Fine Art Digital Printmaking

Roland prints are also referred to as Giclée prints. The Roland uses pigmented inks which naturally have greater fade resistance. The pigmented inkset has been rated to last over 120 years and should exhibit similar longevity regardless of the substrate. The Roland printer also have the ability to print much larger images. It is able to accept media as wide as 64 inches, and since it can accept media on rolls, this allows for printing very large images. The Roland also uses 8 colors and nozzles to produce images with a higher perceived resolution. With most images it is almost impossible to perceive any dot pattern, so images are very photographic in quality. Combining the richness and longevity of pigmented inks, the ability to create almost any size, and the ability to deliver the greatest detail of any fine art printer, the Roland V-8 is the greatest way to produce your images.

Art & Photographic Reproduction

Transparencies are a critical first step when creating fine art prints. Making a "color correct" transparency is as critical as our scanning it, imaging it, proofing it, and finally printing it. Each step injects its own peculiarities, but the process will be crippled by poor transparencies! Preferably, transparencies should be viewed on a 5000k light box next to the art work which is also lit at 5000k in order to judge whether the transparency matches the artwork. Otherwise the human eye cannot see color casts and shifts.

When a work of art is reproduced, our normal procedure is to produce four 6" x 8" small proofs to send to the client so they can choose one to print or if further changes and adjustments are desired. When a proof is chosen and returned for our files, the image is ready for printing and editioning.

We also have a special custom black and white process especially for photographic reproductions that creates incredibly rich blacks with all the same incredible quality that our printers offer. We can also create custom color tones for art and photographic reproductions that can't be accomplished with other methods.

Image Archiving & Printing on Demand

This is an exciting and very attractive feature of fine art printing, in which an image can be printed on demand. Only a portion of an edition need be printed. When sales of prints necessitate further printing, the image, which has been stored on a CD, is reprinted.

There is, however, a misconception that results can be duplicated exactly at any time. The factors that contribute to repeatability are numerous and include paper, inks, and even the weather. For example, most of the fine art papers that we use are made in very old European mills on antique machinery, and are subject to minor fluctuations often due to the spring water used by the mills. Winter paper is more consistent than spring and summer paper. Also, the inks that we use are subject to variation. These variations are very minor, although a more apparent change occurs when a huge gain in longevity is established by the introduction of new dyestuffs utilized in the form of new ink sets. This almost always produces a different color gamut from the previous set, so it isn't expected that an image stored on CD at Coleman Studios can be exactly repeated in a year. Changes that affect image repeatability do not occur frequently, and we will give at least 60 days notice prior to any major changes. Any reproofing necessary after a change will be the customer's responsibility.