#askbc - Your Printmaking Questions Answered By The Experts

Quick answers to a variety of printmaking FAQs covering Breathing Color media, printer issues, shipping recommendations, and print varnish. In volume two of our “Rapid Fire” series (missed part 1? Click here), we open up the listener questions grab bag and knock down a stack of questions on Breathing Color media, printer issues, shipping recommendations, Read More The post Rapid Fire Questions With Justin – Volume 2 appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Color management tips to achieve color accurate results – print profile hardware/software, colorimeters/spectrophotometers, ICC profiles, and more! Color management is a pretty huge deal. If you get your output media settings wrong, you’re looking, at best, at walking away with a print that doesn’t look much like your original image. At worst, well, you could Read More The post The State of Print Profile Hardware + Misc. Profiling Problems appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Professional photography tips for working around the sun, photographing the moon, and must-have equipment for shooting landscapes. When shooting outdoor photography, there are many factors you must consider in order to capture powerful images. If these factors aren’t considered, you may end up with washed out images or even an aching back. In this episode Read More The post Photographing Special Subjects: Sun, Moon, & Earth appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Renée Besta covers what print permanence means, how it’s achieved, and the truth behind 3 of the most common false claims often made about longevity. How long a print will last is a subject of great confusion and controversy on the internet – you may have seen arguments about this topic in printmaking forums. The Read More The post 3 Print Permanence False Claims (and the Truth About Longevity) appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Our interview with Keith Cooper on starting a career in commercial photography, building a photography biz, staying inspired, and more. Making a living doing photography is tough. Many people have a photography hobby, but turning that hobby into a full-time career takes more than a knack for art. It takes business sense, a strategy, and Read More The post Interview: Keith Cooper on Starting a Career in Commercial Photography appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Updates, a series of rapid fire printmaking FAQs, and a replay episode on cleaning and maintaining your printer. This week, Justin offers some updates, tackles some “rapid fire” listener questions, and replays an old episode of AskBC. Tune in to hear Justin answer a series of quick questions about topics such as: print paper, turn Read More The post Rapid Fire Questions With Justin appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

In this week’s episode, we cover print varnish tips and common problems relating to varnish application. Mixing, timing, using custom ICC profiles, handling a HVLP spray gun, and more. When it comes to print varnish’s great power, there comes great responsibility. Without using the proper varnish application techniques, you can end up with bubbles on Read More The post Print Varnish Tips: Common Problems & Solutions appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Part Two of our episode on everything color depth. Software and hardware to work in 10-bit, Apple’s new DCI-P3 color space, and more. Most people know that a higher color (or bit) depth will give you more colors, but may be asking, “What is color depth and how does it work?” Do you have to Read More The post Color Depth Confusion (Pt. 2) appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Answering “What is color depth?”, the tools you need to work in 16-bit, and how to solve common color depth related workflow issues. Most people know that a higher color (or bit) depth will give you more colors, but may be asking, “What is color depth and how does it work?” Do you have to Read More The post Color Depth Confusion (Pt. 1) appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

How studying and practicing the fundamentals of composition can turn a boring image into a dynamic one, basic rules of composition (and when to break them), and some tips on achieving compositional balance. Perfecting image composition is something that can take artists a lifetime to master. It’s also a subject heavily reliant on individual taste. Read More The post The Fundamentals of Composition appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Professional photographer Kevin O’Connor gives his lightweight tripod recommendations and talks about how to buy the perfect tripod for bird photography, landscapes, and more outdoor uses. Picking out and buying a tripod that will last a lifetime is a serious investment. The two mistakes that are typically made by new and even professional photographers when Read More The post Lightweight Tripod Recommendations for Outdoor Photography appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Keep your wide format printer running longer with our ongoing printer maintenance tips – how to prevent head strikes, avoid breakdowns, and more. Many people who make their own prints are unaware of the fact that, like cars, printers need routine maintenance and cleaning. Professional photographer and printmaker Renee Besta joins us on this episode Read More The post Ongoing Printer Maintenance Tips appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

How to use archival mounting strips to avoid permanently affixing art to boards and mats, plus a discussion on common issues that arise when printing on heavy cotton papers. Mounting your art doesn’t have to mean permanently losing the ability to uncouple your print, window mat, and/or backing board. With archival-quality mounting strips, no adhesive Read More The post Archival Mounting Strips & Problems with Heavy Cotton Papers appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Justin talks about ink expiration and covers listener questions on the Epson 3880 in this Q&A episode of AskBC. The Epson 3880 is a popular machine – many of our listeners print on it, and in 2012, PC Mag featured it in their round-up, “8 Great Large-Format Printers”. We receive a lot of questions about Read More The post Ink Expiration and Troubleshooting the Epson 3880 appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

In this episode of our printmaking podcast, we tackle the big format debate: C-Prints vs. Inkjet Prints – pros and cons to each, plus some crucial myths and false claims to be aware of. UPDATE: After listening to this episode, get more information on the differences between Digital C-Prints and Inkjet Prints with Renee Besta’s Read More The post Digital C-Prints vs. Inkjet Prints – Pros, Cons, & Myths appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Take the mystery and headache out of dark prints with this in-depth investigation of the lab and inkjet printing processes and the points at which mistakes are made that lead to prints coming out too dark. Prints too dark? This is one of the most common issues we hear from our customers, and it’s a Read More The post Investigating Lab and Inkjet Prints That Come Out Too Dark appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

The qualities and limitations of matte media, a full description of the various matte papers Breathing Color offers, and a discussion of printing canvas on DTG printers. Cold pressed? Hot pressed? Loss of shadow detail? On this episode of #AskBC, Justin talks about what to expect out of printing on matte papers in terms of Read More The post Matte Media Overview and Printing Canvas on DTG Machines appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Learn how to troubleshoot print errors in this in-depth case study that tracks a professional printmaker’s thought process to identify and resolve a print color issue. We’d love if every single print job you do comes out perfectly, but sometimes things just go wrong. When a print doesn’t look like you expect, where do you Read More The post A Case Study in Troubleshooting Print Color Issues appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Reviewing the new Apple 5K display, and a tutorial on converting images to sRGB JPEGs for soft proofing. Most consumer-grade monitors won’t cut it for color-critical media editing, but expensive wide gamut monitors can be out of reach for many. So where does the Apple Retina 5K display, included with the new iMac, fit in? Read More The post Apple 5K Display Review and Soft Proofing sRGB JPEGs appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.

Listener questions on print length limitations, canvas that doesn’t need varnish, ICC profile installation, and more. Justin takes some time on this episode to answer a tall order of printmaking inquiries from listeners. Tune in for the answers to questions such as, “Isn’t there some way I can remotely schedule printings to prevent nozzle clogging?” Read More The post Scheduling Auto-Printing, No-Varnish Canvas, & ICC Profile Installation for Beginners appeared first on Breathing Color Blog.