Actually, I was quite happy that with digital photography, the images no longer had to be converted into a material form (and spending a lot of time in the darkroom with chemicals). They were available and displayed in an appealing way on the computer and later on the iPad. I soon found even the photo books that I put together every year to be superfluous (-> about).
That changed brusquely when I was asked at short notice in 2014 to present some of my photos in an exhibition. This started a fascinating ordeal 😉
Calibrated screens, icc profiles etc. were unknown to me and I not only tested my way wildly through the providers on the Internet, but also through the carrier materials. Wood, canvases, Forex and Alu Dibond - and because it was pretty expensive, the individual prints shouldn't be too expensive. Disappointments were inevitable, of course, and it took me a while to understand that the fault wasn't just with the providers or the materials, but above all with myself.
Remaining stocks from this phase can be found under ALLE DRUCKE
With the icc profiles and FineArt papers, I was able to get closer to my ideas (although the question of framing opened up another bumpy field), but I was still only exceptionally satisfied.
You can find most of these prints here under SPECIAL or ALLE DRUCKE
In 2020 I bought an Epson Sure-Color P600 and was able to print A3 + with pigment inks on FineArt paper myself and of course tinker with it until I - finally! - was able to achieve satisfactory results. In spring 2021 I upgraded to the SC P900 and can thus cover formats up to A2 +.
Here, however, it is also important to find the most suitable - or those that suit my own taste - from a wide range of papers.
At the moment (summer 2021) I prefer to print on Baryta papers from ILFORD (Galerie Gold Fiber Pearl 290 g / m²) and TECCO (Photo BTS300 Baryt Satin 300 g / m2) or matt on Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Sonora 320 g / m² or Tecco Photo PFR295 FineArt Rag 295 g / m² and Tecco Photo PM230 Matt 230 g / m² - the latter especially for art cards, as they can be folded to a certain extent due to their lower grammage and can also be written on on the back. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a suitable semi-matt / silk-gloss paper for art cards (foldable and writable).