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Capture the market
The large format print market has opened up massive opportunities for printers in terms of increased applications, production and profit. But that isn't all, it has also opened up opportunities for other professions who are using new technology to produce better results and retain business.
One area seeing a massive increase in the use of large format digital printing is photography. Professional photojournalist, Drew Gardner, gave up working for newspapers so he could focus on more creative projects. Now a freelance photographer and location specialist, he also lectures on digital photography in the United States.
Drew has worked on a number of high profile projects including a fashion shoot at London Fashion Week and photographing record breakers for Guinness World Records. He continues to do freelance shoots for Hello and the Daily Mail.
Drew had been using a variety of large format digital printers for years to produce work for exhibitions and his portfolio. However, because of inconsistencies with output and quality he did not feel confident with what it could do: which is why he turned to Canon.
Drew said: "To maximise my creative potential I needed prints that were able to show off the quality of my work and make it as saleable as possible. As a professional photographer, any compromise on print quality is a compromise of my own creative standards so image quality is everything.
"I was initially dismissive of looking at Canon's printers. I have been using Canon camera's since the 80s and until recently did not think of them as a printer brand. What I had been using previously was OK but the results were inconsistent and took ages to print out, not great when it came to meeting deadlines or impressing clients."
Drew's opinion changed when Dave Beck from his local Canon pro camera dealer, The Flash Centre, showed him the results of their Canon large format printer.
Dave said: "As an authorised Canon camera centre selling the professional range of cameras, we also offer printing facilities to some of our customers. We originally used printers from another manufacturer but moved across to Canon when we saw the quality of the Canon output because they were by far the best.
"We pointed Drew in the right direction and all he had to do was plug in his laptop and print from the driver straight away, it was as easy as that. The Canon large format printers are so intuitive we only had to show him once and he was off."
Drew continued: "Like most photographers I work to short timescales but these printers are extremely fast and very easy to use with an amazing quality. The flexibility of the machine and wide range of media that can be used is impressive. I use a variety of media including matt, gloss, silk and canvas as well as my favourite Hahnemühule paper. I can reproduce the quality of my work in great detail and with accurate colour reproduction.
"Customer satisfaction is key to my success and reputation. I have been a customer of The Flash Centre for a long time and they were keen to help me with my new creative direction. The Canon large format printer has allowed me to express this creativity.
"The quality of the output has been very impressive and, together with its reliability and productivity, has helped me considerably. Canon and the Flash Centre were keen to understand my business and provide me with the service and support that I had come to expect as a Canon camera user.
"My whole portfolio is now printed out using the Canon large format printer. I can meet deadlines far more efficiently and am also confident that the quality of the print shows off the quality of my work which can only make it more saleable.
"I see the Canon printers as a creative tool which I can use to express myself through my work. The Canon team are people who completely understand the needs of the digital photographer and as a creative person they are an exciting company to get involved with."
Unique images
Another area where large format photo printing has come into its own is with the general public. By being able to have memories captured, printed and mounted in canvas, whether an exact replica of the original photo or transformed to a unique image by a graphic artist, large format printing can now enhance our life in ways it has never done before. The technology available today to enable companies to do this has evolved and, as such, so has the markets.
Richard Lewis is managing director of canvasRus, the retail arm of Portobello Art, which grew from the demand and popularity of the photo-to-canvas trend and is one of the first companies in the UK to offer this service to the public.
From its early beginnings it was printing around six pictures a day on a trusty, now retired, HP Designjet 2500 series. Today it can run up to 200 to 300 pictures on four HP Designjet 5500 series and has a new Designjet Z6100 on order.
Not surprisingly the influx and popularity of home improvement shows on TV, offering affordable design ideas, had an enormous influence on people's tastes and bright printed canvas' on muted, plain walls gave birth to the photo-on-canvas fashion.
Richard said: "CanvasRus and Portobello Art work well together and it is this main core customer, the corporate branding, which is our bread and butter. However I'm pleased to see a new audience emerging, the family audience, whose demands for canvas art of family or children portraits ‘with a twist' has exploded. More so, they are an absolute delight to work with."
Although the family-orientated customer takes another big slice of its pie, canvasRus, with its history, experience and knowledge of digital printing, also have a more serious side and provide graphic and photographic professionals alike whose requirements can be more challenging.
Richard continued: "This is where having the right equipment is paramount. Our equipment is chosen by two main factors: repeatability and reliability. It is imperative in our business that good quality printers work well again and again, or, and I am realistic in the fact that not everything is perfect, if something does go down that it is easily maintained and fixed. Printing on canvas can also be very expensive if the printer fails and in all these cases the HP Designjet series has proved excellent.
"Future plans for our continued growth and expansion includes keeping one step ahead of the game in terms of technology and with the arrival of the new Designjet Z6100 series we will also be trialling the new PosterJet Version 8 RIP. Although there is better ink saturation on the HP printer and media I am excited about the Z series as they have the extra blacks, which will mean an even more stunning picture quality. We're not getting rid of the 5500 series just yet though because it is such a good machine and still stands up to anything else in the market today."
And finally
I have heard it said there is a finite amount of work available in the digital printing market because the technology can only produce so much. I think we would have to ignore this statement because, quite frankly, it is the view of people who haven't got to grips with what they can achieve with their machines.
These two examples alone prove there are huge opportunities available and you don't even have to look hard to find them. The key is flexibility and talking to your customers. They are the ones you need to impress and, from your customer's point of view, everyone likes to work with someone who is happy to give new ideas a try.
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