I offer two types of prints: pigment prints on ILFORD Galerie paper and c-type prints (or "c-prints") on Fuji Crystal Archive paper.

Pigment prints are made with an inkjet printer and consist of ink droplets deposited onto white paper.

C-type prints are made with a special type of printer that exposes photo-sensitive paper to light using LEDs. No ink is involved. It is more akin to a traditional darkroom print in that the image is made with light, not ink, and the paper goes through developer chemicals to create the image.

Pigment prints up to 16-inches on the short edge are printed in-house by me. Anything bigger than that is handled by an experienced technician at a professional printing house. All c-type prints are handled by a professional photo lab I've worked with for decades.

Unless otherwise requested, all prints available on my website are pigment prints.

Each type of print has their pros and cons but overall, pigment prints are the preferred type of print for high-end fine art photographic printing. This is due almost exclusively to their enhanced archival characteristics compared to c-type, namely their resistance to fading and color shifts.

Archivability:

To put it simply, pigment prints last forever and never change. You and I will be long gone before we could ever see a pigment print deteriorate. C-type prints, however, fade and discolor with exposure to light (not just UV light, but all light). There are conflicting claims as to how long a c-type print will resist noticeable fading and discoloration. Some say 75 years, some say 30 years. Pigment prints, on the other hand, would likely last well beyond 150 years before any fading.

The Look:

Pigment prints can be done on a variety of paper finishes like glossy, luster, or matte. Virtually all of my limited edition prints are done on my preferred paper: ILFORD Galerie Fine Art Smooth, which has a truly matte finish. Only a select few are done on ILFORD Galerie Gold Fibre Gloss paper, which has a lightly textured, semi-gloss finish. Regardless of paper finish, all of my pigment prints are acid-free archival-grade prints.

C-type prints come in a variety of finishes, too, but I only offer high-gloss pearl. These feature a glass-smooth surface with high reflectivity and an iridescent base that better picks up light. This gives pearl prints their trademark "glow" when viewed under certain lighting.

Surface reflections on the print are an important consideration. High-gloss surfaces mean more reflections, and more reflections mean the print can be harder to see in certain lighting. It also means ripples in the paper can become distractingly obvious. High-gloss pearl C-prints are especially prone to this and so should be permanently flat-mounted to a rigid base, like foamcore or gator board. Surface reflections become a big issue in bright rooms and for artwork hanging on a wall opposite bright windows. Reflections are also much worse on darker photos. This is largely why I do most of my prints on ILFORD Galerie Fine Art Smooth. With zero surface reflections, the prints look great in any lighting with no visible ripples.

Some claim pigment prints are sharper than c-prints. I've made many prints of both types and I'd say to the trained eye pigment prints might be slightly sharper in a side-by-side comparison, but not dramatically so.

Protecting the Print (This One is Important!):

It boils down to glass...or plexiglass.

Pigment prints must be framed behind glass or plexiglass.* Failing to frame your pigment print without this protection would negate its enhanced archivability (because pigment prints deteriorate when exposed to ozone in the air) and make it very, very susceptible to damage (because the surface of a pigment print is quite delicate and the ink is easily damaged by physical contact and moisture). For the absolute best look and protection, I recommend using glass with anti-reflective and UV-blocking coatings, like TruVue UltraVue glass.

C-type pearl prints, on the other hand, can actually be framed without glass or plexi. They have a more durable surface than pigment prints and the high-gloss finish is glass-smooth. This makes it an ideal surface for lamination. By laminating a c-type print you gain better protection from physical damage and moisture without having to resort to glass or plexiglass. Just keep in mind the lamination is unlikely to offer any UV-blocking properties and requires the print first be mounted on something rigid like gatorboard.

*Some sources say you can use an archival spray coating in lieu of glass or plexiglass. I absolutely do not recommend this option as it's difficult to get the spray coat even, it may change the look of the print, and it offers very little extra protection against physical damage.

Here's what all this boils down to: if you want the absolute longest-lasting print that will be viewed as a "true" fine art print because it was done using the top-tier archival processes and paper, a pigment print is the way to go. The prints are gorgeous, they will last forever, and they carry the badge of being a "real" fine art print. But you'll have to frame it with glass or plexiglass, so you better be okay with that.

If, however, you really want to frame the print without glass or plexiglass (like the float-frame glass-free presentation style shown here), then you need to do a c-type print. A pearl c-print looks great mounted on gator board with a luster lamination (this converts the glossy finish to matte) and a float-frame with no glass. But because of the worse archival characteristics, you'll have to be okay with a print that may be noticeably faded and color-shifted after a few decades or more. Also, prepare to be laughed out of the room if you try to tell a bunch of stuck-up photography forum snobs about your awesome c-type print, because there's a whole breed of photographer that doesn't take c-prints seriously on account of their reduced archival characteristics.

I really like glass-free float-frame artwork, so I sometimes do c-type prints for my own home and office. But I also really like the look of a matte-finish pigment print float-mounted in a shadowbox, so sometimes I do that. It's a beautiful high-end look, but I don't like that it has glass because I don't like reflections and it makes the artwork much heavier. In either case, I simply weigh the pros and cons for that specific application and I just take the bad with the good.

If you'd like to frame your limited edition print without glass, email me to request a c-type print instead of the standard pigment print.

Here's an example of matte-finish pigment prints framed with glass:

And here's an example of a c-type print laminated and framed without glass: