If you are displaying your photography, presenting a portfolio, or putting together a limited edition, our staff of highly skilled digital technicians is dedicated to serving the needs of fine art photographers seeking extraordinary prints from their film and digital files. This is our raison d'être.
Printing process: Our pigment print process combines the precision of digital print-making with the permanence of pigment-based inks and the grace of traditional artist papers. The result is a uniquely beautiful ink on fine art paper print with a longevity of up to 200 years.
Scanning: Scanning is a crucial step for high-quality digital printing from film or slide capture as the quality of the print is directly related to that of the scan. Originals are scanned on our drum scanner or our cutting edge high-resolution flatbed at 16-bit and 360 ppi for optimum resolution, tonal range, color, sharpness, and contrast, providing you digitization of the highest fidelity from film, slide or reflective originals.
copyright © Sam Portera
Turnaround time
Turnaround time is related to the size and the nature of the project. It is important to plan ahead as trading quality for execution time is rarely in the best interest of the client. Normal turnaround time for a single print is three days, while an entire exhibition may take a month or more. Please check with us for an accurate delivery date.The Darkroom imaging studio offers highly accurate reproductions of paper- or canvas-based original art.
Preserving the integrity of your original artwork, our large format camera picks up every nuance in the original, including color, texture and even the finest brushstrokes. The very detailed image allows the master printer to enlarge the giclée up to and sometimes beyond its original size, all the while preserving the colors and details in the original.
Giclées are offered at sizes ranging from 8x10 up to 44"x30 ft.
Your canvas and watercolor paper giclées are coated with a specially formulated invisible varnish that enhances protection from UV light and airborne humidity.
We also optionally stretch your canvas prints, and mat and frame your copies as well as your original artwork.
Copyright © Natalie Maloney.
The giclée process
Reproducing fine art is a 3-step process that involves:- Photographing the artwork onto slide
First, the artwork is copied onto slide film. Although any camera can be used, a 4"x5" view camera will produce superior results, particularly for the reproduction of large images. In addition to specialized camera apparatus, specialized lighting equipment provides uniform illumination of the artwork. - Digitizing (scanning) the slide
Digitization is the process by which the image on film is converted to digital information. This is performed by scanning the transparency using a high resolution scanner such as our Howtek drum scanner. The digitized image is then enhanced by image manipulation software. - Printing the digitized image
Once the image on the monitor has been manipulated to exactly match the artwork, it is sent to the giclée printer. Proper color management insures that the reproduction matches the original. The use of archival inks and pure cotton rag watercolor papers or canvas combined with proper surface treating yields prints with a longevity of up to 200 years.
Our imaging specialists digitally restore aging and historical photographs that have faded, been tarnished, or damaged.
- We start by digitizing your original photo using a high resolution flatbed scanner. All subsequent work is done on the digital image, so your original photograph is not affected in any way.
- Next, we meticulously fix the damage and restore the original colors using state of the art image manipulation software to bring your photo back to its original condition.
- Finally, the restored image is printed on your choice of paper or canvas.
The restored photo is archived permanently in our file system, making reorders as simple as a phone call. You can also have your restored photo archived on an archival CD for a small charge.
New Orleans' University Montessori School, 1986 class photo.
Class photo restored.
Rate
Digital retouching rate + price of digitization + price of print.The majority of images are restored in under an hour - please come by for an estimate.
Procedure to upload images
- Select an image file to be printed from your computer ("Choose File" button)
- Send it to our server ("Upload" button). Please upload only once: a confirmation page will appear as soon as we have received your file.
- Indicate how you want your image printed by either:
- Giving us a call at 504.522.3211 (Mon-Sat 10-6 CST)
- Sending us an email at digital-lab@neworleansdarkroom.com, including
- Your name and contact info (tel # and email address)
- The name of the file uploaded
- The size of the media you wish your image to be printed on (8.5x11, 11x17, 13x19, 17x22 or larger: 24x, 36x or 44x any length)
- The paper type (semi-glossy, glossy, watercolor, fiber-base, canvas)
- For black and white images, please indicate the tonality desired: neutral, warm or sepia (see examples here)
- The date when you would like your print to be ready. Normal turnaround time is 3 business days but you can request a rush (additional charges may apply)
- Any other relevant instructions
For best results
- images should have at least a 240 dpi resolution and are optimal at 360 dpi
- images should be in tif, psd or jpg formats.
- attach an icc profile to the file if available
- do all your corrections in 16 or 32-bit mode (but convert back to 8-bit before uploading the file)
