Printing Prints (and making mats)

Printing can be for the birds

Printing your own stuff is expensive. It is actually VERY expensive, but it gives you complete control.  If you have prints made they can also get pricy.  Here is what I do with prints I make and how I figured out how much it costs to print and mat photographs.

I make a fair number of test prints when I get a new paper.  I also fire off a test print when I start a new roll of paper to compare it to prior tests.  I try not to print large  full-size prints as test prints as that gets to be really expensive. Test prints are just that and are handled roughly and written on and sometimes trashed. It’s also handy to have af ew lying around to show customers, telling them “handle it all you want, it’s a mistake print”.  I do keep color printer test prints around to compare them when I use a new paper.

I currently own an Epson 2200 which I used for 12×18″ prints on 13×19 paper but  I recently got a Canon iPF5100 which uses up to 17″ rolls of paper.  This printer is a big step up from the 2200.  I can quantify ink costs but a replacement set of inks for the Epson is 75 bucks whereas the Canon runs around 900 dollars.  I know this is an apples and oranges comparison and I know my actual ink cost per print goes way down.  The ink per print costs is only part of the overall print cost as I’ll discuss in a bit.

Papers are like wines, they each have special characters and the ones I use are based on my personal preference. I like the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White 310 GSM (Grams/Square Meter) for color art prints on matte paper.  For a little more texture  I also like Somerset Velvet PE (Photo Enhanced)  Canon and Epson both market a version under their respective labels.  For a lot more texture I haven’t used, but I’d like to try the German Etching (310 gsm) or Museum Etching (350 gsm).  I like thick paper.  I like the feel of it in my hands, it is less prone to kinking, it flattens well.  I generally don’t have to mount it for sizes 16×20 and under.  For black and white work I’ve become enamored with the baryta papers.  I really like the surface and the slight smell when I open up a box reminds me working in old ‘wet’ darkrooms.

Once a final print is made it gets to dry for at least one day in the open or hung up (depending upon size).  I will sometimes interleave the prints with a sheet of  rag paper and place some matboard over them then some weights to help flattening.  Do not move rattle or shake the prints as they are very prone to scuffing – Not as much an issue on the baryta paper.   Generally once a week I will take all the prints out and give them coatings of PremierArt Print Shield.   This stuff seems to work and only adds a few cents(8×10) to a buck (20×30) to your expensive print.  It also helps flatten the prints which is a huge benefit when printing from roll stock.

After a few hours or a few days of storage flat in a storage cabinet I’ll take the prints add a piece of matboard or acid-free foamcore and bag up the print into a Clearbag. I only use the Bainbridge Artcare Archival foam board or Bienfang 100% Cotton Rag Foam Board.  I use both depending upon what I can get for a good price. You can use a 4-ply rag for backing, but that is both expensive and the foamcore is better because it is lighter and stiffer.

For matboard I greatly prefer the Bainbridge Alpharag boards to the Crescent rag board as I see small surface defects once in a while in the Crescent product.  If I have to buy a sheet or a few sheets of it at Michael’s or Jerry’s Artarama then I can inspect each board.  If I’m buying a case, which is what I normally do, then I get the Bainbridge.   I will only use rag (100% cotton) board as anything else isn’t archival.  Acid-free does not equal archival.  I’d suggest finding a local wholesale framing supply shop to get stuff.  The one in Austin will wholesale to photographers if you buy in bulk.  The best prices and biggest selection I’ve found for framing and matting supplies is UMS – United Mfrs Supplies at http://www.unitedmfrs.com I also use http://www.framingsupplies.com/ and http://www.atlex.com/

Just FYI: I use a cheapo Logan Mat cutter.  I have the older version of this one:
http://www.framingsupplies.com/Logan/Logan%20301S%20Mat%20Cutter.htm
While I buy blades in bulk (I go through a lot of blades cutting dense rag mats – you should too) it is nice to know that I can get blades for this cutter at lots of places.

I get bags from Clearbags.  They make a good product and prices are reasonable. They also sell lots of kits and products that make packaging work easy and good-looking.  I buy clear bags in 4 sizes.  8×10, 11×14, 13×19 and 20×24.  I use the 20×24 bags for 16×20 prints.  These bags are barely large enough to accomodate a 4-ply mat plus print plus 3/16th foamcore.   I find this is a great way to presenting prints.  Clearbags can be found here: http://www.clearbags.com/

What’s does this all cost?  About 10 bucks for each print that I mat to 16×20.

Here’s the worksheet:

Now the cost per mat/backing/spray/bag package is averaged over the entire run of 100 mats.  If you make 200 mats then it’s $8.50/mat,  500 mats cost about $7.60/mat.  I’m not sure how many mats I can get out of my inexpensive cutter but 500 mats seems like a lot and then I’ll need to replace it.

Getting mat and related supply prices is fairly straight forward,whereas determining your print costs is not.

Your print cost is more involved.  The best way to measure your costs it to keep a record of ink and paper purchases.  If you have a lot paper on hand then just inventory that and add to that list as you buy paper over a year. Note the amount of ink when you do inventory too.  Same story for ink.  Then at the beginning of each year figure out how much material goes through the printer.

Ink Costs.

I’ll say it runs about 1 cent per square inch of paper printed.  There are lots and lots of articles abut ink cost. After three hours researching and reading of articles on this I averaged lots of estimates I came to this approximate cost.  Yes, it is expensive.  Yes, it is HIGHLY profitable for the printer companies. People need to make a profit and selling printers for 30 bucks isn’t profitable.  They can give away the printers (razors) as long as you will keep buying the ink (blades).

Paper Costs.

This is much easier to quantify than ink costs.

I buy a roll of paper for 100 bucks. That includes tax and shipping.  The roll is 17 inches wide by  x 50 feet long. That is 10,200 square inches of paper and that works out to about 1 cent per square inch.  Hahnemuhlepapers run about 1.5 cents per square inch.  That’s a 50% increase in cost!

Let’s look at my ink and paper costs for running a roll of paper through the printer:

Canon Polished Rag at $110 for a 50′ roll ($110+ ($0.01 * 10,200) = $212

Hahnemuhle Fine Art Papers $140 for a 39′ roll = ($140 + ($0.01 *7956) = $219.56

Now divide the Cost by the the number of feet in a roll results in

Canon Polished Rag  $212/50′ = $ 4.24 / Linear Foot  or about  $3 sq.ft.

Hahnemuhle Fine Art Papers $220/39 = $5.64 / Linear Foot or about $4 sq.ft.

My favorite place to get paper is either at http://www.booksmartstudio.com/ or from the local camera store, Precision Camera.  Precision will order  anything I want.  Often, I can get it quicker from Booksmart Studio.  These guys also really know there stuff.

So what does a print cost?

Depends.

I’ll make some assumptions.

Instead of thinking about what I make it is easier for me to think about what I waste. As I waste less than I print (or at least I want to think so!).

you will waste between 15 and 25% of your paper.  This is edges of paper, test prints, left over pieces from rolls…you get the idea.

you can figure this a bunch of ways.  I’ll take a simple approach using a 25% waste factor

If printed Canon Polished Rag is  $3 sq.ft. before waste now after waste of 25% it is $3 for 3/4 sq.ft or $4.00 / sq.ft… 1/3rd more.

Printed Hahnemuhle Fine Art  $4.00 sq.ft. now becomes $5.34 / sq.ft.

Printing on HFA 11 x14 is 1.07 sq. ft., 1.07 * $5.34 =$5.71

Printing on Canon11 x14 is 1.07 sq. ft., 1.07 * $4.00 =$4.28

This does not include the cost of the printer so lets figure that in now!

Here’s the worksheet:

Now we know that

Cost per print at 500 prints   $ 9.00

Matting cost per 500 prints   $ 7.60

Print and Matted Cost   $ 16.60

More assumptions.

• All material costs stay the same over time.
• Depreciation  / Tax calculations are not considered. (a buck is not always a buck but fur us photographers it is)
• this is only 500 11×14 prints using a printer that should be able to print many thousands. The more you print the less your per print cost becomes as you are allocating the cost of the printer over all of the prints you make with that printer.

Some tips:

Always assume that costs are higher than you calculated (opps! we forgot to include the cost of electricity to run the printer!)

Always assume that profits are not as great at you think (oh yeah, we discount our stuff 20% at Christmastime)

BOTTOM LINE

Maybe you just scrolled here to see the results, okay, here it is.

Inclusive costs (fixed and variable costs)  in prints for:

• Cheaper paper 2.5 cents per square inch.
• Expensive paper 3.5 cents per square inch.

Matting costs are above.