The Canon
imagePROGRAF
PRO-1100 is the bench.

The PRO-1100 is a twelve-ink pigment printer; three of those inks are dilutions of black, which is why the monochrome work holds up. I calibrated it against the studio’s standard viewing light following the discipline that Keith Cooper at Northlight Images documents publicly — the credit goes there, not to me. I read the writeups, I worked the procedure, the calibration holds. The studio’s own editions are the primary use of the machine; external commissions are calendar-gated and I will say no to a brief that won’t fit the queue rather than do it badly. I don’t print on a paper I haven’t personally profiled and pulled a test from, and I will not run a production batch on the back of an uncorrected proof.

• You want an archival A2 print of a long-exposure or fine- art photograph, with the colour matched under reference light before the run.
• You’re a photographer with a signed-edition project and you need a bureau small enough to actually see your file.
• You want a one-off test print to settle a paper-choice argument with yourself before you commit to an edition.

Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100

Twelve-ink pigment system. Monochrome range managed by three separate dilutions of black; colour gamut calibrated against the studio’s standard viewing light. Maximum print width A2+ (17″). Borderless optional.

• Canon Photo Paper Pro Platinum (PT-101) — Canon’s flagship gloss; the highest D-max in the line. The right surface when the brief is high-saturation light-trail work and the photograph leans into its own gloss.
• Canon Photo Paper Pro Lustre (LU-101) — pearl-finish satin. For figurative pieces where the highlight needs to feel like cloth instead of metal; handles gallery glare more gracefully than the Platinum.
• Super-glossy premium photo paper — cabinet stock for the prints where the trail has to read as wet light.
• Metallic photo paper (Canon-compatible) — pearlescent underlayer behind the print surface. The trail reads as glowing through chrome. A specific aesthetic for known gallery lighting, not a default.

The full reasoning for this paper line — and the archival-baryta upgrade path the bureau is moving toward after the studio move — is documented in The Right Paper for a Light Painting.

1. Send your file and notes via the contact form — select “Print bureau” from the subject dropdown. 300 DPI TIFF or high-quality JPEG / PSD, sRGB or AdobeRGB, no sharpening baked in.
2. The studio will reply with a quote, a recommended paper, and an expected lead time. Typically within a day.
3. On approval, a test print is made, photographed under reference light, and sent to you for sign-off before the final run.
4. Final prints are rolled in archival tubes (or crated flat, by arrangement), shipped insured, anywhere.

Why gloss and not matte?

The long-exposure work lives or dies on shadow separation and saturated-trail rendering. Gloss and pearl papers hold detail down into the deep blacks where matte papers start to flatten, and they render the trail’s colour at the saturation the LED actually produced. The paper is a decision made per image — Pro Platinum for the saturated work, Lustre when the highlight needs to feel like cloth, metallic when the brief asks for the trail to read as wet light through chrome. The reasoning is documented in The Right Paper for a Light Painting.

Will you print my photograph if I’m not in the studio’s edition list?

Yes, when the calendar allows. The studio’s own editions are the primary use of the bench; external commissions slot around them. The honest answer to “how soon?” is the lead time I quote in the reply email, and I will not promise faster than I can deliver under the proof-then-run discipline.

Can you supply a custom ICC profile for my paper?

If the paper is one of the three in stock, the bureau’s profiles ship with the test print. For a paper the studio hasn’t printed on before, factor in a small profiling fee and a few extra days to pull the target and measure it. The Northlight-Images write-ups are where I’d send you to understand what that step actually involves.

• Photographs — the studio’s editioned prints in the catalogue.
• Calibrating the imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 — the procedure the bureau runs, written up.
• The stack — printer, papers, software by name.
• /contact?intent=print — send a file.
• Services — see the full commercial surface, every service in one place.