The free stuff is here

Please note that this is an Australian website – scene sketches is based in Portland, OR,USA
prices are in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Buying/Selling Prints online has it problems.

Internet marketing has not lived up to the expectations of a great number of people. The reality is that it takes more than spam and banners to sell goods on the web. This is still a relatively new industry and the future may still be bright if the problems are addressed.

Is there an online market for photographic art prints? At a glance one might think that almost anyone can produce inexpensive high quality prints at home but this is not really the case. I do print archival medium format photos at home but it has taken a over year an a significant investment to overcome the various problems. Online galleries are not doing well at the moment, I had expected things to improve by now.
The wars and instability don't help at all.
The be honest I'm making good money being a geek so is not an issue for me. 

What you see is not what you get.

The 1024*768 samples I've posted are reduced from 4 megapixels down to around 800 Kilopixels – a reduction of 5. The file size has been reduced by a factor of 10 to 20. The online galleries are usually compressed more – they have to be to reduce download times. You simply can't see the image quality in the proofs.

To see what I mean look click the image. The new page has around 300K of images on it so it may take a while to load. So the good news is the print will be better than the proof as far as sharpness goes.

What about color?

It is unlikely the color of the print will match the color you see on your monitor. It may look better or it may not. Also the prints will look different under different light conditions – particularly fluorescent lights. Inks and monitor phosphors produce different colors – they can be matched for a some colors but not all. Some online galleries sites will supply small sample prints to give the customer a better idea what the print looks like. Most also offer a money back guarantee - but the buyer usually still has the pay the delivery charges.

What is an "Art Print"?

In my case art prints are inkjet or Giclee prints which are archival. They are printed on archival “art” media using archival inks. My prints are on matte paper . They have a different look and feel to photographic prints on offset printed posters. Art prints are much more expensive than photo prints.

What do my prints cost to buy?

I have closed my mediastreet gallery, scene sketches is currently my only “for sale” gallery.

scene sketches has a small selection of what I consider to be my best work. Most of these are limited editions. I print the smaller sizes myself using archival ink and media and tune the printer profiles to suit the images where necessary. The large prints are printed by commercial printers but I check all of them myself. The edition sizes are small (from 10 to 100) making them attractive to collectors as well as decorators.
scenesketches pricing is still being worked out but will start at $25US for open edition 5 by 7(ish) inch prints with a minimum one inch border. Limited edition (LE100) 6 by 8s will probably start at $30US. The 10 off 18*24 inch limited editions are $250US.

Here some of my images are on the drum of an 8 color giclee printer. This printer is worth about $80,000 AUS. This is at Origin Publishing at Bellbowrie, Brisbane, Oz.
Origin primarily reproduce paintings and one can be seen on the left of the drum. Giclee is just another name for inkjet (french for fountain?).

I own a 7 color professional inkjet which can print paper up to 13 inch wide.

Origin Publishing recently bought a epson 9600 a 44 inch - 7 color ink jet which is the big brother to my 2100p.

Is a commercial "Art Print" better than a regular homemade print.

It depends on who's home they are printed in. Many people have printers capable of producing high quality prints. To do so requires good paper, good ink good ink profiles and expertise – most homes do not have all these ingredients. Many photo quality printers produce reasonable looking prints without too much effort - but they fade.
One problem is they most come with dye-based inks which have nice bright colors but fade (often rapidly) when put on display. Some printer makers claim their ink is archival when it really isn't. There are independent testers with web sites where you can research this yourself. A good place to start is http://www.wilhelm-research.com/. The ink I currently use is "Enhanced generations" G4 pigment based ink - this is rated at 100+ years under standard display conditions. It may sound silly using a 100 year ink but the actual display condition may be much brighter than the standard. If on the other hand you live in a dim cave dye may be OK. Dyes are usually brighter than pigments (until they fade). If you put archival ink in a home printer the colors usually end up wrong. To fix this properly requires the use of a color management profile. These can be expensive though (I have a written a free program which can hack profiles - see my photography page).
Paper is less of an issue, good paper can be bought – it is expensive and can be hard to find – I mail order mine. Again you ideally need a profile to suit.

What is meant by archival?

I think it is a silly term. You don't use ink to archive a digital image you use a CD-burner or such. If you really want to "archive" a print you can keep it dark. If you want prints on display to last - there are a number of issues. One is "light fastness" – resistance to fading caused be exposure to light (particularly UV). The other is "gas fastness" – resistance to attack by chemical fumes (ozone is a problem). Pigments are usually better than dyes. The paper is also a factor – archival papers are acid free and some have special coating to increase print quality and life. A print's life can also be increased by mounting it behind a UV and gas barrier (glass?) or using protective coatings.

Gloss or Matte?

It is partly a matter of personal preference and partly a matter of practicality. Gloss can look stunning but requires appropriate lighting. For most people matte is more practical.

Inkjet versus Photographic.

I am biased toward ink. Under perfect conditions conventional (ie enlargers and such) photographic printing give great results but there is a lot which can go wrong. I worked in a professional photo lab (Prolab) for 5 or 6 years about 25 years ago and fantasied about the digital technology we have now (I also build computers at home). Digital processing can do magic, whether it be using inkjet or other output devices such as LED printers. Inkjets are great because they can print and such a wide variety of surfaces including inkjet ready canvas. Pigment inks can be problematic on gloss. There are inks for this purpose but I have not seen the results. Ink and Matte are a good combination for high gloss photographic paper may be better.
This year (2002) is said by some (including me) to be the year (affordable) digital imaging has exceeded photographic film and paper in quality.

E-commerce

A lot of people are still afraid on use credit cards on the net. I buy online a bit and haven't had any problems for many years – when I did I got my money back. Now the PayPal service make it even easier and safer to shop online. You have to trust Paypal but your card details stay with them. I was worried they may spam me a lot but they've been very good. It's free for personal use.

Why scene sketches.

Because the online market for low cost open edition prints is dominated be a few large impersonal galleries. We hope to fill a niche for a more personalized service offering both exclusive editioned and open prints.