For many of us, printing is already a challenge. There are so many choices that impact our final print. From editing choices to printer options to paper selection, there are so many places where things can change. One simple change you can make to the printing workflow that can save you so much time and frustration is basic notetaking. By keeping good notes during your printing process, you can always refer back to those notes to help you make another print in the future, understand choices you made the first time, or how to approach the print if the old materials are no longer available.
Here is a list of information I like to keep with the print:
- Image Name Image
- Filename
- Printer Type
- Paper
- ICC Profile used
- Rendering Intent
- Software Used to print
- Operating System
- Date of Print
- Subject (what is the photo of)
- Misc notes
These notes can be done on a proof print with pen and ink or stored with the metadata of the image using the Large Caption field or another metadata field. Of course, the other thing to remember is that being consistent with how and where you store those notes will keep you from pulling your hair out later.
No matter where you store the information, I think you will find that the few minutes it takes to write this information down will be worth it. The list below is the list I like to use when I think about my printing notes, but you of course can add or remove to the list as you need.
