Greg Brophy

Services

Trained as an artist and a photographer for over 15 years, I have been printing my images for many years. I have printed Platinum-Palladium prints, cyanotypes, carbon transfer printing and polymer photogravure. Now I have decided to offer my experience and artists eye to make prints for you. Whether this is a black and white photo, digital negatives for alternative processes or a Polymer Photogravure of your artwork. I work with a color management workflow calibrated with X-Rite Spectrophotometers.

Fine Art Black and White using Piezography inks

I use custom blends of the best quality ink on high quality paper that are acid and lignin free and meet the highest archival standards. I stock Hahnemühle Museum Etching for mat images getting a black that has to be seen to believe. The textured surface is best for reprinting fine artwork. For semi-glossy prints I use Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta for incredible detail and works great for reproducing that silver gelatin photo look. I can also print on specialty papers and what ever your favorite may be.

Prices are for digital negatives and Inkjet prints. If you have multiple prints from the same image contact me for quantity pricing.

Sizes are paper size, not the image size. Whats the difference?

Price variation depends on paper type, size, and includes a printer test before running the final print. Additional tests may be purchased for client approvals at your request.

Size

Polymer Photogravure

What is Photogravure?

Photogravure is one of the oldest photographic printing processes and is one of what is called the big three, Platinum, Carbon and Photogravure. These three processes are considered the most stable and most archival processes available. The way a photogravure is made is by taking a positive image and contact printing it onto a piece of carbon tissue, usually red ochre in color, that has been sensitized with a dichromate. The carbon tissue is then mated to a piece of copper and etched in an acid bath. The resulting piece of copper is then inked like a traditional etched plate (think Rembrandt or Goya) and then run through an etching press on to a piece of paper. This process is long, expensive, chemically hazardous and very difficult.  There are still a few artists around who still do traditional photogravure onto copper plate, but with the banning of the use of dichromates in Europe and other countries, who knows how long artist will be able to continue this way.

Examples of well know photogravures

Enter Polymer Photogravure

For a while now, artist who produce etchings have been looking for a less toxic way of making plates that don’t required acids or dichromates. Some of these are thin polymer films that can be put onto plastic or different types of metals. There are also readymade plates coated with polymer films. Toyobo KM73 plates and the Jet LSL-73-SP (Solar Plates) are two of the most popular ones for photogravure. The main advantage to the photopolymer process is that you only need room temperature water to process them instead of Ferric Chloride. These plates are then inked and run through an etching press the same way as traditional copperplate photogravures are.

Now I am providing the service of making plates and prints for people. Whether it is a line drawing you want to turn into an etching to reproduce as a limited edition series or a photography you want to last forever. Because their are so many variables to the process, contact me for pricing.

Examples of my own work:

Example of Artwork Reproductions