#self printing

[1-1-s1ay-2-2]

These original prints of my photography 🤟

[howtobeaconartist]

this is gonna sound dumb, but what paper do you guys print on? I've printed glossy poster print but that seems too expensive to keep doing..

Nattosoup:  That’s not dumb at all!  Artists may handle printing in a variety of ways.

For prints:  I print my mini prints through photo printing services like Shutterfly, Snapfish, or Amazon’s Photo Services.  Some artists use CatPrints, and you can request a sample paper booklet.

For stickers: I print on glossy photo sticker paper, I used to print on matte, but my customers like the glossy ones better.  I use a toner based printer (slightly more waterproof than using a dye based printer).

For mini comics: I print on regular copy paper for the interior using that toner based printer, and use cardstock covers.

Kiriska: I use Catprint’s 80lb uncoated cover stock. 

If you like the quality of the paper you’re using though and just find it expensive, you may try to find a different supplier for the same or similar paper, or you can just charge more for the print?

Also see: #paper for printing 

[dyrewrites]

"It is October, I am going to print the short stories and stuff them into neighborhood libraries!"

I've looked up how to bind them myself, but, um...I can't work out how to print them properly.

I figured I'd want pages small and side by side, staggered numbering, to bind them like a book but it seems LibreOffice is confused by anything not letter size and orientation.

Anyone know how to do this thing? A different software to use, should I make them into pdfs and see if I can do it that way?

I have no idea what I am doing.

[starsontheceilingcomic]

Shawn, Frank, and Mary: The Book

New comic,"Shawn, Frank, and Mary: The Book", is up. Click the comic to see the final.

[gute-design]

名刺をセルフプリント中。 もう少し圧を強めにしようかな。

[masayakimura-blog]

I printed a few photos on last Monday.

[thirteenthfloormedia]

So I've Decided To Take Printing Into My Own Hands

Because Why Not Print More While Spending Less?

A typical development & low-res scan package from a photo lab ranges anywhere from about $10 to $25 per roll depending on where you go.  I'd typically spend about $13 at my lab.  Add that to the cost of a roll of film, like my personal favorite Portra 800, and it's safe to say it cost me roughly $25 every time I wanted to shoot a roll of film to share with the world.  Now mind you, the scans included in this cost only provided enough resolution to display on the web.  For a truly high resolution scan needed for printing large formats, I'd be looking at anywhere between $5 to $25 PER NEGATIVE depending on just how much enlarging I'd need.  

All that covers is just getting my photos ready to make prints, never mind the printing itself.  At a fine art photo lab I'd be looking at anywhere from $50 to $100 per final print, never mind the costs of testing color profiles and paper stocks.  When it's all said and done I'd easily be looking at a few thousand in expenses to print enough work for my upcoming solo exhibit.  Now don't get me wrong, quality prints from a fine art lab are certainly worth it, but until people start shelling out thousands of dollars for my prints (give it time), these costs just weren't gonna cut it.  I am a starving artist after all, I barely clear a few thousand in annual income... 

So as I've moved into the printing era of my photographic endeavors, and now working on my third (and possibly also forth) gallery exhibit of the year, it became clear that it was time I took printing into my own hands.  And with the successful test run of my digital printing method and print sale, I've decided to do just that.  Thanks to an impeccably-timed rebate, I've recently invested in a large format digital printer from Canon (full review coming soon).

This seemed to make the most sense from a business perspective as well.  As much as people tell me they like my photos, it's hard to like something enough to spend upwards of $200 a piece on it (lookin' at you, Tinder dates, hope you like Ramen), so I'll be the first to admit that the darkroom pricing options currently in my Print Store just aren't for everybody. And since I've officially reached the limit of how many pieces of furniture and/or photographic equipment I can reasonably fit into a studio apartment, my home darkroom project is going to have to wait a few years.  

Still, it makes sense to offer a more economical solution for people who truly enjoy my work and would like to own a piece of it.  Especially considering that the majority of my audience are other film photographers, and we all know how broke we are.   But with that out of the way, there's still the other elephant in the room, in that scanning high res is fcking expensive.  How do we solve this problem?  Well, that's a good question for another time.  (Hint: I'm bought a scanner too).  For now, I've got some learning to do, as digital printing opens up a whole new science of photography that I have only just begun to scratch the surface of.

[bothandvancouver-blog]

“FREEDOM OF THE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO OWN THE PRESS!”

We are keenly aware of the power of the printed word. We are here to challenge and create alternatives. And we have a desire as workers to have control over our lives… freedom of the press belongs to those who own the presses. 

Andrea Lowe [1]

Press Gang was a printing shop, publisher, and anti-capitalist collective located on 821 East Hastings (and later 603 Powell) dedicated to the creation and dissemination of feminist and alternative political information. Founded in April 1970, Press Gang initially held positions for both women and men; starting in 1974 the Press actively employed only those who identified as women.

Press Gang enacted workplace policies that actively refused an environment that would condone racist, classist, ageist, sexist, and homophobic sentiments. It printed feminist literary magazines, pamphlets, books, and posters that promoted and supported the women’s movement and LGBTQ activism that may have been denied elsewhere. Press Gang’s mandate was to radically increase and create a safe place to voice feminist thought, but also to practice ethical labour employment, skill-sharing, and collaboration through self-publishing. Kate Eichhorn argues that the feminist publishing movement from the 1970s “was not only committed to controlling who was involved in the production and distribution of texts; at least in the case of radical feminist publishing, there was a strong belief that cultural production must transform both the process and product”. [2]

While being highly aware of the structures of capitalism as an oppressive barrier, Press Gang struggled with maintaining the business through donations and sales. In 1982, Press Gang Printers and Press Gang Publishers Feminist Cooperative separated into two sister-entities with Press Gang Printers dissolving after a fiscal crisis in 1993. Press Gang Publishers continued to operate, with its first publication tackling the stigmas associated with women and mental illness. Press Gang Publishers finalized their closure in 2002.

A small sampling of the artists and authors printed by Press Gang include Ivan Coyote, Shani Mootoo, Sheila Baxter, Rita Wong, and Daphne Marlatt.

Text: 

Anna Tidlund

Notes/Sources:

[1] Press Gang Printers: Survivors with Their Politics Intact, Dana Putnam, Women’s Studies 216 Langara Campus Nov. 10, 1991.

[2] The Archival Turn in Feminism: Outrage and Order,  Kate Eichhorn, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 2013.

Image: 

Press Gang poster, circa 1978. Simon Fraser University archive, Press Gang Publishers fonds; F-134-7 Promotion, marketing and fundraising files. Attempts are being made to contact the copyright holder; if the image belongs to you and you would like us to remove them, visit the Contact section of our Tumblr to find our email and Take Down Policy.