• A short history of photography and printing, leading to digital printing – there have been so many innovation’s in such a short period of time, this section is a fascinating introduction to digital printing. This section also covers the digital print as a means of delivery for the digital artist and photographer. If you are intending to sell your work then this chapter is essential reading

• This chapter deals with the anatomy of a digital image with an explanation of pixels and bit depth, resolution, dpi, lpi, print dots, drops and spots. An in-depth look at the various printing technologies includes; inkjet, colour laser, dye sublimation concludes the chapter.

• An extensive guide to digitising film with various scanner types, to capturing the picture with a digital camera. The section on scanning covers flatbed and film scanners through to drum scanning. There are plenty of good tips throughout the chapter and should keep the readers mind occupied for days if not weeks. The chapter concludes with a look at image editing applications and archiving images.

• If you want a good introduction to colour and colour management then this is a good starting point. The book gives you the right dosage of information and will keep you interested right to the end of the chapter. This section covers; colour space, profiles, profiling printers, soft-proofing and colour managed workflows.

• This is the one area that seems to cause us the most concern, how long are our pictures going to last? This chapter deals with print permanence and what affects the longevity of a print – light UV radiation, temperature, water & humidity, atmospheric pollutants and acidity (in the media). The chapter includes a large section on testing for permanence, which is perhaps a bit too involved for the average reader, but for a reviewer and other technical boffin it is a gripping read (yes, I have a sad life)

• I would urge all the people who send me e-mails (on a daily basis) to read this chapter, as it deals with all the questions I am asked. The chapter includes all formats from small printers to wide format printers; dye and pigment inks. Other topics include; metamerism, media, third party inks, cartridges and capacities. For some reason the section also includes a section on print permanence – didn’t I just read all about that in chapter 5? The chapter includes a section on cost per print – a topic we reviewers can’t seem to get to grips with (we are normally only supplied with one set of inks).

• Dye vs Pigment. OK, so if you purchased a Canon iP8500 or an Epson R2400 printer then you are not left with much choice as to which ink to use. But if you are trying to make up your mind as to which printer best suits your need then this is the chapter to get stuck into. The chapter also deals with third party inks, refilling cartridges and bulk ink systems. The chapter concludes with an extensive guide to media.

• This is a step by step guide to achieving high quality prints, topics include your computer and ideal specifications, setting up the printer, drivers, setting resolution, sharpening, loading media and using profiles, making a test print and the final print.

• The one thing that I often wonder about is what do you all do with your A3 prints? I have now resorted to printing everything on 6x4 media, it is easy to store and it saves me knocking more nails into my walls. This chapter deals with all issues for those readers who want to sell or exhibit their work. Topics covered include; drying, signing and numbering (for limited editions), coating media, mounting, framing, storage and shipping of prints. This chapter has to be the last word for the digital artist/photographer, it’s packed full of useful information.

• This chapter provides you with all the information you will need, should you decide to use a professional print service. I can tell you from my own experience that you can’t rely on 95% of bureaus to deliver quality prints – remember those pro photo-labs who never got the colours right – well most of those guys are now working in digital print bureaus and they are still colour blind. An interesting read nevertheless.

11. Special printing techniques

• RIP, (no, not rest in peace but Raster Image Processor), PostScript, special colour printing software, Qimage and b/w printing (damn, I thought I had found a topic Harald had forgotten about). The b/w section is good, but I would have liked more in-depth information on this highly popular topic (where is the section on Epson’s GrayBalncer software). Having said that, there is sufficient reading material to get you producing excellent quality b/w prints. The chapter and book concludes with production of cards, books and portfolios.