Large Size Prints Without a Large Price

Some call me “old school” but I’m not a big fan of showing pictures on the tiny screen of my cellphone.

Quite often I print some of my favorite shots onto photo paper. With my Epson ET-3750 Printer I’ve made hundreds of 4″x6″ prints and dozens of larger 8-1/2″x11″ enlargements. In the two years that I’ve had the ET-3750 printer I have never had to change an ink cartridge. The printer’s large EcoTanks are refillable making the cost of the prints very affordable.

Every so often I’ll take a picture that I’d like to show off – meaning print a bigger enlargement. Earlier this year I found out about the Epson ET-8550 EcoTank that handles paper up to 13″x19″ at an affordable $600 price.

Here’s a few short steps for setting up the printer for use.

 

The shipping carton is about 30″ x 20″ x 10″ and weighs about 20 lbs.	The bright blue tape secures the parts during shipment is easily removed.
The printer uses four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The shipment includes a second bottle of black ink.	Each ink bottle fills the respective reservoir. The bottles are “coded” to prevent inadvertent filling mistakes.
You can visually view the level of each ink reservoir. The ink supply will yield about 2400 4″x6″ prints for about 4 cents each.	The bottom tray holds smaller paper (e.g. 4″x6″) and larger (8-1/2″x11″). The rear paper feeder holds larger paper up to 13″x19″.
Here is a completed 13″x19″ print. You can see the rear paper feeder.	You can compare the print size next to the 12″ ruler. This print was on standard ink print paper.

As you can see I’ve been able to make a bunch of big enlargements – at a reasonable price.

---

---

---

The ET-8550 has other features other than its large print capability.

Wireless connection to your Mac or Windows PC
Two-sided printing
High resolution document scanning and copying up to 8-1/2″ x 14″
Handles variety of papers including glossy, matte, texture, cardstock

For those of you who like to print big – this is an affordable and capable printer.

 
 

---

 
 

A Miscue Turns a Photo Into a Favorite

During the 60’s my favorite pastime was photography.

Having only an after school part time job, I used used many techniques to make an expensive hobby more affordable.

I remember buying 100-foot long “bulk film” to reload 35mm cartridges into shorter five foot 36-exposure lengths. This was enough for 18 cartridges of film – enough for the summer season for about the same cost as buying 6 individual rolls of Kodak or Ansco film.

Next I learned how to develop my own film. I constructed a small darkroom in my parents’ basement where I would hang the still-wet film on a clothesline to dry. Not long after I earned enough to buy an enlarger. Wow, I was in photo heaven. The enlarger let me make my own prints and I would patiently watch the image slowly appear (under a safelight) in the developing solution. I was having all of this fun for a fraction of the cost of sending the spent film to my local photofinisher.

Mine was a hobby was like that of many others where you just seem to keep spending your earning for the latest gadgets – easel for holding photographic paper, new developing trays for bigger enlargements, paper dryers for drying prints, color drum for making color prints, etc. 

Perhaps you can now see that my association with photography goes back a very long time.

From all of those years spent in the darkroom in the 60s and 70’s there is one event that I remember well. It was a darkroom miscue that had a happy result.

---

---

But first a quick intro to how to develop a roll of 35mm black and white film:

In a dark, lightproof room, you remove the exposed film from its cartridge and slide it onto a metal reel. The reel is placed into a stainless steel tank with a specially designed top which lets you complete the development in normal room light. Pour the  developer solution into the tank for a designated time – usually 6 to 8 minutes and then pour the developer solution out of the tank . Next pour plain water into the tank for one minute to halt the film development and discard the water. Then pour in the final solution called fixer for 5 minutes. This desensitizes the film from light and makes the image permanent. Now it’s safe to remove the film from the tank and give it a final rinse wash in water for ten minutes.

These operations are done with all of the liquids – developer, water and fixer – at a temperature of 68 degrees F. On one occasion, I inadvertently washed a developed roll at a colder temperature. I wasn’t paying attention and unknown to me at the time the final rinse water must have been a lot colder. 

I removed the film from the reel and hung it on a line to dry. But when I finally looked, several of the frames looked very weird. 

---

---

The meshlike pattern that was imbedded into the film surface is called reticulation. Although this was result of an error in development I think that the resulting image of our first dog Candy is a winner.

---

---

Sometimes a mistake turns into a favorite.

---

Written by: Arnie Lee

---

---

After You Finally Print That Cellphone Photo

The overwhelming number of photos these days reside on cellphones. It’s common see friends staring at a screen as one of them swipes to show you that funny picture that they captured a few days ago.

Once in a while you may have want to get that image off of your screen and into someone’s hand. You can send the digital copy to your home printer or email it to your local Walgreen (or other local printer) to have it turned into a “real” photograph.

When it’s finally printed you can clip it to your refrigerator door with a magnet, scotch tape it to a nearby wall or mail it to your grandma to show her your graduation gown and diploma. But you may want to print a treasured photo and turn it into a proud presentation.

Here’s a few ways that I’ve done this over the years.

---

---

Dry Mounting
This large piece of equipment is called a dry mount press. A thin sheet of specially prepared paper is sandwiched between a mounting board and the back of the photograph. The heated press squeezes the sandwich for a short time leaving the photograph “pasted” to the board.
This press can handle photographs enlargement up to 20″ x 24″. Other dry mounting presses are available in smaller sizes.
Spray Adhesive Mounting
For smaller prints I sometimes use this adhesive spray. This one is made by 3M but other similar products are also available.
The adhesive is evenly sprayed on the back of the photograph. Place the photograph on a larger piece of paper or corrugate since the adhesive will “overspray”. You’ll want to do this is a non-enclosed space so that you don’t inhale the fumes. Carefully apply the photograph to the mounting board.
Ultra Board Mounting
I discovered a very convenient product for presenting photographs called “UltraBoard”. These products are available in various sizes and thicknesses from United Industries
Using an UltraBoard is simple. Unpeal the protective backing from the board and carefully position your photograph onto the surface.
The photograph is securely mounted to the flexible board and ready for presentation.

When you finally get those images off of your cellphone you now have few ways of making a presentation quality photo.

Why not show off your favorites without swiping your cellphone screen?

---

Written by: Arnie Lee

---

Newer Posts »