Q & A
Q: What’s your number, I need to speak with a human!
A: You can reach us at 617-933-9090. We keep some pretty unusual hours but typically you can reach us Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 AM to 6 PM EST. If we don’t pick up and you have an urgent request leave a message AND fill out the contact form below. When leaving a message, please note the latest time that we can call you back at (as mentioned, we keep unusual hours). Don’t forget to include your time zone.
Q: Where is the price list?
A: We’d prefer to post a public link to our pricing however, if it’s easy to get to for you, it also means your clients can easily find our pricing as well. Gamut Prints caters to professional photographers and we do not sell directly to the public. If you click on the contact form we will provide you with a link to our ROES client which contains all of our pricing, as well as links to our ICC profiles.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
A: We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
Q: What advantages do you offer over a traditional RA-4 print?
A: The first advantage is the longevity of our prints. According to Wilhelm Research the colorfastness of a traditional RA-4 print is about 25 years before the print starts to fade. Our prints offer significantly better colorfastness performance (typically double to quadruple that of RA-4 prints in Wilhelm’s testing).
The second and third advantages are variety and quality. All photographers offer traditional RA-4 lab prints and as a result the quality is pretty much the same. Aside from the obvious artistic differences, if all you offer are traditional RA-4 prints, there is very little to differentiate your product from your competitor’s product. If you’re a portrait photographer, the quality of the print is especially important. By offering your clients fine art prints you can set yourself apart from your competitors by offering your clients a higher quality product with a variety of different papers that you can choose to best complement a particular image.
The fourth advantage is gamut. If your work features a lot of vibrant, saturated colors, our prints will allow you to reproduce colors that are not available with traditional RA-4 prints.
Q: What’s the best way to resize the image?
A: The best way to resize the image is to let us do it. Just send us your image at your camera’s native resolution with whatever processing you normally do with the exception of resizing. We’ll do the resizing. If you’re ordering a print size that does not conform to your camera’s native aspect ratio, use the crop tool in Photoshop without changing the resolution. To do this set the length and width to the desired dimension but leave resolution blank.
Q: What about sharpening? I like to do the sharpening as the very last step after resizing.
A: If you have a special sharpening technique you like to use then make sure your images are sized to a resolution of 300 PPI (pixels per inch). For example if you are ordering a 10″x15″ print the dimensions of your file in pixels should be 10*300 x 15*300 or 3000×4500 pixels.
Q: Is there anything I should do to prepare my file?
A: After you do all of your post processing and Photoshop work, save the file as a Level 10 JPEG. Make sure the “embed ICC Profile” check box is checked. If you’re using the ProPhoto RGB working space we highly recommend working in 16 bit mode only, and saving the file as a TIFF. The ROES client will compress all images into a zip file prior to upload in order to reduce upload times.
Q: I know you accept Adobe RGB files, will you accept ProPhoto RGB files as well?
A: Yes. ProPhoto RGB files should be saved as 16 bit TIFFs or flattened Photoshop PSD files. ProPhoto RGB is a very wide gamut color space. In order to fully realize the benefits of this profile, your source must be converted from a RAW file, and a 16 bit workflow must be maintained throughout the entire post processing workflow. Files sourced from 8 bit JPEGs are not suitable for use with the ProPhoto RGB color space. Be sure to check the “16 bit” box in our ROES cart, otherwise the resulting print may contain posterization and will not recognize the benefits of a 16 bit file.
Q: I want to choose the rendering intent and black point compensation settings. Do you support a fully color managed workflow?
A: Yes. Gamut Prints supports a fully color managed workflow if you so desire. All of our profiles have been optimized to work with the Perceptual rendering intent with black point compensation enabled however we realizes that in very rare circumstances, a different rendering intent may yield better results. This means that you choose the rendering intent and black point compensation and then convert your image to our printer profiles and embed them as the new color space (using “Convert to Profile”) in Photoshop.
To indicate that you have converted your image to our profiles and embedded them, after selecting the images and papers you want to order, click on shopping cart (on the upper right hand side of the ROES cart). On the right hand side under options select the “Use Embedded Profile” option. If you’re working in AdobeRGB or sRGB you don’t need to do anything. Note that all images must be in one format or the other, you cannot mix a working space like sRGB or Adobe RGB with our lab profiles in the same order.
Q: My work will be going on exhibit in a few months at a local museum. The curator mentioned that they use a specific type of lighting for their exhibits. Is there anything you can do to optimize the profiles and prints for optimal performance with this illuminant?
A: Absolutely. Our software, tools, and expertice allows us to custom tailor our profiles for specific viewing environments. For such jobs we do require advance notice and there may be additional costs involved. If you have a special project with specific needs please contact us.
Q: Do you offer mounting services?
A: Yes, we can mount prints up to 40″x60″. We exclusively use Nielsen/Bainbridge ArtCare dry mount boards and Bienfang RagMount adhesive which is a low temperature archival adhesive specifically designed for use with inkjet prints.
Q: Do you offer prints larger than 40″x60″?
A: Yes, if you are interested in a print larger than 40″x60″, please call us for a custom quote.
Q: There is an option in the ROES Cart called “Trim to exact size”. What is this?
A: If you order an unmounted print our default is to leave about a 1/2 inch border around the print (the border is in addition to your print size and does not decrease the size of your print). This makes it easier for a professional framer to mount the photo or frame it with a matte. If you do not want this additional border, please check the “Trim to exact size” option.
Q: How should this print be displayed?
A: It should be frame! Why your client buys a print from you, there’s a good bet they’re going to frame it. If you’re not offering your client fully framed fine art prints that are ready to hang, you are potentially leaving money on the table because if they don’t buy a frame from you, they will buy it from someone else. Gamut Prints offers a variety of frame sizes with mats. Select “framed fine art prints” from the ROES cart for pricing. If you’re looking for a custom size, give us a call, we can do just about anything.
Q: Do I need to have my screen calibrated and profiled?
A: Absolutely. Proper calibration and profiling will save you time and money. If your screen has not been properly calibrated and profiled your prints are unlikely to match your screen. See the calibration page for more info.
Q: Where can I download the ICC soft proofing profiles?
A: The ICC soft proofing profiles for our papers can be downloaded through our ROES client software. To access the ICC profiles click on “Order Prints” in the upper right hand corner of the window. Once in the print order screen you will see the catalog in the lower left hand corner. Click on the pull down menu item that says “Gamut Prints” and select “Download ICC Profiles”. From there just click the Gamut Prints logo in the middle of the screen.
Q: How did you decide on the name “Gamut Prints”?
A: The founder of the company is a bit of a music nut. Having originally attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, he wanted the name of the business to tie in to his musical roots. His first choice for a business name was instantly shot down by his peers. After a comical brainstorming session the word gamut was suggested as it has definitions that are relevant to both music, and color.
Policies
Snail Mail – Sending snail mail generates paper and requires a vehicle to physically deliver it to your mailbox and this is not environmentally responsible. Simply put, we will not use snail mail unless it’s absolutely necessary. This means that all of our marketing materials, invoicing, etc. is electronic.
Email – We like it but we don’t love it. As recommended by organizational behaviorist expert Tal Ben Shahar, having your email open all the time actually leads to a decrease in productivity. Our focus is on turning around print orders. We aim to respond to all email within 24 hours, Monday through Friday. If you have an issue that needs immediate attention, please call us.
Copyrights and licensing – In order to produce a print we require that you are either the copyright owner or hold a license granting you reproduction rights.
Education – One of the goals of Gamut Prints is to educate people and give them the knowledge to make better decisions about color management and workflow. Color management is a subject that many photographers often have a difficult time with. If you have questions about color management please ask, we will do our best to answer them.
Privacy - All credit card transactions are handled through the ROES client via a secure connection. Gamut Prints does not store any credit card information on our website or server. We will not sell or share any of your personal information with 3rd parties (including email addresses and phone numbers) except as required by law.
