Introducing the PhotoShelter Print Vendor Network

The holidays are all about getting people together, right? Well, amid a slew of feature upgrades announced today, we’ve launched the PhotoShelter Print Vendor Network, and its all about getting you linked up with your own favorite print vendors – right inside of PhotoShelter.

Selling prints from within a PhotoShelter website has always been possible through partnerships with large-scale operations like EZ Prints, AdoramaPix, ExposureManager, and Spectrum Photographic. But many photographers have asked us, “How about my local print lab? Can I automatically send orders to them as well?”

We know that many photographers have needs that are more specific and unique, and many like to differentiate their sales with high end limited editions that can’t be achieved through our large automated fulfillment partners in the US and UK.

So, the Print Vendor Network lets you sell prints and products via a PhotoShelter website while assigning fulfillment to a print vendor of your choice, virtually anywhere in the world. This is great news for photographers looking to fulfill through trusted local print partners, or specialized vendors offering unique products, or fine art quality production. And its great news for any photographer who wants more than a “one size fits all” solution – you can alternate vendors for any customer order, anytime.

The key to this new network is simple – we wanted to give photographers more control of who prints and delivers the final product. And, the workflow is simple — once you send an order to a selected vendor, your chosen print vendor can access the order specs and image files right inside of PhotoShelter. You still need to arrange payment according to your chosen vendor’s preferred approach, but there’s no additional work, or cost, for either photographers or printers, and no technical integration to complicate things.

We’re kicking off today with 27 recognized printers from around the world, but this network is open – so PhotoShelter photographers can invite their favorite vendors to participate. Let’s see how quickly we can cover the planet. (And don’t forget to check out the other new feature enhancements announced today.)

Search the directory + Invite your trusted print vendor.

Meet a few of the print vendors who have joined us for today’s launch:

Richard Jackson of Arizona-based Hance Partners started working in the darkroom at the tender age of thirteen, and soon found himself making proof prints of baby portraits for a local photo studio. As a kid addicted to photography, his original plan was to become a photographer, but the attraction to the print making process proved to be more powerful.

“There was something about working in the darkroom was very attractive to me,” Jackon said. “I became a collaborator with my photographer clients, learning the right questions to ask so I could understand how they want their final print to look.”

Today, Hance Partners makes museum quality prints for landscape photographers and photojournalists. Some of their clients include world famous photographers like Steve McCurry, Ami Vitale, Annie Griffiths, Joe McNally, Tom Mangelsen, Howard Schatz, Frans Lanting and many more.

“For Richard, making prints is not a business but an art,” said Ami Vitale. “He understands that creating the image is just the first step. The final element to the art is making the print.”

“He always pays attention to the details and every print is meticulously looked at and crafted. In the five years I’ve been working with him, I’ve only had people come back and buy more prints which is a testament to the quality of work,” Vitale said.

“Some people refer to photographers as being too picky. I don’t,” Jackson said. “I would rather work for those who know what they are looking for. Then it is up to me to ask the right questions so I understand in their words what they mean and translate that to the print.”

Interview with Richard Jackson of Hance Partners:

In addition to prints, what other products and services do you offer for photographers?

We are fortunate to be able a full range of finishing services including mounting, matting, framing and specialized mounts such as face mounting, museum backs and mounting to special materials such as Dibond.

Can you describe your printing processes? What machines are involved, and what options do photographers have?

We use a digital work flow for print making. Our primary printing process is making prints on silver halide photochemical print materials such as Fuji Crystal Archive and also Ilfochrome sometimes better known as Cibachrome.

We are one of only a handful of labs (that would be one handful) still printing on Ilfochrome. Ilfochrome is also part of our digital workflow which means photographers can have Ilfochrome Prints for original digital capture!!

We also print using Epson printers when fine art papers are requested by our clients.

What types of photography do you love? What’s your personal favorite?

I love any image that is truly well done and well printed. Images I love are those that present to me what was intended by the photographer. In other words, I get the message, the feeling, the impact of what the photographer was feeling or seeing when he or she made the picture.

Seth Dickerman, owner and founder of Dickerman Prints built his first darkroom in 1968, when he was 12 years-old, and has been printing ever since. In 1996, he opened Dickerman Prints – a traditional darkroom printing lab run out of his basement in San Francisco, where is remained for 11 years until he modernized the business and moved it to its current location in the heart of the City’s Mission District.

“We work with all kinds of photographers,” Dickerman said. “From beginners to students, artists of all sorts, members of the general public and those at the lofty reaches of the fine art and commercial photography worlds.”

Interview with Seth Dickerman of Dickerman Prints:

Just for fun, can you give me 5 words that describe what makes you different than other print shops?

Creative, Helpful, Interactive, Responsive, Custom

Can you describe your printing processes? What machines are involved, and what options do photographers have?

Our top-of-the-line Polielettronica LaserLab (Polie) digital photographic printer makes type ‘C’ color prints from digital files with astonishing results. The prints produced are actual photographs (photographic paper exposed to light) created using traditional darkroom paper, methods and chemistry for the best in digital printing.

We also couldn’t be happier with the archival pigment prints that we’re making on our Epson 11880. There are an amazing variety of papers available now and we can print up to 64″ wide at any length.

Another popular service is our genuinely custom printing: produced according to your specifications and to the absolutely highest standards.

Dickerman Prints offer a full range of state-of-the-art film scanning options: drum scans on the Heidelberg Proscan, Hi-res Imacon scans or roll-film scans by way of the lovely and talented Durst Sigma.

We also process and proof print color negative film using process C-41.

Photographers also have the option of using our Print on Demand service and sending their files directly to the Polie themselves. You can send us files from your studio (or camera phone) or bring them to the lab yourself and edit your images here. We have fully equipped and complimentary customer workstations with the latest software and ample viewing areas to evaluate your new prints. Plus, we always serve excellent, free and organic espresso or tea.

Jerry Weiner is the CEO of PWD Labs, which opened in early 2007 providing high-quality post-production printing services for professional digital photographers.

PWD Labs works closely with professional photographers that cover a wide variety of clients, including Events (weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs), portraits (family, children, seniors, pets), schools/teams, among others. In addition, they also work with serious amateurs and hobbyists wishing to produce their own photo art as well as those that shoot nature, landscapes and other types of images.

“I love good images from across a variety of types of photography,” Weiner said. “I appreciate what a photojournalist has to go through to get some images and can be touched by the tenderness of a father-daughter wedding day moment.”

“Images that make a statement stir my sense of social justice while I am fascinated by the wonders of nature,” he said.

Interview with Jerry Weiner of PWD Labs:

Just for fun, can you give me 5 words that describe what makes you different than other print shops?

Post-production services, printing, exceptional support.

In addition to prints, what other products and services do you offer for photographers?

In addition to quality print products, PWD offers a complete line of post-production services that enable a photographer to simplify their workflow. These services include image selection (also known as editing or culling), color correction and image enhancement. Image selection includes separating keepers from discards, sequencing and categorization. Color correction produces images that are technically correct based on a generally accepted set of standards or a photographer’s individual preferences. Image enhancement includes both artistic styling (vignettes, saturations, etc.) as well as custom retouching (skin clean-up, exit sign removal, head-swapping, etc.).

PWD also offers quality leather albums and album design services, and press print books and cards.

To see the complete line of PWD Labs print products, visit http://www.PWDLabs.com/PrintsProducts.

Can you describe your printing processes? What machines are involved, and what options do photographers have?

PWD offers both studio- and lab-corrected prints, depending on the photographer’s preference. Studio- corrected prints are processed “as-is” with no adjustments. Lab-corrected prints are first sent to an editor to correct the image and prepared for print based on the photographer’s specifications. PWD offers both silver halide prints (traditional photo prints) as well as inkjet or Giclée prints. Options for the silver halide prints include a variety of sizes on both Fuji Lustre and Pearl (metallic) papers. Inkjet prints are available on photo as well as fine art papers. Prints are inspected after being printed, packaged according to the order and shipped or held for pick up.

Fine Print Imaging has been working print-making magic for 35 years. Formed in Colorado in 1975, they are a real “business started in a garage” story. Mark J. Lukes and a friend were looking for a color photo printer who understood the needs of nature photographers. When none could be found, the decided to do it themselves and bought the necessary equipment. Word spread, thanks in part to mentions in Outdoor Photographer Magazine in the 1980’s, and they experienced a huge growth spurt.

Today, their clients are an almost even split between photographers and artists, most of whom sell their prints in one way or another – art shows, galleries, online, in gift shops. They have clients in all 50 of the United States as well as overseas, and over the past few years have began specializing in printing for conservation photographers — many of whom are iLCP and NANPA members. They also do printing for fine art photographers, mainly through an affiliation with the Center for Fine Art Photography.

“I have one of those jobs here I wake up each morning and smile because I get to work with some of the most creative artists on the planet,” said Lukes. “Short of being a concert pianist, I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing (and since I can’t play the piano, I guess that’s a pretty good thing!)”

Lukes, a true lover of photography, finds solitude and peace in the photographyic process.

“A few years ago my wife surprised me by buying Philip Hyde’s medium format camera equipment,” he said. “Philip was one of our pre-eminent conservation photographers and was also a close friend. Whenever I feel that the rush of our fast paced digital life getting a bit too much, I pull out Phil’s camera and head to either the foothills or the eastern plains of Colorado. Right now, I’m enjoying the challenges of capturing the Prairie Grasslands on 6×6 film. The camera format, film and subject all force me to slow down and really study the landscape before I shoot. And, in the slow-paced solitude, I just may be learning more about myself as well.”

Interview with Mark J. Lukes of Fine Print Imaging:

Just for fun, can you give me 5 words that describe what makes you different than other print shops?

Conservationists, Specialists, Innovative, Passionate, Caring.

In addition to prints, what other products and services do you offer for photographers?

Since we work with painter type artists, we do a lot of art copying (digital 4×5 back); Drum Scanning; Canvas giclée gallery wrapping; in 2011, we will open our full service wholesale fine art frame shop which will serve both our printing customers and the community as a whole; Marketing Seminars and Consulting; Photo Contests.

Can you describe your printing processes? What machines are involved, and what options do photographers have?

Given that we are a fine art printer, our equipment is geared towards providing services to individuals rather than corporations. We provide gallery quality photo and giclée printing on a variety of surfaces using digital photo printers and wide format fine art inkjet printers.

· 30″ Chromira digital photo printer printing on Fuji Crystal Archive Matte, Gloss and Lustre.

· 2 Rolland Inkjet printers going up to 64 inches and print on heavy weight cotton/poly canvas. We double coat our canvas giclées with a UV finish.

· 3 Epson Inkjet printers going up to 64 inches printing on a variety of Fine Art paper substrates including two from Hahnemühle that are made from bamboo and sugar cane. We also use our Epson 11880 to print on heavy weight cotton/poly canvas and coat with a UV finish.

· Oh, and we still do traditional darkroom printing.

Nadish Naoroji of Australia-based Pixel Perfect Prolab believes they were the first digital lab in the world to offer guaranteed-accuracy to ICC standards, as product has been color managed from day one – ten years ago.

They specialize in providing services for wedding, portrait, landscape & commercial photographers, but students, advertising agencies, corporate client all appreciate their printing accuracy.

“We love working with top professionals and delight in making their work look it’s best,” Naoroji said.

Interview with Nadish Naoroji of Pixel Perfect Prolab:

Just for fun, can you give me 5 words that describe what makes you different than other print shops?

Color-managed, guaranteed-accuracy, superb technical support, love our clients.

In addition to prints, what other products and services do you offer for photographers?

A huge range.
Acrylic block mounted prints.
Coffee table books
Banners
Ancillary services like RAW processing, retouching etc.
…and more.

Can you describe your printing processes? What machines are involved, and what options do photographers have?

Photo prints on Lambda or Noritsu on Kodak & Fuji media.
Canvas & Art Paper prints on top-of-line Epson & HP printers and Giclee media.
Top quality mounting & laminating.
Coffee-table books on Indigo printers with superlative binding.