Printing Your Portfolio
In the art world, examples of prints are often presented in either a standard or a custom-made portfolio box. In the world of commercial photography, portfolios are usually presented in either a standard or custom-made album with interchangeable pages. (For more information on these, see Printing Your Album below).
There are some similarities between printing for an exhibition and a portfolio: it is important that all images in a series have a similar look and that the paper chosen compliments the images. This sometimes requires test printing so you can be comfortable with your final choice. We can offer you advice based on our extensive experience of how different papers affect different types of image. We also review your image files to see what technical issues may arise, e.g. file specification and resolution.
Questions
- There are several questions to be answered when preparing to print for a portfolio.
- Roughly how many prints are you planning?
- Will the images in the portfolio be from one or more series or projects?
- Will each series be printed on a paper suited to the series, or will they be printed on one common paper?
- Will all the images be one size and orientation? If not, how will the different sizes and orientations look on different page sizes and shapes (e.g. square, slightly off-square, vertical/‘portrait’ orientation or horizontal/’landscape’ orientation).
- What borders do you want for each size/orientation of image?
- Will you require printed ‘title’ sheets or un-printed interleave sheets?
- What flexibility, if any, do you require for your future needs?
- Do you have an existing portfolio box, and if so, are there any special requirements we should know about to ensure your new prints fit your existing box?
Answering these questions takes a little time, but it’s worthwhile going through them to ensure you get exactly what you want.
Papers
Where portfolio boxes are concerned, we have the widest range of fine art and photographic papers in Ireland from which to choose. Explore our web site, or better still, call in to see the papers.
Portfolio Boxes
We can make your prints to suit standard archival portfolio boxes such as those supplied by Preservation Equipment and Hartnet & Company in the United Kingdom. And Hahnemühle in Germany have a range of archival storage boxes.
Or, if you prefer a custom-made archival quality portfolio box, there’s a whole new list of questions, plus sample fabrics, text, colours etc. to consider. Fortunately, we’ve done this many times and can take you through the process smoothly. We have samples portfolio boxes made by Hubert Bookbindery in Cork and we have their range of 30 sample fabrics in stock. For further information, visit Hubert Bookbindery or see our portfolio options (link below).
Need a Portfolio?
The simplest way to get started is to phone us on +353 1 454 5417 or e-mail us at Enquiries [@] inspirationalarts.ie.
