In several conversations that I’ve had with various friends and professional photographers, we all agree: printing your photographs turns them into actual art and gives it a whole lot of freedom to become something beyond what it is digitally. And we know that only the most artistic amongst us are printing our images these days. Luckily, the barrier to entry is pretty easy in the same way it is with all photography. And the most important thing that you need to figure out is this: matte or glossy? Yes, even people who think that printing can be expensive don’t have to worry about the cost with companies like Lumaprints. They make printing out to be some of the most affordable I’ve ever seen and they maintain the same high image quality that you made when you exported your image.
This article is produced in partnership with Lumaprints.
Matte Printing: What is it?
Matte printing is the much more uncommon type of printing of photos that we’ve seen in galleries, museums, etc. However, it’s probably a better option for most people. Here’s a fact: we’re all staring at screens and because of this, very few people have traditionally perfect vision. This means that reflections can sometimes make it hard for us to see certain fine details. Matte printing eliminates those reflections while still making your photograph look really organic. It often works best with black and white photography, but it can also work very well with nearly any type of image. The trick is to give it enough light.
Because matte surfaces tend to absorb light instead of reflect it, they often have a less pronounced profile. And that lends itself to a very specific type of intention.
Here’s a general checklist of things to keep in mind when making matte prints with companies like Lumaprints:
- If you’re doing a black and white photo, brighten it a bit (around half a stop of light) and then print it with matte paper.
- If you’re printing in color, brighten the image to around three-quarters of a stop of light. It will look so much better.
- Remember: most screens we see these days are glossy and bright. Printing, especially with matte, doesn’t produce the same result. So looking at the image will often be all about the lighting.
- If you want your viewer to get really close to your image, get a matte print
- If the light that you’re putting the print in is pretty consistent and will often be very bright, use matte. In the Northern hemisphere, we strongly recommend not using matte if you’re using natural light coming in from northern-facing windows. If the light is coming from south-facing windows, you’ve got the ideal situation for lighting matte prints because it will receive lots of really bright light. Think of it like plants — they like light, right?
- If you’re doing a matte print, you probably don’t need to put museum glass over it after you’ve framed it. Just frame it and put it on the wall.
- Look at photo books: usually they’re printed with a type of matte look that’s got a bit of sheen to make it pop.
Glossy Printing: When You Need Pop
Glossy printing requires us to talk about a whole lot less. Are you viewing this article on an Apple computer? If you are, then you’re probably using a glossy display. Do you read magazines still? I do, and I sometimes love looking at the glossy look of the pages. Glossy prints really pop when you shine light on them. But direct lighting makes the glossy print also have reflections. So if you’re ordering glossy prints to be made by Lumaprints, then make sure that you’re putting your print in a place where there’s a lot of strong, indirect lighting so that it can pop.
Glossy prints work best with color generally speaking — the bolder the colors, the better. Once you’ve selected only your best photos, we strongly suggest printing them in color using the glossy method.
After you’ve done that, you’ve got yourself a piece of art that you can hang on a wall or sell to someone who values you and your photography.