I received this question from a reader recently:

Is it really worth the cost and time in the learning curve to print my own vs just using a professional printing house to get started?

Here is my answer:

Absolutely. The reason why I go into the trouble of printing all my work myself is because of two very important reasons:

A – I can do a better job than any lab.  That’s because of my experience printing my work. No one knows my work and what I want to express in my prints better than me.  I also know that I do not want the generic look that most lab operators give to prints.  What this means is that there is no such thing as a single version of a print.  There are as many versions as there are lab operators.  What I want is my version!

B – The value of my prints is in large part due to the fact I make my prints myself.  Who wants an Ansel Adams printed by someone other than Adams?  Not me.  Same with my clients and collectors.  They don’t want an Alain Briot printed by a lab operator.  They want an Alain Briot printed by Alain Briot.  The value is in having a print made by me, not a print made by someone called ‘staff’.

The same reasons apply to you.  You can learn how to print your work to my standards with my Printing Mastery Workshop on DVD.  I explain which papers I use and every other aspect of the process in these tutorials.  This tutorials are similar to attending my 2 days Printing Mastery Seminar except you don’t need to travel, you don’t have to remember everything in 2 days which is almost impossible, and you can study at your own pace, anywhere you like. Here is the link:

http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/Articles-CD.html

Alain Briot
Arizona
March 2014