Archival Arts Impressions

Laura Gardiner - Reproduction Expert Some of our customers have already had the pleasure of meeting Archival Arts’ Reproduction Expert Laura Gardiner. Others have only glimpsed the side of her face as she is absorbed in skillfully proofing artists’ digital files. She operates our Betterlight scanner, programs the large format printers, and even makes the stretchers and panels for mounting your art. She is equally adept at handling the final stage of framing and can answer many of  your questions about our services and products. A 2010  graduate of UMBC, Laura holds a BA in Visual Arts with emphasis on Photography. We’ve included here some of Laura’s artwork from her award-winning senior exhibit in the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture on the campus of UMBC. Laura poses at her 2011 show with some of her models. "Jill" (12" x 18")  2010 photograph by Laura Gardiner "Saira" (12 x 18")  2010 photograph by Laura Gardiner. In ad...

 If you are reading this blog you're probably already selling prints of your art or are considering selling prints.  Either way, hopefully you have done  a little research on making prints or have found someone to make prints for you.  In my 10 years of printing experience, I have discovered one factor that is overlooked time and time again by both amateur and "professional" art printers.  This factor can greatly reduce the quality of your digital file, and ultimately affect your sales.  I'm talking about image   clarity . 1950's Brownie camera with plastic lens. I know I know, that's a no-brainer right?  If you make prints, of course you want them to be clear.  The problem is, due to our over-exposure to mediocre photo prints, we have been trained to accept blurry images as OK.  In my opinion it all started when Kodak came out with the Brownie camera .  Before the Brownie, photography was mostly limited to professionals who us...

Probably right now your email in-box is overflowing with announcements from art show jury systems with names like Zapplication , Juried Art Services , Entrythingy and others. Digital files are now the preferred way for art competitions to present your work to the jury. In the long run this streamlined method makes it easier for all parties. Unfortunately, many artists don’t understand the technical language used in the requirements for the shows. The best advice we can offer is, if you don’t understand the digital media specs, but want to be involved in the process, have a professional photograph your art first and provide you with a TIff file. Then invest in Photoshop Elements , (about $70) so you can begin learning about resizing and manipulating digital images. Once you feel comfortable with handling the image files, you will probably know if you want to photograph your art on your own. When choosing a professional, make sure you have someone who does copy work or is familiar w...