How to Prepare Photographs for an Exhibition

Start with the lab

Choose the lab, the process and the paper before anyone works on the files, because they decide most of what follows. C-print vs archival pigment print explains the main choice. Then ask the lab:

• What file format it wants, which is usually a flattened TIFF.
• What color space it wants, and whether to convert to its paper profile or leave that to the lab.
• Whether it wants 8-bit or 16-bit files. Labs differ on this.
• What resolution it needs at final size.
• Whether it sharpens files or expects them sharpened.
• Whether it needs extra image around the edges for trimming or mounting.
• How it makes test prints, and what they cost.

Set the print sizes early

Each print's size decides how much the file has to hold. A photograph that looks fine at magazine size can show soft detail and noise at 40 by 60 inches. Resolution and upscaling for large format prints has the sums.

Retouch at final size

Problems that stay hidden on screen can appear at wall size: sensor dust, halos along edges, repeating patterns from cloning, banding in smooth skies and skin that's been smoothed too far. Check each image at 100% at its final size, not just fitted to the screen.

Film scans need their dust and scratches cleaned, and that work should leave the grain alone. Keep a layered master of every image and make print files from it. You'll need it if the lab changes, or when you print more of an edition later.

Match the series

On a wall, prints hang side by side, so differences you never noticed on screen become obvious: one image a little warmer, another a little darker, blacks that don't match. Look at the whole series together, in the order it will hang, and match color and density before you order test prints. Images from different cameras, years or film stocks take the most work, which is where color correction comes in.

Proof, then test

Preview each image on screen with the lab's paper profile, then ask for test prints of the hardest images on the real paper. Judge them in light like the gallery's, because a print can look quite different under warm track lighting. Soft proofing and test prints goes through it step by step.

Allow for mounting and framing

Mounting changes how a print looks. Face mounting to acrylic makes an image look higher in contrast, darker and more saturated, and the glossy surface can pick up reflections from gallery lights. If you can, mount a test print the same way before you approve the file. Tell whoever is preparing the files how each print will be mounted, and ask your framer how much of the image the frame or mat will cover.

Work back from the opening

Put these dates on a calendar, starting from the last one:

• The opening and the hanging day.
• Delivery of the framed prints to the venue.
• Mounting and framing, with your framer's lead time.
• Final prints, with your lab's lead time.
• Test prints and any changes to the files, with time for a second round.
• Retouching, film scan cleanup and color across the series.

If you'd rather hand over the file work, see exhibition print preparation. We prepare the files and your lab prints them.