Piezography B&W Digital Printing, May 8-11 2023

Syllabus  What to Bring  Accommodations, Hours, & Info  Cancellation Policy

Registration Fee: $450, Total Fee: $1500

Workshop Overview

This course will take you from basics to mind blowing in four days. Absolutely everything you ever wanted to know about PIEZOGRAPHY monochrome ink and high quality monochrome inkjet printing and quite a bit more. Learn directly at the studio that invented Piezography from the instructors who originally designed, physically make, and continually update it!

This workshop is appropriate for both intermediate and seasoned users of Piezography. You should have a basic working knowledge of either Photoshop and/or Lightroom. 

In this workshop you will will experiment will all the Piezography ink-sets, learn how to image for monochromatic inkjet printing, and you will have over 50 different papers to choose from (both coated inkjet and uncoated fine art!). There is no other workshop like it on planet earth. We teach only one Piezography workshop per year. 

Workshop Syllabus

Day 1: Necessary Knowledge

A little knowledge goes a long way. A lot of knowledge goes further. The right knowledge is essential to a good start as well as advanced image development. This day is devoted to making sure you step on the correct path.

Piezography® has evolved from a system invented by Jon Cone at Cone Editions Press in 1994 that operated on $123,000 IRIS inkjet printers. Piezography for Epson printers was first released in 1999 as a beta and in 2000 as a commercial release.

Since then, Piezography has introduced many important innovations such as using 100% pigment ink for Epson printers prior to Epson itself; proprietary monochromatic ink ICC profiles for the Epson printer driver; acrylic co-polymer encapsulated pigment inks. Proprietary gamma 2.20 output media profiles for the QuadTone RIP printer driver. Perfected digital negatives. Split toning ink sets. The list goes on...

In the space of a small media file called a “curve” in QuadTone RIP, is the innovation of Piezography software. The Piezography profiler produces media profiles which turn QuadTone RIP into a turnkey operation. These Piezography curves are produced on a proprietary software which we began writing about 2002. They enable QTR to force the Piezography ink laden Epson printer to produce much higher resolution than the printer was capable of. It produces extremely smooth output that imitates a modified Gamma 2.20 contrast and it separates highlights and shadows like nobody’s business.

This is the day where you learn how to prepare your printer, how to install the software and inks, and how to operate the system to get the best possible output.

• Introductions

• Overview of the

• Piezography process

• Driver/Curve installs

• Visual examples of all major Piezography Inks

• Intro to QuadTone RIP and QTR Print Tool

• Piezography Curves (Pro

• and K7)

• Setting up Photoshop

• Setting up Lightroom

• Setting up QuadTone RIP

• Quick print demo with Pro Blending

• Intro to Paper Options

• Free print time

Day 2: Necessary Practice

I know I can fly! Just a little reminder here and there - but it’s time for less talking and more rocking. Today it’s time to begin printing with the systems on your own.

Today the workflow begins in detail starting with the nuts-and-bolts of installing Piezography inks into a printer and all the hardware & maintenance considerations that go along with that. 

At Cone Editions Press we’ve been able to maintain our printers for nearly a decade on their original heads by doing preventative maintenance on our printers. We’ll share the secrets that we’ve learned.

We also learn about monitor calibrations, contrast, viewing lights, and lighting a studio correctly for your monitor.

The rest of the day is spent printing and using all the knowledge absorbed from the first and second days.  This is the day where you learn how to prepare your printer, how to install the inks, and how to operate the system to get the best possible output.

• Piezo Ink installation

• Supported Printers

• Debugging a Printer

• Preventative Maintenance

• Printer Rescue

• Other Hardware Topics

• Softproofing & Studio Setup

• Free print time (1 or 2 hrs)

• Introduction to Piezography Professional Edition Toolset

• Free print time

Day 3: Dig a Little Deeper

Now take what you’ve learned and go forth and make prints!  

Today we will dig a little deeper into how we prepare image files for fine printing. The techniques are deceptively simple and all are designed to leave little to no trace of your stylus or mouse steps. The adage of ‘bring out everything you bring in with you’ applies here. Leave no trace behind. Piezography is unforgiving and merciless to those with poor imaging habits. With its ability to resolve more detail than the Epson driver means that poor sharpening or poor masking will be revealed in the final print. Today is all about finesse.

Additionally, we will demonstrate how to squeeze the absolute best out of ordinary images.

This is the day when the print queues become subjects of efficiency and preference. Everyone busily printing and waiting their turns - so please be ready when your slot in the queue is at hand for a particular printer. It should all be as easy as thinking by this point.

Walker Blackwell will demonstrate printer preventative maintenance so you can learn to keep your tools in tip top shape.

Later in the day we will look at prints produced over the years at Cone Editions Press to deepen the professional understanding of what mastered Piezography printing looks like. We will also introduce you to paper size considerations.

Day 4: Workflow & Wrap-up

From Layout to Finish: on this day we finalize a custom tailored workflow for your specific studio needs and art practice. Leave with a "prescription" of items you need to get set up in your home environment.

Today is all about professional printing, paper handling, longevity considerations and more.

We talk about how Piezography works in the classroom, how it works in professional print studios, home studios, and we also have time to work on some larger paper sizes.

Later in the day we’ll do retouching and pack/ship demos. By the end of the day everyone’s brains will be full and they’ll have nicely packed prints from their week of production!

• Wide Format Printing

• Teaching Piezography

• Print Handling & Packing

• Retouching

• Group print-show and talk

• Questionnaire & Wrap-up

What to Bring

A Laptop (Macintosh preferred): The studio does not provide computers. You should bring a laptop. But, the studio does provide calibrated displays which can be connected to your laptop! That make’s things easier especially when using the studios systems which are designed to match to display. We have enough USB-C/Thunderbolt v2 and v3 adapters for all laptops (aka any Mac laptop from 2012 onwards) but if you have a non-standard computer bring a connector that goes from your laptop and connects into the female "DisplayPort" fitting on the monitor.

Digital Images and original work: Bring a hard-drive of digital images (at least 10 to work on). Ideally bring images that you've printed before and know well and bring raw images that you want to work on from scratch. Bring some film too if you are a medium or large-format photographer as we always do a bit of drum scanning for people if they want to utilize film originals later in the week. If you are not doing "photo" printing that is fine. As long as you have some way to work with your images digitally that is all that is required. Remember though, this is a monochrome class. If you only have color images that is fine, we'll be converting them to black and white for printing.

Install the required software: We require Photoshop be installed on your computer for some of our demos. Lightroom is a good alternative as well but there are things that Photoshop can still do today that Lightroom can't. If you are normally a Photoshop person that is fine. If you a Lightroom person bring a laptop with both installed. Install Excel (it does not have to be activated). Everything else will be provided to you!

Accommodations, Hours, and Info

LOCATION AND HOURS:

The studio is located at 17 Powder Spring Road, Topsham, Vermont 05076. It is registered with Google Maps and you can trust Google directions to our studio. The studio is open to students, and instruction is provided from 12:00 PM - 500 PM. Your instructor sets time for demonstrations, a mid-day snack, critiques and clean up. On Wednesday we try to have a paella party in the Summer when weather permits. In the Fall we try to do something similar. But, we do keep the studio open later on Wednesdays. We also encourage sharing your work on Wednesday early evening. So plan for staying a bit later on Wednesday to share, eat, or get a bit more printing done! Your traveling partners are welcome to the Wednesday night party.

TRAVEL: 

Our nearest airport (75 minutes) is Burlington International Airport (BTV) in Burlington, VT. Other airports are Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) (130 minutes) and Boston-Logan (180 minutes). There are car rentals as well as private taxis and shuttles between the airport in Burlington, VT and East Topsham.

LODGING: 

The amount of lodging near us is very limited. You must make reservations early if you want to be within walking distance of our studio. There is a small B&B with friendly owners and excellent breakfast and 5 minute walk: http://www.vermontbackintime.info/

View AirBnBs near Topsham

Rest Haven is the closest Inn to our studio. They are located in West Topsham (an 18 minute drive) They can provide meals. They have five different guest rooms.

Lake Morey Resort (25 minute drive)

Gibson House Bed & Breakfast (30 minute drive)

Millstone Inn, heart of the old Websterville granite quarries (25 minutes drive)

Firehouse Inn,  an old firehouse converted into a restaurant and inn (25 minutes drive)

Maplecroft Bed & Breakfast (25 minutes drive)

The Lyme Inn (40 minute drive)

Dowd's Country Inn (40 minute drive)

Breakfast on the Connecticut Inn (40 minute drive)

Norwich Inn and Brewery (40 minutes drive)

Betsy's Bed and Breakfast (45 minutes drive)

The Inn at Montpelier (45 minutes drive)

Capital Plaza Hotel (45 minutes drive)

Hannover Inn (upscale and fine dining) (45 minutes drive)

Six South Hotel (45 minutes drive)

Stillwater State Park (camping) (20 minutes drive)

Cancellation Policy

Because these workshops are small and your cancelling adversely affects the program, Cone Editions has both a very generous and a very strict cancellation policy.

• We collect a deposit payment if you sign up more than 30 days in advance of a workshop. All workshops must be fully paid 30 days in advance.

• If you withdraw more than 30 days prior to the start date of your workshop, all payments made will be refunded, minus a cancellation fee equal to 50% of the deposit.

• If you withdraw between 30 and 15 days prior to the start date of the workshop, all payments made will be refunded, minus a cancellation fee equal to 50% of the workshop tuition, unless Cone Editions or you can supply a replacement, in which case you will receive a full refund minus a cancellation fee equal to 50% of the regular deposit amount associated with that workshop.

If you withdraw less than 15 days prior to the start date of the workshop you will receive no refund, unless Cone Editions or you can supply a replacement, in which case you will receive a full refund minus a cancellation fee equal to 50% of the regular deposit amount associated with that workshop.

There are no exceptions to these policies and Cone Editions is not responsible for cancellations due to medical or other emergencies. Should Cone Editions have to cancel a workshop, all fees and deposits are refunded in full or may be transferred to another workshop within 12 months. Cone Editions is not responsible for reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets in the event of a workshop cancellation. We strongly recommend that you purchase trip cancellation/travel insurance.