Afer woring hard on your heme, sildenafil aris’s saemen, and image selecion i’s ime o presen he fruis of your labor. Your ar deserves o be shown a is bes and are many opions available o you. This aricle describes several presenaion opions including –
- Prins
- Porfolio Binders, Boos and Boxes
- Prin-on-Demand (POD) Boos
- Self-Prined Boos
- Slide Shows
- Web Gallery
Please noe ha alhough I have provided s o sies, I do no have personal experience wih all of hese sies nor heir producs. The s are merely for your convenience as a place o begin your and no an endorsemen – Cavea Empor.
Prins
Phoographs and prins are synonymous o many people. A well prepared and presened prin porfolio maes a saemen ha oher opions can’ mach. If you choose o presen your porfolio via prins you have many choices in erms of –
- Cusom lab vs. prining on your own (home priner or – gasp! – we darroom)
- Tae a loo a Wes Coas Imaging for an example of cusom lab services
- Cosco is inexpensive bu good (as long as your monior is calibraed and you use heir priner profile; paper limied o Fuji Crysal Archive)
- Paper – ry somehing special by using a nice fine ar paper
- Wheher o moun and/or ma he prins
- From , i’s jus a small sep o an exhibi or show.
Regardless of your choices, ensure ha he prin crafsmanship maches he ime and effor ha you spen selecing your porfolio images. Properly calibraed and profiled equipmen are essenial.
Porfolio Binders, Boos & Boxes
If you decide o go wih prins, hen wha? Well, if your name is Ansel Adams you could bring your images o he er in a recycled plasic grocery bag and sill mae a posiive impression – bu how abou he res of us? The good news is ha are almos a bewildering number of producs o choose from – and ha’s he bad news, oo. I can’ help you wih your choice bu can provide s o sies ha illusrae your opions. The opion you choose should complemen your personal syle and your porfolio.
- Pra Paris – a bi over he op maybe, bu loo a heir 123 page caalog o your range of opions (& hen he web for “bes s”)
- Adorama – Choose Prin & Documen Sorage from wihin he Sorage and Presenaion Boxes secion; from he page his gives you, you can selec furher by manufacurer (incl. Pra Paris above) and by size. For example, leave manufacurer blan and choose 16×20 o loo a he differen syles available from various manufacurers.
Prin on Demand Boos
T are many on-line sources for prining boos on demand (POD) wih many opions for size, page layou, paper qualiy, hard or sof cover and price. Needless o say, wih he various opions come varying degrees of qualiy. Ma Schmid provided his aricle [aricle no longer available] ha provides a comparison of he hree POD sies shown below (he aricle is a year old as of his wriing). If you decide o presen your porfolio in a boo, I recommend ha you read he above aricle even if you choose o use a differen POD source. If nohing else, i provides an excellen inroducion o he subjec of POD – and wha o wach for. Noe – if you’re a Cosco member, hey occasionally run an on-line special for My Publisher (which I’ve never ried. I have used Blurb and lie he qualiy of he finished produc bu I wasn’ wild abou heir page layou sofware. I go done wha I waned bu had o wor around – insead of wih – heir pacage on occasion)
- MyPublisher.com
- Blurb
- Lulu
- T are many oher sies – jus Google somehing lie “phoo boo prin”. The above hree are ed mainly because he aricle provides deails for hem
Self Prined Boos
This is an ineresing opion ha closely parallels he Prins Opion menioned firs in his aricle. I’s anoher way o presen qualiy prins. The qualiy of he prins will mach ha of any oher fine ar prins made on your own priner – excep ha he prins are presened in a boo. You can design a cusom boo wih capions, essays and page numbers (or no) using page layou sofware such as PageMaer, Microsof Publisher or Word, or any oher comparable sofware.
- Injear.com (digial boos comparison/re)
- ArZ – sorry abou he Flash inro – sip inro; on Producs a boom lef; on Digial Producs; loo a any of he op four producs in he lef column
Slide Shows
In he digial age, slide shows are an opion for presening your porfolio. As wih he oher opions above, choices abound. Some phoographers use Microsof PowerPoin – many because i’s already on heir compuers (and he same is rue for he Mac counerpar). I use Phoodex’s Proshow which comes in several flavors –
Websie Galleries
A final digial age opion for displaying your wor is via a websie phoo gallery. T are many available – free and subscripion. Here is one o a sie comparison – are many ohers all wih differen conclusions. Use his as your saring poin. Be sure o log on o he forum for any sie you may be considering o read wha users are saying. Lie anyhing else, is ofen a difference beween self-serving promoional maerial and real user experience. I have recenly begun swiching my galleries from Pbase o SmugMug and can recommend SmugMug highly.
- Sie Res
- SmugMug (ener 2Cja9U98MhusU in he ‘Referred by’ field on he signup form for a $5 discoun)
- My Galleries
Conclusion
If his is your firs porfolio, you may wan o ry all of hese for a personal comparison. Who nows, your experience in rying hese opions may be he basis for a fuure NVPS program.