Why choose C-Type?

C-Type prints are wet developed as with traditional photographic printing. Our processors are equipped with an extra wash stage to increase the archival stability of your prints.

Exposed by high resolution digital printers, this process offers the artist the quality and archival properties of a photographic print with the creativity and consistency that can only be achieved from a digital process,

Benefits of C-Type printing

• Continuous tone printing
• Professional photo printing
• Fuji Professional Crystal Archive papers
• Easy to use colour managed system
• Fast turnaround
• Choice of mounting options

Black and white, or colour prints?

As this is a colour process, black & white images can print with a slight warmth or coolness. While this is not always the case we would recommend printing black and white images through the Giclée process, onto either the Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl, or the Ilford GALERIE Prestige Smooth Pearl. These two papers in particular give lovely rich, neutral blacks.

Our recommendations for colour prints are below.

Matt

Professional archival resin coated colour paper with a matt finish – the first choice for exhibition prints.

Lustre

A slightly stippled surface gives this resin coated paper a semi-matt finish, with deep blacks and makes it more forgiving on fingerprints.

Gloss

A very good base white. As with all our resin coated Fuji papers, this gives punchy colours, great for those high impact shots.

Pearl (metallic)

The Fuji Pearl has a unique silvery iridescent appearance. The embedded pearl-like crystals give a high gloss effect, making it suitable for professional photographers and artists seeking a dramatic and metallic reproduction.

Maxima (matt or gloss) – only available for studio printing

A paper released in 2018, Fuji Maxima offers an exceptional colour gamut increase along with high maximum density for great shadow details and beautiful, deep blacks. This media also has an increased lifespan. Available in matt and gloss only.

Fujiflex (supergloss) – only available for studio printing

Fujiflex is a reflective silver halide colour printing paper with a super high gloss base for professional use at the highest level. This printing material has a (polyester) base and produces prints that are superbly smooth with a sharp, transparent super-gloss finish.

Duratrans – only available for studio printing

Kodak Professional Duratrans Display Material is a translucent-base colour transparency material. It is designed for producing large transparencies for backlit displays offering superb clarity, colour saturation and deep blacks. The white-pigmented coating provides its own diffusion and its thick base provides resistance to tearing, making it especially suitable for large displays that require a suspension system.

C-Type print process

Historically photographic papers have been exposed by light through a negative. However, they are now more commonly exposed by high resolution digital printers. The process offers the artist the feel and quality of a photographic print with the creativity and consistency that can only be achieved from a digital process.

At Spectrum we use a ZBE Chromira printers to expose a range of Kodak and Fuji Crystal archive papers.

C-Type technical specifications

Our process is fully colour managed to recognise embedded Adobe ’98 and sRGB profiles. This ensures accurate printed colours every time.

• Chromogenic Silver Halide Photographic Process
• Printer: 50” ZBE Chromira
• Maximum print size: up to 1,254mm x 4,000mm through the studio and up to 1,220mm x 2,445mm through the online service
• Optimum input resolution: 200-300 dpi
• Output: RGB continuous tone – equivalent to 4,000dpi
• Archival life expectancy: up to 56 years on display – 100 years dark storage

Please note this is an RGB colour process.