Frequently Asked
Questions

Yes, we cater to artists producing visual art in a range of forms and medium.

It is always a pleasure to see new work pass through our printers and is certainly one of the joys in what we do. Seeing new styles, forms and the array of colours that artists use in their work.

Yes, we have helped a large number of photographers begin their fledgling print stores by way of consultation to improve their files for print, making recommendations on the ideal paper and media choice for their work, and finally by taking the hassle out of printing, packaging, and shipping by doing this on their behalf while they are off on a project or assignment, anywhere in Australia or in the world.

Regrettably, we don’t print one-off orders for private customers.

We invest a lot of time with each client and are primarily focussed on developing long-term clients with emerging and established artists and photographers, by the way of our process.

Our turnaround times vary depending on the time of year but are generally one week from placing an order. We can, on most occasions, have a print shipped within 24-48 hours. 

We leave prints to off-gas for 24 hours prior to packaging and shipping, and a minimum of 48 hours prior to commencing framing.

If you need something urgently we will do our best to accommodate you request. We apply a 20% surcharge to rush orders.

We use Australia Post Regular and Express Post services for domestic deliveries depending on our client’s choice.

We do recommend using Express Post for expediency and also to minimise handling of the packages prior to arriving at your or your customers address.

Express Postage costs are generally $2.00-$4.00 more than Regular Postage Costs.

For international shipments we use DHL & Australia Post dependent on the location and package.

We ship every day of the working week. If an order is ready to go, then it is shipped. We feel that it is important to have your work in your or your customers hands as soon as possible.

Yes, you can save a lot of time and additional packaging costs by having us drop ship your orders.

Your order won’t feature any branding from us and will include your address as the return shipping address. 

We will also happily include any supplied promotional or branded items with your order.

The cost for the drop shipping service is $5.00 per order for domestic delivery, $10.00 per order for international delivery (due to customs documentation) in addition to postage.

All relevant packaging costs are included in our print pricing.es.

Every print that we produce is guaranteed for safe delivery to your, or your customer’s hands. We will happily reprint and post any order that arrives damaged. We also guarantee the quality of our work and will work with you to rectify any unforeseen issues that may occur.

Fine Art Printing, also known as Giclée printing, is essentially the process of creating printed works on paper using high-quality inkjet printers. The process, which incorporates printing with pigment inks and archival media results in printed images that can achieve a lifespan of 60-100+ years without any perceivable degradation in colour.

Our primary machine is a 44 inch EPSON SureColor P9560 large format 16-bit printer that uses employs EPSON UltraChrome PRO Ink to produce prints of archival quality. Early results indicate that this machine is unsurpassed in the fine art printing colour gamut bar-none. 

The printer is the newest in EPSON’s lineup and early research (independent of us) indicates a massive increase in printable colour gamut over the previous generation printers, let alone EPSON’s dominance in fine art printing over their competitors.

What does this mean for you? Well we can now print colours that were not previously achievable. For landscape photographers this is an increased range of greens and blues and for artists, a much wider range of colours that we can now match to your original works. The previous generation of printers were quite remarkable, but when you see the advancement that has been made with the 9560 it is beyond belief.

Our printing process incorporates a colour managed workflow. From preparing a file for print, to proof viewing, to printing your work with a colur profile that is specifically matched to each printer and media type to achieve superb colour consistency.

The large format EPSON printers that we print with, use UltraChrome inks, regarded for their fidelity, durability, gamut and permanance.

Our EPSON printers use a range of colour and black/grey inks to produce incredible colour vibrancy and consistency, along with small tonal gradations. Images are matched to specific paper types to produce exceptional results.

We offer a range of paper/media options from some of the most regarded paper manufacturers in the world including Canson (established in 1557) and Hahnemühle(established in 1584).

In summary, our printing services produce works with a long term permanence, in a colour managed environment on a range of best in industry media, producing consistent and durable results that will add long-term value to your work.

Producing archival fine art prints is a marriage of the paper or canvas media and high quality pigment inks, in our case EPSON UltraChrome PRO Inks. Media and ink combinations are independently tested by Wilhelm Imaging Research to gauge noticeable fading or changes to color balance. Results for the latest EPSON inks can be viewed here tested against a range of EPSON papers.

Print longevity is drastically improved by framing your prints, preferentially with glazing containing a UV filter, and presented away from direct UV light or humidity. 

We recommend choosing a papers from our Fine Art Group 1 and Group 2 ranges for maximum archivability and long-term permanence. 

What does this mean for me an artist?
If you want to offer your clients the highest quality printed works that are synonymous with the quality of your original work, then we strongly suggest that you consider the archival qualities of what you are selling. We offer a couple of price points that help you to achieve your price positioning within your market. We are always happy to present you with some options for consideration.
Quality is a natural value-add.

What does this mean for me as a homeowner/decorator?
Whether you are printing an heirloom piece, a family portrait or wedding photos – each of these has an intrinsic value that deserves the best treatment in how it will be printed and exhibited in your home.
Our choice of fine art paper types and the long-term permanence of our process, make TAKUMI the ideal choice to print pieces of sentimental value that deserve the best of quality and will have the ability to be passed down to the next generation to treasure.

Yes, we print on roll media and cut sheets across our range of media.

Please see below for more information.

Our clients can choose from 1 of 15 papers and 2 canvas choices to suit all tastes and requirements.

Please view our media page here for more information.

Yes, although each new media needs its own printer profile created to ensure colour accuracy and consistency. We are able to create printer profiles in-house. The profiling cost will be added to the cost of your order.

Images, whether printed or presented on screen, are rendered against a standardised colour profile to display colours that are true and consistent across platforms. Our papers and printers adhere to the same standard by printing your work against standardised colour profiles to maintain consistency across media and printing studios.
Limitations, such as the colour gamut (range) of your monitor, as well as if and when it was last calibrated, can produce inconsistent and inaccurate colours being displayed on-screen.

Contact us to discuss monitor calibration options.

You are free to print to whatever size you like. Our only limitations are a maximum print size of 44 inches on the shortest edge up to the relevant print roll length (12-27 metres). 

The TAKUMI Studio site features a custom print price generator. We feel that price transparency is a must in establishing effective client relationships and your works should be presented as intended rather than being restricted to standardised print ratios.

Our printers handle rolled and cut media up to 44 inches on the shortest edge.

Media options range between 12 and 30m in total length.

Most of our Fine Art papers are available in A-series cut sheets which are the ideal choice for presenting to clients in unframed/unmatted form up to A2 in size.

Our minimum order amount is $30.00 excluding postage. 

Rather than increasing the cost of our smaller sizes up to this minimum we prefer to give you the option to print multiples of a print/s to make up the order quantity. If you are a regular client who uses our drop shipping service, we can even store the additional prints and ship them to your clients as required with only the postage and drop shipping cost payable for the subsequent order/s.

You may also wish to take advantage of our quantity discounts by ordering multiples of your most popular prints, or by printing a part of, or entire edition at once.

Art reproduction clients are also able to access a special discount for printing 10 or more prints at once.

Yes, we offer quantity discounts for 2 or more of the same file, size and media type in the same order.

You can view our Quantity Discounts on our Edition Printing page here.

Printing varies by your chosen media, print size and paper border.

We have created a comprehensive pricing calculator for any size print including the additional cost for paper border options. 

You can view our prices here:

• Printing Prices on Roll Media
• Printing Prices on A Series Cut Sheet Media 
• Printing Prices on A Series Roll Media
• Canvas Printing, Stretching & Framing Pricing

Flattened TIF and PSD files are our preferred option, particularly if we have to upscale, edit or proof your images, as the files hold more editing flexibility. 

JPEGs are also perfectly acceptable and ideal if your image is sized, sharpened and ready for print. 

We have written a comprehensive article here with our file requirements as well as the file preparation services we offer.

View the article here.

This is a subjective question. Print size is largely dependent on the quality of the original file and isn’t always related to megapixel/file size. We have seen a number of smaller files enlarged to a higher degree of quality than larger files purely based on the quality of the original file.

Viewing distance and media choice is also a consideration.

Prints viewed close up, smaller prints or those in publications are usually viewed at arms length and so need to maintain a higher pixel density, generally 300ppi. Larger prints are viewed at a greater distance so we have the option of spreading those pixels out to give us some room to enlarge the original image without a perceivable loss in quality. We may reduce the resolution to 240ppi allowing us some room to expand the image.

Media such as canvas and some textured papers can gives us more breathing room when enlarging our works.

Some suggestions

• Save your final output sharpening for when your have resized your image.
• Watch the noise in your image and aim to reduce this where possible using noise reduction and/or shooting with a tripod where possible to allow shooting at ISOs closest to ISO 100.
• Always shoot in RAW format. This gives your files the greatest degree of flexibility in the editing process vs a JPEG file.
• After enlarging/upscaling your image, have us print a strip proof of the image to ensure that you are satsified with the resolution prior to printing the complete image.

We can assist by running through the enlargement process on your behalf and printing a strip proof of your image prior to printing the full sized image.

We offer payment by Bank Deposit or via EFTPOS, Visa, MasterCard & AMEX.

The studio is based in the Vasse, in the South West of Western Australia.

Yes, we assist artists and photographers from overseas and throughout Australia. 

We work closely with all of our clients to produce exemplary printed outcomes. All orders can be safely packaged for shipping anywhere in the world.

Yes, our service is built on a personal and collaborative service. We believe in a holistic service where the more you understand about the printing process, and how to improve the print through editing in consideration of the final printed outcome, then the more succesful the overall outcome will be.

As a practicing photographer, Ty works with artists and photographers to assist with all stages of the image creation and editing process.

We reproduce works by the original artist only and reserve the right to seek additional evidence of original creation as we see fit. 

Offering both in-house and mobile art reproduction services throughout the South West and Great Southern. You have the option to either bring the works to the studio directly, or opt to have your works shipped to the studio for reproduction.

We have a page dedicated to our art reproduction services here.

All prints are trimmed to the ordered image size plus any paper border allowance.

This cost is included in our standard pricing structure.

Please allow a 2mm tolerance for all trimming.

We offer a range of support and finishing services such as Exhibition Printing & Framing, File Preparation and Re-touching, Up-scaling/Re-sizing, Proofing as well as Custom Picture Framing, and Canvas Stretching & Framing through our framing partner, Lush Frames.

TAKUMI Studio also offers a website design service alongside Personify Web Design, to assist Artists and Photographers with an online portfolio and/or online store.

You can view our full services here.