defenitly use them again if for anything the ease and the cost effectiveness. I am happy with it and I would be happy "giving" these prints as framed gifts or something but probably not on a professional level. Although that would all depend on what a client wanted. If they wanted a poster to tac up in their garage while they are working on their car...this would be fine (lol). If it was going to be hung in the entry way of the White House... I probably wouldn't use Costco! (lol)

My recomendations would be to try it if you are curious to the results because the process is fairly simple and the product very reasonably priced. A much worth it experiment.

Hope that covered most of it. Let me know if I didn't answer something correctly. You can put the whip away now

[byroncallas]

Hey Sketch, excellent. If a few more people follow your lead and post their experience it will make this thread a useful place for lots of people looking for advice on printing their paintings. You get the "following instructions" award of the week. Rosy is wrapping it up to send too you as I type.

That rolling thing you see is typical, especially once the "poster" has been rolled. It often gets worse over time. It's usually best to mount the poster on art or poster board. For this type of printing those artist's spray adhesives will do, just do it outside so you don't die from the fumes. Then frame it again with good pressure from the frames backing board. It WILL look better.

Ah, I gotta run. Rosy's looking for postage.

[Silentman]

Good to see 150 DPI did just fine as i was saying

[Ole Seegelken]

Fantastic Ole. looks like a fine printing.

If you don't mind me asking, were were the print dimensions and resolution of your original exported AR file; and what was the dpI for the Espon printing?


Best, Byron

Hi Byron, thanx for your kind words!

The original output file was 7000x4000 px.

I often start with lower resolutions ( here with 3500x2000 px) because of the better responsiveness and better workflow on my imac 24". When I like the Painting i change the resolution and work on details...

I don´t know if the printshop scales the resolution further... (i think so)

[byroncallas]

Thanks Ole. That's helpful.
You must have quite a bit of RAM. My measly 3GB chokes up in AR with a painting that large, 3500 X 2000 px).
Thanks again.

[shatzy]

My 1st painting with artrage
Printed on real canvas (20x30cm)
is a gift from Stefano (misterpaint)

[Silentman]

WoW !! shatzy that's awesome, can we see the spec for that one, it's brilliant

Very inspiring Stefano, what was the resolution and everything, who printed it, if possible how much did it all cost, omit the last part as i see it's a gift

[shatzy]

thx!

20x30cm 150dpi of resolution

real canvas
Italian painting canvas guaranteed
Frame in plywood
Print high-quality paints with natural pigments


Misterpaint printing on www.fotoregali.com € 26.00 (for printing)+ € 6.90 (for shipping).
For shipping around the world if I remember correctly ... 16 Euro.