Print Wild

Printwild Introduces Bamboo Frames

2011-10-24T18:34:00.002+02:00

PrintWild introduces two eye catching frames to its product lineup. After much refining and with the innovative use of the two different styles of frame profiles, made from real Bamboo veneer, we launch the Bamboo Box Frame and the Bamboo Deep Frame.

Both are premium quality products with the luxury texture of the natural raw Bamboo and the high quality finishing of the product, not to mention the professional quality photo printing.

The Bamboo Deep Frame

The Bamboo Deep Fame is a 45mm deep profile with white interior sides and White Matte board. The Image is set back 20mm from the glass to create depth and draw the viewer in. The matt board (artboard surrounding image) is a premium matt white with a non yellowing core. The matte size ranges from 50mm to 85mm thick depending on the size of your image.
You image can be printed on either our Textured Glossy Art Paper or Matte FIne Art Paper.

Detail showing inner white wall

The Bamboo Box Frame

The box frame is a 55mm deep frame profile with a matt laminated image that is mounted on the front, flush with the frame profile. A 3mm shadow line surounds the image giving the illusion that the image is floating. This product take the traditional framed image and gives it a contemporary look

Detail showing Flush mounting

These two products made their debut at the recent Photo and Film exhibition at the Coca-Cola Dome in JHB where they proved to be show favourites along with the Silverback print and the old favourite the Stretched Canvas Print.

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PrintWild - The Silverback Print

2011-09-27T17:02:00.002+02:00

View on You Tube
This product is a composite of a 3mm acrylic, 3mm Dibond and a photographic image. The image is printed on Epson Premium Glossy photo paper which is face mounted to the acrylic using a colour enhancing laminate, specifically designed for this aplication. A very lightweight aliminium composite board is then mounted to the back of the image forming an air tight capsual to protect the image. This is an elegant way of showcasing your images and is often used in galleies around the world.

Kind regards
The PrintWild Team

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Visit our website: www.printwild.co.za

Get Creative with Custom Wallpaper

2011-08-31T16:29:00.000+02:00

For all you creatives out there who want to show off your talent and customise your home or office space, why not get some custom wallpaper printed.

The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. If you can design it we can print it.

Maybe you have an idea of what you want but don't have the skills to deign it yourself. Then take advantage of the ton of artwork and images available through online libraries such as www.africamediaonline.com www.istockphoto.com, www.deviantart.com or www.dreamstime.com and many more. If you still can't find what you want give us a call and we will help you find it or create it.

Don't forget your photographs. Although the majority of images can't be printed wall size there are many creative ways to use your images to create attractive wallpaper.

With the design out the way we can then prep and print your wallpaper to the exact quantity you need.
Your custom wallpaper will arrive ready to hang using the same easy steps used to hang standard wallpapers. No specialised glues or tools required, just good o'll wallpaper paste. For those of you who like a little DIY we have put together a guide on how to hang wallpaper, download the spec sheet here.

So let your imagination run wild!

NEW!! Glacier Print available.

2011-06-20T12:28:00.000+02:00

Finally our mounted Glacier print is available to order online now!!
After loads of testing and experimenting with various media and substrates we have put together a product that we think will become a favourite for our clients.
Glacier prints are glossy photo prints mounted on a black synthetic backing board.

These professional mounted photo prints are laminated with a colour enhancing photographic grade laminate. This Laminate is specially designed for high end photographic application unlike many laminates that are designed for the signage industry. The laminate not only protects the image but also enhances the colour and contrast of the image, similar to that of an acrylic print with a very glossy finish.

Mounted onto a very lightweight synthetic backing board and fitted with aluminium runners to make hanging very easy.
With this product you have the option of having you image printed with a full image bleed to the edges (no border) or to have a white border as this example has. This product truly brings the best out of your images and gives them life, perfect for showcasing your work weather it be at home, work or an exhibition.

Improved Laminating Film For Acrylic Prints

2011-05-27T08:48:00.000+02:00

We have introduced a new improved laminant film which improves the quality of your acrylic print, giving it a increased clarity.
Acrylic prints are also known as perspex prints. They have a very contemporary high-gloss, modern finish that is perfect for home and office interior decorating.
Our high quality prints are back mounted to a clear piece of 8mm acrylic and are raised off the wall with 15mm wall mounts and are ready to hang.

At no additional charge, we can convert your image into a stunning black & white print or sepia print. Just select the appropriate option from the "Colour options" dropdown when you place your order.

Please note that acrylic prints should not be cleaned with any solvents. Soapy water or Windolene are the ideal products to use.

Spyder 3 Express Monitor Calibration

2011-05-19T15:29:00.000+02:00

Spyder 3 Express Monitor Calibration
Spyder 3 Express™ monitor calibration adjusts the colour on your monitor making your colour editing more accurate to your PrintWild print. Easy-to-use right out the box, this technology accurately calibrates your display. Your on-screen colours aren't always true and the Spyder3 Express will correct your monitor to ensure you are looking at true colours.

At PrintWild we correct our monitors with the same device ensuring we are looking at the same colour balance as our clients.
Features & Requirements

Accurate Colours Corrects the colours on your CRT, LCD or laptop so you can see your photos correctly and print more accurately.

Quick and Easy You don’t have to be a colour expert to calibrate your display.

Consistent Colour for the Latest Display Technology
Sophisticated hardware for optimising the latest display technology.

Before and After Viewing Feature Compare your display before and after calibration.

    *    Windows XP 32/64, Vista 32/64, Windows 7
    *    Mac OS X (10.4 or higher)
    *    USB Port
    *   Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 or greater (with 1024x600 Net Book option)
    *   16-bit video card (24-bit recommended)
    *   128MB of available RAM
    *   100MB of available hard disk space

Order from our website www.printwild.co.za

The New Contemporary White Frame

2011-02-02T16:08:00.001+02:00

The first of our product launches this year is the White Contemporary Frame. It is printed on new fibre matt paper and this high key, finished product is ideal for the modern home or office.

Using a slightly thicker frame profile and a high key acid free matt board, the frame will transform your image into a real feature on any wall.

We are shipping this product between 7 to 9 days from payment date. Each ordered product is prepared and printed with the greatest of care, ensuring the highest quality possible.

All finished frames are packaged and shipped straight to your door. Postage and packaging are included in the purchase price.

If you are looking for a clean, modern look to your image, don't hesitate to have a check out our website and then place an order -www.printwild.co.za

View this product's web page here.

Christmas Orders and deliveries

2010-12-08T20:32:00.005+02:00

Last orders for delivery before Christmas will be on 17th December.
We are closed from 22nd December to 3rd January and will resume shipping on 10th January. You may still order gift vouchers throughout the festive season.

Many thanks for your support over 2010. We thoroughly enjoyed preparing all your amazing images; seeing them leave our factory ready to hang on your wall to become a feature in your home or office.

Wishing you a merry Christmas and all the best for 2011!

From the team at PrintWild

Latest Testimonial

2010-12-01T11:54:00.001+02:00

I have received all 3 of my canvases and I am so impressed with the service, speed and quality in which they were delivered.

I have recommended you to all the photographers on the Gauteng photographers forum and I will definitely be sending all my canvas business your way.

Many thanks

Colleen

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A quick and easy Vintage look in PhotoShop

2010-11-22T23:04:00.000+02:00

I have had a few requests recently on how to give an image that cool vintage look so here is how its done.

Now before I start I'd like to note that this is just one method of many. The look is totally subjective and as the photographer it is up to you to tweak the setting to your taste. I like this method for it's simplicity and effectiveness, plus as its on a separate layer I can reduce, blend or mask it to taste.

With an image open in Photoshop go to the Layers Menu and select "New Adjustment Layer" then select "Levels". This will create a levels adjustment on a separate layer, as seen to the left.
Using adjustment layers is a good way to work in Photoshop as it allows you the flexibility to change your mind or tweak the adjustment further down your workflow.

From the Layers adjustment pallet the channel drop down menu from "RGB" to "Blue"(Feel free to experiment with other channels to create other looks and feels)

Now adjust the "Output levels" of the Blue channel by increasing the Blue shadows and decreasing the Blue highlights (increasing yellow), as shown to the left. The values I used are not fixed in stone, your image may require a slightly different adjustment so experiment until you are happy.

Before

After

Well thats is, it definitely adds allot of drama to an otherwise ordinary image. Let me know how you get on and please drop me an email if there is anything you would like me to cover in future blogs. www.printwild.co.za

Latest Testimonial

2010-11-18T09:28:00.001+02:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE MY CANVAS - THANK YOU SO MUCH - I AM SORTING OUT THE NEXT NOW - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Julia

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The classic photo frame

2010-11-15T13:02:00.001+02:00

Our latest product is the classic photo frame. You can see it on line at http://www.printwild.co.za/photographic_frame/classic_photo_frame.php .

The classic framed photo uses a flat slightly textured frame profile available in coffee bean, black and white. We use either a 44mm frame profile for A2 and smaller images and a 55mm frame profile for larger than A2 framed images. The matt board is a standard matt white and ranges from 50mm to 85mm thick depending on the size of the image.

Upload your favourite images, choose the frame profile colour that best suits your room and have the complete work of art delivered to your door.

Latest Testimonial

2010-11-12T08:28:00.001+02:00

Thank you again! I will DEFINITELY be making use of your services again!

Anton

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Latest Testimonial

2010-11-09T11:44:00.001+02:00

Hi Paul

Thank you so much for delivering the print yesterday - im very impressed with the quality of the print and the extra service.

Marco

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Using Tutorials to Get Your Head Around New Software

2010-11-04T17:07:00.003+02:00

Recently I wanted to make a switch to Adobe Lightroom 3; I was heading on a shoot and had time to get some online tuition whilst en route to the location.

I have always found www.lynda.com a fantastic resource for getting good quality tuition. There is a monthly fee with www.lynda.com that allows you a pretty free rein to get up to speed with new technology really fast. The Lightroom 3 essentials are presented by Chris Orwig who, apart from seeming like a great guy, really acquaints you with all that the package has to offer. For further information, go to: http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=59972. You will see all the lessons there.

Lucky me - my shoot was in Zanzibar. These are two of my favourite images that I took whilst staying at the amazing Ras Nungwi Beach Hotel (www.rasnungwi.com).

Latest Testimonial

2010-11-01T08:56:00.002+02:00

Hello Paul,

Just a quick thank you to say I received my images today and I\'m very pleased. Beautiful quality and nicely packaged. Many thanks to you and your team.

Barry

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Free Photo Editing Software

2010-10-26T00:14:00.000+02:00

If you just getting into photography and dont yet want to spend a fortune on editing software, try one or both of these programs, after all they are free.

Google's Picassa

Pros

•Good photo-editing tools

•Organizer with web integration

•Supports facial recognition and geotagging

Cons

•Not suitable for huge photo collections

•Editing tools are very good but not pro-level

Gimp

Pros

•Pro-level editing tools

•Extremely versatile

•Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux

Cons

•Steep learning curve

•Can be sluggish

•Doesn't accept Photoshop plug-ins

Let us know how you get on.

Expo and shipping charges

2010-10-20T14:06:00.003+02:00

To all those who visited us at the Photo and Film expo in jhb many thanks for all your positive responses and we look forward to doing business with you in the future.

We have launched our new website and with it we have included is that there is a min order value of R300 to get your order shipped for free. This has become necessary as the shipping of one A4 print was costing more that the price of the print! For orders less than R300 there will be a R45 shipping charge.

Remember for all your orders over R300 PrintWild will still ship all your orders for free .

New website is live!

2010-10-15T17:08:00.003+02:00

Our new website www.printwild.co.za is live we have been beta testing for 2 days. Please if you have a moment have a look at the site and play with the system. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks and I hope you enjoy the new website.

Kind regards

Paul

Photo and Film Expo at Coke-Cola Dome; Northgate JHB

2010-10-14T16:05:00.005+02:00

Come at see us the Coke-Cola Dome, Northgate at the Photo and Film expo. We have all our product on the stand and would love to chat about any new projects that you may have on the go.

The expo runs from today until Sunday. To see a full program please visit http://www.photofilmexpo.com

Latest Testimonial

2010-10-09T11:27:00.001+02:00

I had a last minute impulse to print one of our wedding pics as a valentines gift for my wife on Wednesday, (the 10th) late afternoon. Paul from (PrintWild) answered the phone and after thinking for a second assured me that He would be able to have the A0 Canvas, printed and delivered to me (in JHB) in what would be less than 2 days.

A order like this would normally take about 5 working days.

Paying online was a breeze and about 30min later my pic was uploaded to their server and the whole transaction was done and payed for. Paul then phoned me to let me know that he had received my urgent order and was on it.

Friday morning (about 40 hours later) the canvas was delivered to my front door in perfect condition. The quality is of the absolute highest standards and the finish nothing less than perfect. Oh and the delivery from Durban was free.

I would Highly recommend them to everyone! Service of this standard is worth every penny!

Gabriel
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We Do More Than Just Print

2010-10-06T13:54:00.000+02:00

Many of the orders we receive from clients are jpeg, tiff or Acrobat files, to mention a few. More often than not these are unedited files.

Editing picture files can make a huge difference to the final product.

We go to great lengths to reproduce the best from files submitted to us for reproduction.

Colour, contrast and density can be measured specifically.
That being said what is appealing to individual tastes is very subjective.

When placing orders with PrintWild we would like clients to request editing if you would like us to make corrections to your images.

We enjoy getting the best out of photographs so don’t hesitate to ask questions with your order, or by phone and email.

Together lets strive for the best.

How Big can I Print my image.

2010-09-21T13:28:00.004+02:00

We get allot of questions from people about image size. Although we are always happy to asses your images for you to determine their max print size, I thought you may appreciate the following information.

If you enlarge any image past its native print size interpolation will occur (pixel inventing) resulting in a loss of quality. However this loss of quality may be very slight and is directly effected by the following factors:

The Megapixel size of your camera.
The sharpness of your image (is it in focus)
The subject mater (is it an arty/abstract image that will not suffers from loss of details)
Your camera's exposure settings can also effect on print quality. An ISO 800 image will look better printed smaller than the same image on ISO 100
The amount of editing and affects you have applied to the image

Generally the bigger the original image file the better it will look when printed as you can see from the following guide.

Jpeg File Sizes

(a rough guide for well exposed in focus images)

0kb to 500kb - Up to A2 (Image quality will suffer at larger sizes)

500kb to 1mb - Up to A0 (Image will lose sharpness and quality at larger sizes)

1mb to 2mb - Up to A0 (Image may suffer from sharpness and quality loss at A0 and above)

2mb to 3mb - Up to A0 and above ( There should be little loss in quality)

4mb and over Up to A0 and above, comfortably.

For our more advanced users you may want yo set up Photo shop to accurately show you how your image will look at a given size.

First you need to know the following:

Your monitor resolution in Pixels ( if you do not know this go to www.whatismyscreenresolution.com)
You will need to find out your monitors PPI , you may be surprised to find out that it is not 72dpi. Go to DPI Calculator. Enter the resolution you determined in the previous step as well as the size of your monitor (20inch, 24inch etc) Your PPI will be displayed.

Now in Photo Shop go to Preferences (Ctrl K for PC and Cmd K for Mac)
Go to "Units and Rules"
Now in "Screen Resolution" enter the PPI you determoned in the previous steps.
Hit OK to close.

Now when you select VIEW / PRINT SIZE in Photo Shop it will do some fancy calculations and display, very accurately, how your image pixilation will look when printed. Now it is worth noting this is by no meant 100% perfect but is very close.

Remember, If you are at all unsure if your image is big enough contact us and www.printwild.co.za and we will be happy to help you.

Win one of six canvases to the value of R800.00 each

2010-09-13T10:13:00.004+02:00

We are really putting a big effort in our marketing over the next 3 months and hopefully some of you will see our new big A4 add on the Home and Leisure magazine.

This competition is also being promoted on the Pix mag and the ODP websites.

So please go to www.printwild.co.za/compotition and enter and while you are at it please send this competition onto anyone else that you feel would fancy a stunning A1 canvas of an image of their choice delivered to their door.

Remember for the finest canvas and acrylic prints in SA visit www.printwild.co.za.

The Right Media for my Large Format Print?

2010-09-06T20:40:00.005+02:00

With most of our products you have a choice between printing on canvas or on photo paper. Normally, when you increase the size of an image beyond the pixel dimensions of the camera, you end up with pixel break-up. However, one of the main reasons why printing on canvas is delivering such fantastic results is that when you print on canvas, the texture of the canvas has a sharpening effect similar to that of a cross hatch filter in Photoshop.

The images below show what happens to an image when it is stretched beyond its existing pixels.

If you are trying to make up your mind about the format of your next canvas print order, you should consider the quality of the image: if you are using a high resolution image, printing on photo paper and going large will be successful. If you are shooting on a 6 megapixel camera and want to print large sizes, choose our canvas options and you will not be disappointed. Remember, the great thing about using PrintWild (www.printwild.co.za) is that we will always check the quality of your image before going to print; if we feel that the quality of the print is going to be compromised, we will phone you to discuss the options for the optimum result.

www.printwild.co.za – your choice when it comes to canvas printing

Old and damaged images

2010-08-30T17:27:00.005+02:00

At PrintWild we say, “If you can see it, it can be reproduced”

Thanks to the digital era, images in whatever form are 99% retrievable. Whether images are original artworks or old photos on negatives and prints; they can be brought back to life.

Old, damaged images can be fixed and reproduced onto canvas, watercolour paper, photographic paper and many other printable mediums.

Below is an example of a photograph that came to us in 2 pieces. These had to be copied, joined, colour corrected and then printed onto a canvas and stretch framed.

One of the most frequently asked questions is, “How big must a file be and to what size can it be printed?”
Many factors come into play, like how complex is the detail in the image, is it a copy of a copy and most important, what material is the image to be printed on.

Should you be in doubt don’t hesitate to send your image to me on prc@printwild.co.za. We will enlarge it to size on our computers and assess the viability.

The 2010 Photo & FIlm Exhibition

2010-08-23T17:20:00.002+02:00

So if you haven't yet heard this years Photo and Film Exhibition will take place from the 14th to the 17th October at the Coca-Cola Dome Northgate JHB. Its a must see for amatures and professionals alike. All the lates equipments will be on show as well as live demonstrations, photographic societies, a variety of photography related services and products and "LOADS OF PRIZES TO BE WON".

Its also a great chance to meet your suppliers one on one. Printwild will be there in full force showing off our new paper and canvas selections for the year ahead, and there are going to be some great ones!!. Although I cant reveal them now I can tell you that we have been working hard for the past 6 months testing and profiling papers from all over the world to create a line up of paper and canvas that will satisfy all you needs from high defenition Black & Whites to specialist uncoated papers.

Come and visit us at stand SS and we will be more than happy to talk you through our samples and to show you first hand the unique characteristics each paper as well as how to choose the right paper to suite your needs. We will even have printed samples for you to take home with you.

To our existing professional and amature photographer please feel free to come by and say hi, it will be great to finally put a face to your voice.

Visit www.printwild.com or check out the Expo website here for more details.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Creating a collage with Google Picasa 3

2010-08-16T19:11:00.007+02:00

If you are thinking of making a collage from a bunch of your favourite images, even with fancy software at my finger tips, I can find no better solution than Google’s Picasa. With a few easy clicks you can choose your images and prepare a job for print.

Have a look at this YouTube video that will help you create a collage of your own.

You can download Picasa at: http://picasa.google.com

Remember to load your complete artwork on www.printwild.co.za and have your final creation delivered to your door free of charge!

Print Wild on Safari

2010-08-03T17:05:00.001+02:00

Pano of Gunns Bush Camp - View from The Bora River

I though I'd shed some light on Print Wilds activities and skills and hopefully reveal yet another reason to use us to print your Canvas's and to trust us with your professional photographic prints. Yes we print photographs, and we do it well, but we also take photographs. We are professional photographers with many years experience in converting our images into prints that we would be proud to exhibit. We are very critical when it comes to print quality and treat our clients prints as if they were our own.

The Bora River

Traditional Mokoro dugout boat

Last week we were on location in Botswana and Zambia photographing Safari Lodges for our clients brochures. From deep in the Ocavongo Delta to Zambia and the Victoria Falls we photographed Bush camps, Lodges, from planes, from Mokoro and even from platforms we purposely erected in the Delta.

Preparing stable platform to shoot from

We love what we do and are always happy to share our knowledge with you. If you have any questions about your prints, from colour correcting, monitor calibration, image sharpening, paper selection or even which of your images will print better, we are here to help.

Making those memorable images remembered

2010-07-26T15:11:00.003+02:00

The digital era has given us such fantastic opportunity to really fine tune our photography and get far better images than ever before. With the film vs digital quality race being over the only real shortfall is that we are simply not printing our images anymore. Digital photo frames and home entertainment systems are helping cross that bridge but in reality I think we are not really enjoying that fantastic technology that we have invested in with our cameras.

This is one of the main reasons we started PrintWild, we believe that people want to decorate their homes and offices with images that are relevant to them. Our product range is suited to any image size. The canvas product is exceptionally forgiving and allows us the increase the size of an image and still achieve fantastic results. Remember that we will always call you should we feel that the image quality is a concern before we go to print.

With new generation digital cameras that are shooting at 12 mega pixels and above, our fine art paper and high quality paper mounted prints show stunning detail. The printer has also been perfectly profiled to achieve the best results.

So now that you have all this great technology in your camera you may as well use it by going to www.printwild.co.za and turn - Your favourite image into a work of art.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions regarding the quality and process of PrintWild product.

Canvas printing & stretch framing

2010-07-20T12:56:00.006+02:00

There are many ways of extending an image in ways that don’t appear obvious. We do this a lot, particularly when there is not enough image to use as a wraparound the frame. If there is enough image the client needs to indicate the parameters of the picture that must appear on the front of the picture beyond that edge we use to wrap around the wooden frame. When we need to add extra to give a wrap around the following options are often done.

This extended area for the side of the frame in the pic below was artificially created.

The extended area for the side of the frame in the pic below was made by adding a plain colour.

Posted by Paul (Snr) - Image prpeperation at PrintWild

Your DAM Workflow - How safe are your images!

2010-07-12T17:14:00.001+02:00

Digital Asset Management is the term used to describe the handling and management of digital assets, in this case images. It's most likely the most boring part of being a photographer and sometimes way too restrictive and left brained for our wildly creating minds.

If you are an enthusiast I highly recommend some form of logical and repeatable approach to you photographic workflow. If however you charge money for your images it is a prerequisite!

There are benefits other than a tidy desktop! If done properly (and this means spending more that 5 min dumping all the images from your desktop into one folder) it will remove the stress from managing you images, having duplicates of images or 12 edits of the same image scattered about, your images will be safe and most importanty some time invested now will free up more time to get out and rack up more hours behind that camera.

These are some of the principals to follow:
Image organisation
Keep a folder for each Job (properly labelled e.g. Year-Date-Shoot name )
Rename all images in a similar fashion (using the cameras assigned image name is not very use full)
Separate your RAW (original) images from your edited work within the main folder.
Image Storage
Always keep more than one copy of your work. At least 2 copies.
If you have a large image library and your computer is near capacity use external hard drives to work from, it will speed up your computers performance.
Good Software
Use a descent software to view and organise your images, like Lightroom, Aperture, CaptureOne, Photoshop Bridge or iview media Pro to name a few.

Let us know if you want more information on this subject but for now check out this video by Chase Jarvis, a top commercial photographer based in Seattle. Their approach is geared towards a large professional studio but the principals apply to us all.

Acrilic Prints get a facelift

2010-07-05T14:03:00.012+02:00

Our acrylic prints have proven very popular. We have simplified the art work by changing the combination of a 3mm and 6mm sandwich print
to a straight 8mm finished acrylic. The side profile is far smarter.
We are using an exceptionally high grade clear laminate that allows us to front laminate the print straight on to the acrylic. For custom prints over 1 metre, we are using extra wall mounts to add stability to the art work. We are still using 20 mm spaces to raise the art off the wall.

The single sheet has also made installation easier. Added to this are the new wall mounts we are finalising that will also help reduce the cost; these changes will be reflected on the website this week.

Acrylic prints are perfect for necessarily hygienic environments such as hospitals, kitchens and restaurants. The clear acrylic can be cleaned using a damp cloth and window cleaner.

For more information please feel free to have a look at our website www.printwild.co.za and should you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us at info@printwild.co.za .

Photography Tips: How to Focus Manually - TEST POST

2010-06-25T12:11:00.000+02:00

With today’s cameras all sporting super fast and accurate auto focus, the art of manual focussing has, for the most part, been neglected by many photographers. Perhaps those only using it today are the avid amateur or professional landscape and architectural photographers. So why should we focus manually with all this new technology around us?

Well, if maximum depth of field (sharp, in-focus subjects from foreground to horizon) is your goal then manually focusing your lens is the most accurate way to achieve this.

Your goal when manually focussing for maximum depth of field is achieving hyper-focal distance (HFD). Every lens has a HFD but only certain lenses will have the marking necessary for setting HFD. Generally the wider prime lenses will be marked with ‘f’ numbers on the focus window of your lens (as shown in the image).

There is a lot of information on the web on HFD; some helpful and some just confusing. However, this article from the New York Institute of Photography gives a straight-forward description without delving into complex calculations (NTIP-Hyperfocal article).

I highly recommend spending some time on HPD; it will improve your landscape and architectural photography overnight.