I need to print images from slides to large format "art quality" wall hangings and I would like to catalog them digitaly. -What method of printing do I use? -How do I find someone that can do that? -Do you have any cost saving ideas? I need about 600 prints. Thanks!

-- Sadie Boyd (sboyd@grhs.net), December 09, 1999

Answers

It would help if you mentioned what equipment you already have. You can scan the slides if you have a good scanner with a light source (for example Microtek Scanmaker X6 with the Lightlid option, but there are others). Scan at max res (on a fast PC or Mac with heaps of memory). Using photo editing software such as Photoshop you can then edit the images as required. After that stick the images on CDrom. You will then need to find someone to do the printing for you, unless it needs to be no bigger than say A3 in which case you could use a photo printer such as the Epson Stylus Photo EX. However the cost of media and ink would probably be very prohibitive. By the looks of it, needing 600 copies etc. it would probably be best to shop around for pre-press bureaus or full-service printers who can do the work for you, either starting from the slides or starting from the edited images on CDrom (if supplying a CDrom, supply a good quality print with it to show how the colors should look so the printer has a benchmark). It's not gonna be cheap but it pays to shop around as differences in price can be significant between different suppliers. The way to catalog them would be on CDrom as DVDrom is not yet standardised. Magnetic media have a very limited lifetime and therefore are usually not useful. Good luck.

-- George (george.spark@usa.net), December 14, 1999.