Gloss or Matte finish?

Scott_Quier wrote in post #2396135
Very good question that has been in the back of my mind for a while. I do the whole print, no borders, etc.

Since you asked the question Tim, what do you do?

Print on lustre paper, no markings or borders.

tim wrote in post #2395599
Also, a question. Does anyone do borders, or anything fancy on customer prints, or the print, the whole print, and nothing but the print?

One of my best friends who is a wedding planner, said she's had many brides requesting a thin white border around their images for their own scrapbooking purposes. Pictage has a sloppy border that looks sorta cool on its own, but I wouldn't know how to display it.

tim wrote in post #2395599
Also, a question. Does anyone do borders, or anything fancy on customer prints, or the print, the whole print, and nothing but the print?

I do the normal 1/4 inch white border on all prints, including proofs.

I think a white border makes it look more professional.

A 6mm border on a 6x4, you don't lose much picture area. I like borders too, but I don't do them at the moment. I like a think black line then a white border.

How do you do your borders jessiper?

I use luster finish with white borders on all except wallets. I have my prints done locally.

Toogy wrote in post #2395433
What type of finish are you offering your customers?

Something about the gloss finish seems sort of amatuerish, but the matte finish seems so flat sometimes.

WHCC's Lustre finish is my default, and they also do some machine texture (linen, pebble, and embassy) that I will offer as an option. For proofs I will do borderless full bleed and show them options, like plain white borders, or sloppy borders. I like the look of sloppy borders when they aren't used on EVERY picture. It adds a certain something to the image that gives it that professionally finished look.

Very generally speaking I think smaller prints look better glossy and larger prints look better matte. Anything 8x10 or larger I usually print matte, and anything 5x7 or smaller I usually print glossy. Part of the reason is that with bigger enlargements you will see tonal separations in the image better, whereas this is difficult to see with smaller images. The lustre you see on a glossy print effectively increases the dynamic range of the highlights, and this will help the small print with its less visible tonal separation. Also with larger prints, to the degree you stand farther away to view it, you're more likely to confront annoying reflections if it's glossy.

tim wrote in post #2396332
A 6mm border on a 6x4, you don't lose much picture area. I like borders too, but I don't do them at the moment. I like a think black line then a white border.

How do you do your borders jessiper?

I think a black line first would look great on (most) prints. The lab actually just does it for me. They just click a box before they print them, and they don't charge extra. I want to try mpix.com, but they don't offer borders. If I ever get my lazy butt to learn how to easily do borders myself I might try them.

While I have many other reasons now, I originally stopped going to Ritz for developing a few years ago because they would put that white border on my prints by default. I understand that some may like it and some may not, but when I'm ordering 4x6 prints I'm expecting a 4x6 image. If I want a border around a 4x6 image, I'll put it in a 5x7 frame.

By adding a border to your prints, you can guarantee that what you want printed will be printed and not chopped off at the edges. Also, most frames do cover part of your print, so by adding a border, it also helps in not having part of the image (edges) cut off by a frame.

Another nice feature of adding a border, is when prints are handled, most fingerprints will end up on the border and not the print itself.

I love pearl.

SoaringUSAEagle wrote in post #2418752
I love pearl.

I'm sure she's a very lucky girl.

Personally hate glossy and do not offer it as an option. The matte paper (fuji) being provided by the lab is in my opinion a lustre finish and I do sometimes put some fancy borders on a shot, if it enhances the feel but I have noticed they are usually not the ones people choose for enlargements.

I like lustre finish... glossy seems cheap and unprofessional to me....

Also I do my proofs in a 5x7 size with a 1/4 inch black border around them. I think the black border looks classy.... and is nice for a "proof".

Finished prints that are ordered have no borders unless something special is requested (which never happens). And I have them sprayed with a protective UV coating, anything over 8x10 is mounted on matboard.

I also offer texture that my lab offers... Linen seems to be the most popular, but they also do a pebble, embassy and somthing else.... I only like the linen one and would only use it for a print size of 11x14 or greater.

My long winded answer to a short question.