where to have digital negatives printed?

[drgoose]

hello everyone, I am thinking of getting into some alt processes and I have an analogue darkroom at home. I would like to know if there are any "service bureaus
" that can print digital negatives from a tiff or pst file. Because of time, space and money constraints I can't drop 2k in a new setup to start. I would like to be able to edit my files and the have them printed and the negative mailed back. Is this feasible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[L Gebhardt]

I can print them on film with a film recorder up to 11x14, and others can print up to 16x20. But the cost is probably prohibitive, and my guess is you would be well served with inkjet negatives for most alt processes. I don't know of any services that make inkjet negatives. Getting a printer should not cost you $2K, especially if you want to limit your print sizes to 13x19. And by learning to do it yourself you would have complete control of the process.

 

[pschwart]

Good advice from Larry. Inkjet printers have been capable of making high quality negatives for years, so using a service bureau is much less common than it once was. 13" Epson photo printers can be had for not much money, especially if you get them factory refurbished. The ability to print your own negatives will save you bundles of money and even more important, speed up your workflow tremendously. The most expensive part of digital negatives is the learning curve. I think this is a significant component even when using a service bureau.

 

[Richard Boutwell]

I've have been printing inkjet negatives with the Cone Digital Film inkset for myself for the last two years, and for other people on a case by case basis.

Providing them for other people is tricky since it the negative/correction curve is tailored to the process and working environment. I settled on a general correction curve that will allow the user to have enough latitude to contact print like it was a normal negative in the darkroom with some room for personal interpretation.

The only other issue is that the negatives are sort of fragile and need to be carefully handled to be able to reprint with them.

Here are two images from an 8x10 print and negative made for Lodima Fine Art Grade 2. The original capture was made with a D800e and converted and edited in photoshop. The very smooth areas of sky and snow and the dark sharp areas in the trunks made this a torture test kind of negative for glossy gelatin-silver chloride contact printing. It will never be as smooth or as sharp and a camera negative, but it is pretty darn good considering the limitations.