Guide #2
Guide #2: Choosing the right type of printer for your images
Printing is a very important step in preparing your artwork for an exhibition, display or for your portfolio. In last week’s guide on colour management, I discussed how to calibrate your screen and optimise your images to obtain accurate colours. This week, I’m going to focus on the different types of printers, explaining the main specifications as well as advantages and disadvantages of each printer type.
As you already know from last week, the images captured by your camera and displayed on your computer screen have far more colours and higher resolution than the images, which are printed out. Through the hardware and software calibration process you can prepare your files to reflect your images as close as possible. Assuming that you have optimised your images and have them ready to be printed out, the time has come to choose the right type of printer for your photos.
The bottom line is that no matter how accurate the images look on the preview, the type of printer you use will significantly influence the final output. There are numerous types of printers out there, and they all serve slightly different purposes. In order for you to understand the technical details behind each type, I will start with a brief description based on the professional printers we use at theprintspace: Chromira and Epson ink-jet printers.
Chromira Printers
C-Type is the most common type of colour photographic print. Remember the time when digital cameras didn’t exist and you had all your photos developed on light sensitive paper from a negative? 
That is exactly the technology Chromira printers are using, but in a highly advanced way. The photographic c-type prints are obtained through the exposure of a special type of paper to intensive lights of different colour – red, green and blue.
Our printers use LED (Light Emitting Diodes) as a source of light. Unlike lasers, LEDs are in solid state and have no moving parts such as mirrors, making them simpler to use, more energy efficient and much faster as well. During the printing process, a special photosensitive paper is exposed to light and then wet processed in the same manner as traditional photography. This wet chemical processing transforms a latent image (invisible image obtained through exposure to light) into a visible image, making it permanent and insensitive to light.
Epson Inkjet Printers
Giclee prints produced by professional ink-jet printers are specially adapted for fine art printing. The term derives from the French word ‘gicler’, which means to squirt or to spray. The giclee technology was originally developed as a method of replicating original artwork that could no longer be displayed to the public either because of its fragility or expensive insurance rates. Initially, it was being used mainly by museums, however with the rapid progress of technology and growing demand for quality reproduction, giclee prints have become commonly used by painters and photographers all over the world.
The printing process is relatively straightforward, and involves spraying different ink colours on a non-photographic, fine art paper.
C-type vs Giclee printing – a technical comparison
Image resolution is a term which describes how detailed an image is. Giclee prints can have the maximum resolution of 1,440 dpi while c-type prints from a Chromira printer have the maximum resolution of 300 ppi. What does it mean? Is the resolution of an inkjet printer that much higher?
The answer is simple – while the resolution of an inkjet printer is given in dpi (dots per inch), Chromira’s resolution is specified in ppi (pixels per inch), which is considered to be around 5-6 times the resolution in dpi. In other words, the 300 ppi is equivalent to over 1500 dpi. The resolution of both printer types is high enough to meet the needs of most demanding individuals.
Chromira printers can reproduce over 16 million colours per square inch while giclee prints’ maximum amount of colours is only 256. The difference in maximum amount of colours is significant and should be taken into consideration depending on the type of images you want to print.
The maximum printing size varies also, depending on the printer you choose. Both types print on rolls of paper in order to offer flexibility when it comes to the image dimensions. Giclee prints’ maximum width is 60” (152cm) while c-type prints’ maximum width is slightly smaller, at 50” (127cm) wide. As you’re printing from the roll, the length of an image can be as long as the roll of paper – up to 39 feet (12m) for a giclee prints and as much as 164 feet (50m) for the c-type prints!
Finally, when it comes to life expectancy, giclee prints can last longer than c-type prints. When exposed to daylight, in both cases, the minimum life expectancy is around 40 years. However, if kept away from direct sunlight or protected from the exposure to UV radiation, giclee prints can survive up to 200 years (in comparison with c-type prints that have the life expectancy of about 80 years). It should be noted, that these numbers are only estimates based on accelerated light tests, as neither of the printers have been around for long enough to fully prove this.
C-type prints tend to be more resistant to physical damage. The surface of giclee prints is considered rather sensitive and can easily get scratched, hence special care while handling them is vital. Ideally, all giclee prints should be laminated or protected behind a glass layer in order to prevent any damage to the surface.
Which printer type should I choose for my images?
C-type printers are well known for the ability to produce detailed, deep and rich black colours, subtle graduation in tones, smooth gradients and an overall three-dimensional photographic look. This is why c-types are known as “true photographic prints”.
Giclee prints are especially great for artworks. Not only are giclees perfect for showing light and vivid colours, but they also handle straight lines really well and are effective in preserving the sharp edges of an image. In result, giclee printers are unbeatable when it comes to printing vector graphics or illustrations.
As you can clearly see, each of the printers has its advantages and disadvantages. In general, people tend to associate c-type printers with photography and giclee printers with vector images. Although it is a good assumption, it does not have to be a rule. Before choosing a printer for your artwork, it is highly recommended to print a small sample of your image on both types to see the difference first.
Summary
This week I have discussed:
• Chromira printer technical specification
• Epson Inkjet printer technical specification
• When to use c-type prints
• When to use giclee prints
Now, choosing the right type of printer for your images should be easier!
Should you require further information, please visit our website or drop us a line. You can also ask questions in the comment box below.
That’s about it for today, I hope you found the info useful and stay tuned for the upcoming guides!
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I'm intrigued by your notion that your inkjet printers can only display 256 colours per square inch. Would you care to explain how you manage to run your Epson inkjets at such a low colour resolution, when others are seeing eight or ten bits per channel?
Have you thought about changing to the latest generation of Canon printers, which have a true ten bit per channel colour path?
[...] my previous guide, I have explained the main differences between the photographic c-type prints and the ink giclee [...]