Post Image Lab

At Post Image we have always paid attention to proper viewing conditions to evaluate our prints. If your lights provide full spectrum colours, it makes your job of judging and editing your prints much easier. It is also important that the walls in the space are neutral white or grey, because surrounding colours affect how we perceive a colour.

For that reason we have an industry standard viewing booth from GTI Graphic Technology, recently upgraded with 5000K LED tubes; the ceiling lights are also 5000K, with a CRI of 90. And for our viewing wall we use Solux bulbs, which are a slightly warmer at 4700K, but with a CRI 99 – ideal to evaluate a series or simulate a gallery situation.

We are proud to say that we have the best viewing conditions in the whole EV building, and most likely in the whole Faculty of Fine Arts. We never understood why the walls in our building have been paint off-white, with a greenish / yellowish tint. There is a reason why gallery walls are white: art simply looks best on a neutral backdrop. Maybe whoever is in charge of painting the walls in the building should take note of that?

An opportunity for those who have never worked in the Post Image Lab to see what the Lab is all about, and how it can support your project. Drop by anytime for a casual visit between 11 am and 3pm, or come at 12:30 pm for the Lab Tour.

Note that the Post Image Lab will be closed this summer starting June 23th until August 3th. If you have projects which need to be completed during that time, please plan ahead and make sure you will be done before the shut down. We also hope that gives you more time to enjoy the summer months – see you!

We moved, and are now on a new location on the 5th floor, room 5.615. Most of the equipment is installed, and ready to use, and you can book it online as usual.

Note that the front door of room 5.615 is a temporary door (until a new one with card access arrives) . If you want to access the lab with a key from security, you will need to enter through the back door, where the CDA editing suits are. There is a little map on the front door which shows you the way.

The viewing lights for the steel wall are also temporary, with a low CRI. We don’t recommend judging colors under those lights. New fixtures for our Solux lamps will arrive in May. In the meantime, use the viewing booth for critical color evaluation.

After 20 years of Post Image on the 10th floor of the EV building, we have to leave our space by end of February. Come by for last goodbye on Monday February 25 at 5pm. We have a slideshow and videos from the last 20 years, and also something to drink.

Something is in the works – details will follow. In the meantime, you can read this announcement.

We are replacing our Epson 11880 with a brand new Epson P20000. The 11880 has been in use since 2011, and is showing signs of aging. The print quality of the new P20000 is pretty much the same, but there are some other advantages: The printer prints about double the speed, the ink has a better permanence rating, and loading paper is much easier.

Note that existing users of the 11880 will have to attend a training session before they can use the new Epson P20000.

+ The lab will be open over the Holidays, so if you want to escape Christmas and all that jazz, this is the place to go. Note that there will no staff working until January 8. If there is an emergency, you can still try to send an e-mail to postimage@concordia.ca. Depending on the case, you might get a response – or not.

The swap:

Since Hasselblad stopped manufacturing  the Flextight X1 in 2019, we had to search the second hand market for a model, and were able to secure a X1 from a L.A. based photographer. Buying a used model came with some hick ups, but in the end everything turned out to be fine. Happy to retire the Imacon 848 after 18 years of service!

First Chromira prints with Fujicolor Maxima paper on our viewing booth, teamwork by María Sánchez Martín & Pablo Pérez Díaz.

The Post Image Lab will remain open over the Holidays. So if you feel the desire to get a break from all these endless family celebrations, or don’t want to celebrate at all, the lab will be accessible 24/7, even on New Years Eve. Note that that the University is closed until January 8th, so you will need a valid ID to enter the building. Also, technical support will be close to non existent. Emails to postimage@concordia.ca will be monitored, but you can only expect an immediate response in case of an emergency.

Happy Holidays –  and see you in 2023!