Monitor calibration and WIX Art Stores Printing.

[Aymar]

Hi Damien, 

I have a question I cannot find assistance with anywhere. Basically here is my situation. I am looking to take the Print and Sharpening Class. For which I purchased a colormunki display. As such, I do not currently have any prints and thus came to my situation. 

I want to print through WIX which is the host I am using to build my website. The reason being that it largely reduces costs to have my "art" sold, shipped and handled through them. I set the margin's and they simply subtract their costs. But everything is covered by them in terms of quality and shipping and administration.  The problem is, they simply require as large a file as possible. No indication of dpi or pixels etc. Which then allows them to put the restriction on what sizes the site automatically offers. Basically, a 1200x1200px image they may only sell up to a 7x7inch photo verses a 6000x4000px image they may offer up to a 1.5m on the long edge (just as an example). Obviously this makes it incredibly hard to sharpen for the size at which it will be printed at because you don't provide different images of different sizes. It's all worked off of the one image. 

I want to order test prints from them and then calibrate accordingly. My question is, am I wasting my time with them? I am really interested in the convenience the store offers. 

I have read through their FAQ's and tried to look for ways around it but to no avail. 

Below is the company or service offered. Then the latter is the origin from where I found that link. 

https://www.orderaprint.com/art-store

https://support.wix.com/en/article/request-printing-and-shipping-images-yourself-in-wix-art-store

I hope this makes sense. If I were to have a client in the USA where WIX then prints and ships from it is obviously way more cost effective than using a resident lab and shipping. 

[Damien Symonds]

7 hours ago, Aymar said:

My question is, am I wasting my time with them?

It's definitely not ideal.  But I understand the lure of the convenience.

Will you be able to order your test prints at specific sizes?

[Aymar]

Yes, basically I order through my own store and give a 100% discount. Which gives me all the options available to potential clients. The cost is then simply the printers costs. 

While we are at it, can I enroll in the Print and sharpening class before having any prints? 

 

[Damien Symonds]

2 minutes ago, Aymar said:

While we are at it, can I enroll in the Print and sharpening class before having any prints?

Yes you can.  The class guides you through getting the prints.

2 minutes ago, Aymar said:

Yes, basically I order through my own store and give a 100% discount. Which gives me all the options available to potential clients. The cost is then simply the printers costs.

What I meant was, can you prepare the files at exactly the right size for each desired print, and upload those specific files for your print order?

[Aymar]

3 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

Yes you can.  The class guides you through getting the prints.

What I meant was, can you prepare the files at exactly the right size for each desired print, and upload those specific files for your print order?

No you can't. They basically ask you to upload one file as large as possible and then create the entire variety of prints from there. 

[Damien Symonds]

Then PLEASE don't sign up for the Sharpening Class   You won't be able to use it, I'm afraid.

[Aymar]

Thanks for the warning Damien. I will see how this works initially. My intention is to do localised shoots which would require the class soon. I'll be in the levels class though! 

[Damien Symonds]

Are you sure you can't send files directly to the lab, not via Wix, for the purpose of your test prints?

[Aymar]

I have emailed them and the response was as follows.

 

"

Alan K Martin (Order a Print) Dec 1, 09:46 IST Hello Aymar, Thank you for using our service and reaching out to us! The system does 3 things: First, it shows the sizes that are the closest to the photo ratio. Second, it presents the sizes that can be printed using photo quality. Third, it presents only the sizes that are available in your customer's country. The system will always prefer to offer sizes that have an aspect ratio that is the closest possible to the aspect ratio of the original image in order to prevent image data loss. In order to get the best results and to enable printing of most products/sizes, the artwork should be uploaded in the size of 4000 px or higher in sRGB format, 300 dpi or more, so we can print as close as possible to what the customer sees on their screen, using JPG or PNG file type. Unfortunately, we cannot send free samples, but we offer our clients a sample request discount that takes 20% off from the total price from the first order. You should see the discount in the cart before checkout. (If you are logged in as the site owner) We are using the most advanced printing equipment and materials to achieve great print qualities. The paper stock depends on your customer location as we ship from local factories, but in most cases, we use Art Poly canvas, Kodak ENDURA professional photo paper with a fine grain pebble texture and Glossy “F” Kodak ENDURA professional photo paper with a glossy finish and many other great materials. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact me. With best regards, Alan K Martin Order a Print - Support Team"

[Damien Symonds]

Dammit.

[Aymar]

I'm about to send off for a test print. I know it won't be the best but just to see if it is even at all good enough...

 

Basically uploading as large as possible and have sharpened at this size.

 

Hesitant to say the least...