Making print adjustments with the printer

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

I send out RPPC usually 5 times a year to people that may be interested in my work. It is always good to try and keep your name out there. And RPPC is a cheap way to send out original prints. But, due to my budget, I don’t use top grade paper when I print the post cards. For my regular prints I mainly use Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta. For RPPC’s I generally use the less expensive Moab Juniper Baryta.

Most of the curators and gallerists I mail to trash the mailings as soon as they get them. If you are lucky to be a darling of the art world, then you are highly regarded. But for the rest of us…you may be treated like a homeless man offering them a sack of shit.

So, no need to waste more money on the mailings than is necessary, if it will just end up in the trash. Now, I don’t send out garbage, the paper has to do a decent job and be true to the subject…at least 90% true anyway. The Juniper Baryta is doable, it is just not as good as the Hahnemühle, so it falls in the range of a 90%’er.

All my printing is perfected for the Hahnemühle. When you switch papers, you sometimes need to rework in post to get the right contrast or exposure. That is how it is with the Juniper Baryta. It prints light compared to the Hahnemühle.

There are 2 ways to go about the adjustment. You can rework the image with post processing software. Or you can do it with printer adjustments.

Here are examples of the exposure adjustments made with the printer on the Moab Juniper Baryta paper. The photo on the left is printed with no adjustments. The center photo is 5% darker and the photo on the right in 10% darker.

‘Cornered‘ Hollywood, CA 1973

Selection from Peephole: Peering into the World of 1970’s Hollywood & L.A. by D.D.Teoli Jr.

Depending on your printer, it should offer you similar adjustments for exposure, contrast, saturation, etc. I don’t like doing a lot of in-printer adjustments. For big post jobs, they have to be done with software and not done with the printer. But, with a simple adjustment for a one-time job, I generally just dial it in with the printer.

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Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Advertising Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. VHS Video Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Audio Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Social Documentary Photography

Edited January 17, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

...oh

One other tip. Let your inkjet prints dry a spell before evaluating them. They get lighter when fully dry.