Category

Services

Jul 19
0

Where do prints come from?

By | Artist, Services, Tweek Imaging | No Comments

Ever been curious about the early life of your print before it becomes part of your home? To help you out today we’re going to tell you all about the birds and the bees. Are you ready?!

So, you click order (birds) and we receive your order (bees). Done. You can stop reading now. J/K! J/K!

For real though, once we receive your order we (with gloved hands) print it on your choice of paper then…

Your print gently falls from the printer into the print-friendly hammock below the printer. We then grab your print by the edge attempting to never touch the actual image. A lot of times your print will be curled because we are printing on rolls of paper. So the next step is usually de-curling the print. Essentially we are curling it the opposite direction in order to flatten it. Once it is flattened we place your print(s) in an acid free protective sleeve before attaching it to chip board and placing it in your mailing package. Why do we attach it to chip board? To help with rigidity and protect that happy baby. Gotta protect your babies. They dent so easily.

If you’re in a hurry to get your print and we are rushing a bit (which is totally cool with us) we will place your print in the acid-free sleeve with a piece of standard bond paper to help the image out-gas before it gets to you to go in your frame1.

One question we have for you is… ‘how long are you going to store your print before framing or hanging?’ If it is going to be a while2 we recommend requesting a backing board at checkout. This is going to give your print rigidity and hopefully prevent an ‘uh, oh’ moment for you. We’d hate for you to be forced into ordering the same print twice. Unless you want to of course.

Another great reason for getting a backing board is if you’re an artist and you plan on immediately selling your product or shipping it straight onto your client. We’re here to help make your life easier. Remember? If you’re going to store this print indefinitely we’d recommend you store your print as we send it then sandwiched between acid-free foamboard.

After all that, baby is placed in the shipping container, driven to the shipping facility and placed in their hands to be delivered at your happy door.

The End!

Oh wait, here are some quick tips:

How you can store your prints (if you aren’t immediately framing):

  • Leave them in the packaging (specifically the acid-free sleeve) you get from us

  • Store in a flat file box or cabinet

If you’re framing:

  • Use gloves to be sure no oils or prints are transferred

  • If you want to continue with the archival process we’ve started for you use acid free mats

  • You can also use an acid free backing board like foam-core that will keep your print in place 3

  • Self-adhesive Linen hinging (i.e. Lineco Tape)

Jul 12
0

The Spot on Main

By | Services, Tweek Imaging | No Comments

We recently had the opportunity to work with The Spot on Main in Jackson, Ohio on a really neat project. You’re going to like this one! Read on for all the sweet details!

We just love making new friends, don’t you?

A few months ago, we made a great new friend when we met the super talented Matt Day1. And then a few weeks back, Tony had the opportunity to go help Matt hang a show of his work in Jackson, Ohio2. (You may have tracked that adventure on our Instagram story. Tony documented the whole thing.) While he was in Jackson, he made ANOTHER new friend. I know – how lucky are we??

Turns out our newest friend – Jenny Massie – was about to open a very cool coffee house. The shop is called The Spot on Main, and it is Jackson’s only coffee shop. Check them out if you’re ever passing through Jackson! Well worth the visit.

So, anyway, Jenny was about to open The Spot on Main, and she had an idea for a photo installation for a large wall in the shop. Jenny and Tony decided to work together to make her idea a reality, and what a reality it became! We are so psyched we had the chance to work on this project.

Starting with old public domain photo of Jackson Ohio from the 1930s, we planned out the layout for the installation in Photoshop. The whole group together needed to be about 11 feet wide! (P.S. These old photos of Jackson are the COOLEST.)

Next we brought out the big guns: we printed on matte adhesive vinyl, and added textured lamination on top. Then we applied the vinyl to ½ inch black Gatorplast3. Whew!

After we printed, laminated, and mounted these beauties we used additional pieces of Gatorplast and 3M adhesive to give the photos different levels of dimension from the wall. This really made the grouping feel super dynamic.

We love this project, and we are super happy to have made a new friend in the process. We are told that people come into The Spot, look at the photos, and say “Oh wow, I think that’s so and so.” or “That’s my grandfather!” and we think that’s so neat. They are really cool historic photos. The Spot on Main is located in a historic building in a really cool historic town4. Even the name “The Spot” has history – ask Jenny Massie about it when you’re in town.

All in all, we are really glad to have been a part of this. Thanks Jenny – and best of the luck with your new business. We predict great success!

  1. Remember ourpost about Matt?
  2. If you watch carefully in Matt’svideo about his show, you can spot Tony a few times! Cameo!
  3. Gatorplast ispretty legit. We think it’ll hold up nicely.
  4. Jackson (also known as “the salt lick town”) has apretty interesting history.
Jun 21
0

Put it on Canvas!

By | Services, Tweek Imaging | No Comments

If you’re up to date on your reading you’ll see that we mentioned canvases in our Father’s Day Gift Guide. You didn’t order one then but you’re still thinking on it huh? Ok, we get it. Here’s some more info on these guys that may help you decide.

So you’ve seen canvas prints in your friends home and you wonder what the hype is about? Or, maybe you’ve heard no hype and are indifferent. We get that too. If you’d also remember we talked about a couple of options in our Father’s Day post that were instant gifts no prep necessary…well, a canvas is one of those.

With a canvas you can choose a size that might go in any space1 or something that makes a huge statement2…. Either way, no matter what you pick these items are printed, stretched on a frame and ready to hang. There is no stress trying to figure out what kind of frame the print would look best in or where it would look good hung. When you get your canvas print it will have a hanging wire along with a hanger attached to the frame. As for the placement, if the colors in your image don’t clash with your walls you’re pretty much set to hang it anywhere.

Here at Tweek every canvas that leaves our shop is covered in a protective coating that helps keep fingerprints, scuffs and the atmosphere at bay. This is not something we upsell. We just do this. Why? Because we want you to be happy with your product in the long-term. Now, you’re thinking, ‘but I really want a matte finish.’ Don’t worry. You’ll still have a matte finish even though we coat it. Or, maybe you prefer a glossy finish. We can do that too.

The frames we stretch our canvas around are made in house. This allows for a quicker turn-around, quality control, and, of course, customization.3 They are one and a half inches deep. This gives you a good amount of room to see the image wrapped and good visual depth once it is hung.

Maybe you’ve got a wedding photo you’ve been wanting to print. Or an updated family photo. Or maybe you love architectural photography…Tony says those look really nice on canvas. You can start small with an 8×8 to fill a fun little space or go real bold with a 16×20. Either way there’s a perfect size for any space and we’ll guarantee you won’t regret your purchase.

  1. Say an 8×8 or 8×10
  2. Like a 16×20 or larger
  3. We can also do custom orders…maybe you don’t want your canvas stretched. We can still print it with a border if you’d like.
Jun 14
0

Need a Sample?

By | Services, Tweek Imaging | No Comments

You know how excited you get when you go to a big box store and find out there are samples on every aisle?! Weeeellll, guess what?! It’s sample day, every day, here at Tweek! Read on for more info!

That’s right folks…this sample books can be yours! How do you get one? Place an order totalling $15 or more and it’s yours for free1! Or, you can order one by itself for $10.

We had to give you a video of these guys because we want you to see how fun it is to flip through. And to see how cool they are of course. Duh. You’re probably wondering why we are so excited to share these with you….

Remember our recent post about our paper options? Our sample book takes that knowledge base to higher ground. We’ve printed different images on each sample. Seems unnecessary right? Well, this is because we want you to see examples that we think matches the paper so you can see the paper in it’s best light. And because we want you to imaging what your similar photographs/work would look like.

You can store these in a desk drawer really easily. You can fan them out to see a broad overview. You can even take it apart2 and look at pages right next to each other if they aren’t close in the book. And because you can take it apart we will even send you more pages as we add inventory to our options. The perfect paper can take a project from nice to wow(!) and we want to make sure you know exactly what your wow(!) is.

1 Why free?! Because knowing what is at your fingertips is really priceless anyway. Add the sample book to your cart or make a note in the comment section of your order so we know you’d like one!

2 If you’re organized enough to not lose one of the pages. Good luck!

May 20
0

Giclée you say?

By | Art From the Hills, Services, Tweek Imaging | No Comments

We’d like to start today with some vocabulary. Then we’ll move on to some thoughts about selected vocab. There will be a test.

Art reproduction: an accurate representation of an original piece of art (not just a copy, but with the depth and feel that the artist had in mind)

 

Giclée1: a word coined by printmaker Jack Duganne of Nash Editions (according to wikipedia) in the early 90s originally referring to prints made with Iris printers back in the 80s we now use inkjet printers for the same process.

So, sometimes thinking of art reproduction for Giclée printing makes you think of a Monet or Van Gogh that you can buy in the poster form at MOMA or online from one of those terrible ‘art poster’ dealers. Ugh…don’t even…ok. Sorry. When Tweek does art reproduction and Giclée printing we are working with artists to digitize their work to create prints of the original. You’re sitting there thinking…yeah, that’s exactly the same as buying a Monet or Van Gogh print. Yes, you’re right. However, most current artists are making limited amounts of a print. This allows those of us on a smaller budget the ability to have fine art in our homes. Imagine your favorite moderately-known artist makes 15 Giclées…then say 40 years from now is considered a creative genius and there was only one original piece and 15 Giclées and you own one! Does that help a little with perspective?

Now, let’s talk about how that fine art reproduction gets in our homes. The images with this post are of Tony2 during the reproduction process with one of our artist’s, Lesley Eaton3, work. Here’s how our process works:

  1. The artist’s work arrives (big or small we can handle it all!4).
  2. Depending on the size, we can scan, set it up on the copy stand or in a horizontal setup5 to shoot.
  3. Now we’ve got a high resolution file ready to move on with…
  4. We then take the image on to color correction.
  5. After color correction the artist reviews the corrected file for printing approval.
  6. The file is then set up for printing and is, well, printed of course.

During this process we keep in mind what we know artists are looking for:

  • Color matching or color deviation, such as brighter, more saturated or even less contrast6
  • Texture/dimensionality to be accurate to the original.
  • Quality result with a good value.

Tony says, “You know you’ve done it right when someone almost has to touch it to see if it is real or not.”

How are we different from a big box office/sign printer in art reproduction? When an artist brings us their work, it stays in the same building for the whole process. We don’t have to farm any piece of the process out to any other vendors. We are working directly with the artist post shooting to make sure the prints will be exactly what they want to sell. When an artist decides to sell more of the same print we have their color match proof on file and can recreate exactly what they fell in love with the first time. And just because we do everything ourselves this doesn’t mean we can only print 20 or so prints at a time…we can do large runs of prints if that’s what an artist is interested in.

That’s enough for today. We’ve got to get back to our Giclée-making. Or retouching. Or photo restoration…we’re busy making our clients happy. *winkwink*

Footnotes:

1 Want more info on Giclee (zhee-klay)? Check these resources out: one & two. Pretty helpful.

2 Fearless leader

3 Can you keep a secret? You may or may not be learning more about Lesley in an upcoming artist spotlight. Shhh

4 Couldn’t resist

5 Scanning: up to 11×17 (flat art, example watercolor); Copy Stand: up to 20×24

6 Some clients want richer or brighter coloring. As we learn what the artist leans toward in proofing we can make the proofing quicker for future pieces.

Jan 31
0

What can you do with French Paper?

By | Services, Tweek Imaging, What we are doing | No Comments

It’s no secret that we love French Paper.

First of all, we love the company. French Paper is small, independent paper mill out of Michigan. It’s been family owned and operated for 6 generations, and their paper mills have been powered by fully renewable hydroelectric generators since 1922! On top of all of that, their website design and packaging are top notch. There’s litterally nothing not to like!

Secondly, we love the product. We stock several types and colors of French Paper, because it’s good stuff. The paper is smooth and sturdy, and an incredible foundation for our inks. Everything we print on this stuff looks amazing. We constantly have new ideas about what we can do with it. Here’s a couple of our favorites…

1) FRENCH PRINTS (with wooden hanger)

Doesn’t Kevin look happy holding this French Print? We named this product after the paper it’s printed on, and honestly this is one of our favorite photo products that we offer. These huge prints look amazing, and come pre-attached to wooden rails. That means they are ready to hang –  which makes your life really easy. They make a huge impact in a room. If you’re looking to refresh your decor, this would be a great place to start.

2) BULK PRINTS

This is one of our newest products! We are now offering bulk prints on French Paper in full or half sheets. Full sheets are 26×40 and can fit up to 54 4×4 prints, or 38 4×6 prints. Half sheets are 20×26 and can fit up to 24 4×4 prints, or 18 4×6 prints. You’ll need to combine your prints onto one file to order at our discounted price. If you’re using Lightroom, we have some handy templates for 4×4 and 4×6 prints here. You can order these prints with adhesive attached to the backs, so that you can easily stick them up anywhere! We also think these would make great cards to send to clients or friends.

That’s just two ideas for using French Paper. You can order prints in any size you like on French in our custom print shop, and if you have a totally unique idea please get in touch! We’ll do our best to accomodate!