Should I Print Brighter Than "Normal"?

[Johnny_Boy]

For those of you who print and sell your prints, what light level do you target your print for?

My prints look great, in my studio, under the Solux MR-16 3500K Tungsten spot lights. It looks fairly close to what I see on my screen. I use their 5000K bulb for color evaluation, but for presentation 3500K seems great.

However, I got to see a couple of my prints in my friends' office and another in their home. They just hung it on the wall without any spots or floods. Just pretty much whatever the room light there is (fluorescent for office and incandescent recessed lights at home), is what gets on the prints. That made the print look darker than I would like. Details are getting lost in the shadows, and it just does not have that POP.

I was thinking maybe I should have printed lighter for them? Thoughts? Is this recommended or stick with the "normal"?

(Maybe because I am in pacific northwest and it is perpetually dark and rainy around here? )

[digitaldog]

Even the best print will look dim under a nightlight! IOW, you can't control how poorly others might illuminate a print. Much like trying to target good looking images on the net, where most folks don’t have calibrated displays (and ICC aware web browsers), all you can attempt to do is hit the side of a very broad barn. If a print is poorly illuminated and you try to compensate, what will it look like under better, let alone ideal illumination? Too darn light. Don’t cater to the lowest uncommon dominator.

[chez]

Even the best print will look dim under a nightlight! IOW, you can't control how poorly others might illuminate a print. Much like trying to target good looking images on the net, where most folks don’t have calibrated displays (and ICC aware web browsers), all you can attempt to do is hit the side of a very broad barn. If a print is poorly illuminated and you try to compensate, what will it look like under better, let alone ideal illumination? Too darn light. Don’t cater to the lowest uncommon dominator.

Unfortunately that lowest common denominator is likely the norm for most homes. Very few people have special lighting for their prints...and if they do, they just put any old light bulb into the fixtures.

[Schewe]

I was thinking maybe I should have printed lighter for them? Thoughts? Is this recommended or stick with the "normal"?

I would definitely inquire regarding where and how customers will be hanging the prints...(as well as how they will be framing if you don't sell them framed). If you want to get super anal, you could sample the level of light in an installation and use that in making a custom printer profile. But that may be over the top. But I think you may need to evaluate doing prints based on illumination output. Clearly if they will be hung in a dim space, you can do something about that when printing...but the print for a dim space will suck in a brightly lit area. It's really an either or situation...either you decide to have prints for a range of illumination (and consider either different profiles or edits in the image) or you don't. I would consider it an added value to do so.

Clearly you can't expect a person to know the lux reading for the location where the print will be hung...but I think a little research where you compare some standard lighting in home/office and try to make some adjustments would be useful. Note, if you are selling prints out of a gallery, then it's the gallery conditions that will prevail.

The other thing I would say is that the biggest difference in lighting will hit different areas of an image differently. The likely areas where dim lighting will negatively impact the image is the separation of shadows. What you can see in shadows when well lit vs when poorly lit is staggering...

So, unless you can tell us a bit more about how you print and sell, I'm not sure we can go much further. The biggest deal is of course, the sale...but you don't want disappointment on the part of the buyer after the print is hung.

[Johnny_Boy]

So, unless you can tell us a bit more about how you print and sell, I'm not sure we can go much further. The biggest deal is of course, the sale...but you don't want disappointment on the part of the buyer after the print is hung.

Well, I am pretty new at this stuff...OK, I take that back...I watched your C2P&S video, so I am an expert  

I haven't sold anything YET, officially. I just started the business and my first show is not until May, so I am trying to prep, test print and modify. I've placed some few canvas prints mounted on gator and framed, and placed with different folks to ensure things are holding up in their environment and also to determine how it looks there.

I am mainly planning to sell at art shows during the summer broad daylight. Maybe eventually galleries, but not for a year or two. For my booth I also have MR-16 spot lights, so the print will look great during the show. I am not so sure if it will look good when the customers take it home.

I am printing on Canon ipf8300 on Lyve Canvas with Timeless gloss finish. Running on Mac/Lion, LR3 with NEC PA241w monitor and its puck.

My images tend to be saturated and high contrast.

[Alan Goldhammer]

I am mainly planning to sell at art shows during the summer broad daylight. Maybe eventually galleries, but not for a year or two. For my booth I also have MR-16 spot lights, so the print will look great during the show. I am not so sure if it will look good when the customers take it home.

You are going to have a problem regardless since you cannot control what the customer is going to do.  If they come by your booth at different times of day (depending on where the sun is in the sky and the light reflections) your prints are going to look different.  Unless you are willing to go to the customer's home and look at the lighting setup there is not much you can do (and I wouldn't advise adopting that type of business model unless you're selling things for a lot of money where this type of personalized printing could be a 'business' strategy).  You need to satisfy yourself that the print is the best you can make and perhaps print up an accompanying leaflet that can be supplied to the purchaser that suggests how the print should be illuminated and any precautions (don't place in direct sunlight for example).  Otherwise you will drive yourself crazy.

[howardm]

I'd agree w/ Alan.  Provide a little card of do's and dont's w/ the print and throw in some verbage indicating that for best viewing results, make sure to have the room well lit etc etc w/o actually saying what well-lit means.  At least that puts the seed in their mind (Inception?) that viewing illumination level plays a part in the viewing experience.

[Geraldo Garcia]

I'd agree w/ Alan.  Provide a little card of do's and dont's w/ the print and throw in some verbage indicating that for best viewing results, make sure to have the room well lit etc etc w/o actually saying what well-lit means.  At least that puts the seed in their mind (Inception?) that viewing illumination level plays a part in the viewing experience.

That is quite exactly what I do too. You must tell them something to guide them in the right direction but whithout telling that they must do something.

Best regards.

[Johnny_Boy]

Thanks. I think I am going to prep a little leaflet and hand it out with the art work.

Too bad, I can't control image lighting. The images look so much better with spot lights on them. Maybe I should start selling those back-lit boxes with the photos on front ;-)

[Scott O.]

I think you have it figured out.  You can alter your printing for the temperature of light they are using, but not the intensity.  This is too bad, as an poorly illuminated image will just disappear.  The idea of a suggestion card is excellent, as you can really itemize what the customer can do to maximize their experience with your print.

[leuallen]

Supply a flashlight to hang next to the photo. Instructions on how far away to hold the light. 

Larry