Once your photos have been scanned and restored, they are ready for printing. Colour photos are printed with an Epson Photo Stylus 2000P printer, which uses 6-colour archival pigment inks. Black&white photos are printed on an Epson Stylus Photo 890 printer, modified to use the MIS Hextone monochromatic ink system. These are also very long-lasting inks. Hextone inks replace the standard colour inks with shades of grey. This results in outstanding black&white prints.
Your photos can be printed on either Epson archival heavy-weight matte paper, Epson Premium Semi-Gloss paper, or Epson Premium Luster photo paper. The matte paper is recommended because it provides longer life, although the Premium papers are quite good (manufacturer claims 200 years for matte, 140 years for Premium). BrightBits does not use glossy photo paper, as it has a very short lifetime.
Your photo can be printed in any size up to 12x18 in colour, or 9x12 in black&white. Many older photos are not in the standard sizes of today (4x6, 5x7 etc.). They can be either enlarged or reduced to fit a standard size, or printed in their original size and mounted on a standard size mounting paper for framing.
Photos can also be cropped to eliminate damaged areas (less expensive than restoration if feasible) or unwanted background. You can also isolate a single person or object from a photo. Cropping can also make a photo much more dramatic than the original image. Here are some examples:
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Did you know that the proper enlargement size for a 4x6 print (from a 35mm negative) is 8x12, not 8x10? Keep this in mind when taking pictures that you think you might want enlarged. Keep a little extra space on either side of your subject matter so that important objects are not cropped off when you enlarge to 8x10.
A variety of special effects can be created for your prints. Here are some examples:
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BrightBits can create backgrounds for scrapbook/album pages from your photos, including the popular 12x12 size.
A spray-on protective coating can increase the lifetime of your prints by stabilizing the inks, filtering UV radiation, and provide a protective water-resistant coating. If your print will be handled a lot, or hung in an area that gets direct sunlight, or is subject to humidity, then the spray is highly recommended. Bright Bits uses Lumijet ImageShield spray.
Prints should always be framed under glass, and hung away from direct sunlight. A mat board should be used so that the print does not touch the glass. Do not hang them in very humid environments, such as a bathroom. Acid- and lignin-free mats and backing paper should be used.
There are many fine products available today for storing your prints in albums. Acid- and lignin-free pages, and acid-free adhesives are available. Photo mounting corners are also quite good; make sure you get archive-quality. Album pages should be protected with polypropylene sleeves.
Do not under any circumstances use the peel-back "magnetic" albums.
(c) 2002-2005 BrightBits - a division of Garnet Star Consulting Inc.