PrePress Express                PrePress for Photographers®

Slides (Chrome):
For proper slide output, you should prepare your files heavier (darker) in the shaddows and high 3/4 tones.
This will prevent the shadows from washing out and appearing grey.

Color Negatives:
Prepare the files for your negatives as you would like to have them printed.
Because C printing is very subjective, try to prepare your files so when they're printed, the least amount of burning and dodging will be needed.

B&W Negatives:
Files destined for B&W output should be de-saturated but still in RGB. This will produce the best results when printed onto B&W film.
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Our Polaroid ProPallette 8000 film recorder can image files of almost any size and still achieve good results.
However the optimal file sizes are listed below for the film size and resolution.

35mm @ 4K 33.5mb
35mm @ 8K 134.2mb
6x7cm @ 4K 41.2mb
6x7cm @ 8K 164.7mb
4 x 5 @ 4K 39.1mb
4 x 5 @ 8K 156.5mb

Larger files will not improve the quality, smaller files will have a noticeable drop in resolution.
For projection only viewing, smaller files are OK since the projector, screen, focus and film flatness will vary.
A lower resolution file will not be as noticeable in those situations.
We have imaged files as small as 2mb jpg's and they came out great.

For printing or archiving, it is best to provide us a file that is sized in line with the table above.
Lower resolution files will have a significant impact for film intended to be used in printing or archiving.

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The LVT is an ultra-high resolution, continuous tone Film Recorder. It exposes digital files directly onto E-6, C-41 and B&W film.
LVT is an acronym for "Light Valve Technology", which was the original exposure moderating mechanism when the film recorder was first introduced by Kodak.
The LVT was originally designed by Kodak they then sold the business to Durst.
The current models (ie Rhino+) use LEDs to expose the film, which gives a much nicer print. After the LVT business was sold to Durst, they improved the printers and software tremendously.

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LVT file prep:
The files must be saved as 8 bit RGB TIFFs (IBM Tiff format).
Tiffs must be flattened with no profiles embedded. This is very important, if a profile is embedded the LVT will reject the file.

Create your files for the desired output resolution and film size.
RES 40 = 1016 DPI
RES 80 = 2032 DPI

The actual imaging area on the LVT is slightly smaller then the stated film size.
Please take this into consideration when creating your image file.
If you require an exact 4x5" LVT, we would have to output an 8x10".

The active image area for 4x5    is 4.37”x3.62”
The active image area for 8x10 is 9.25”x7.48”

Sample: Creating a new image for LVT RES 40 Output in Adobe Photoshop® CS4
              

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The LVT Rhino+ can image files on Color Negative (C-41), Color Positive (E-6) and B&W negative films.
Color Negative - Kodak Portra 160VC
Color Positive  - Fuji Provia 100F RDP3
Color Positive  - Kodak E100G
B&W Negative - Kodak Tmax 100
B&W Negative - Ilford FP4+

If you require a different film stock, please Contact Us.
We can potentially calibrate the LVT to any B&W film stock. The setup fee for a film stock not listed is $250.
Please Note: A minimum of 5-10 sheets of 8x10 film is required to complete the calibration.
The film should all be from the same emulsion lot. The film used for imaging the final files shoukd also be the same emulsion lot.

B&W 8x10 Positives are also available, please Contact Us for more information.

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PrePress Express is now offering Long Term Offsite Storage for all of our Drum Scanning, Retouching and Layout services.
Keep all of your files safe for years to come! LTO tapes have a shelf life of over 30+ years. Compare that with CD's or DVD's that can start to degrade in as little as 3-5 years.

Our Offsite storage service can hold up to 100gb of files per tape. We will backup and store the tape either at our offsite storage facility or send you 1x LTO 1 tape with the Retrospect catalog file on a CD.
We can backup any files that we create or work on. You may may also send us additional files to add to the backup.

The cost per tape is $200.00 and $100.00 per year to store the tape at our offsite facility.
There would be no storage fee if we send you the tape.

The cost to restore from your long term tape backup is $0.005c per mb + CD or DVD media and shipping.
For restorations over 20gb, we recommend that the files are restored to a portable firewire hard drive. You may send us one or PrePress Express can supply one for an additional $100.00.

Contact us for more information.
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Pre Press Services:
New accounts:
For new accounts, payments are made with the order either by Credit Card, Company or Personal Check, Cashiers Check, Bank Check, Money Order and Cash.
Net Term accounts will be considered on a case by case basis.

Open Accounts (Net Term):
Net account status will be given on a case by case basis. Please fill out our Open Account Application PDF. Open accounts may only be paid by check or money order.
Invoices over 45 days will be billed to a credit card on file with a $25 penalty.

Account Default:
Accounts that are past due (Due date plus a 5 day grace period) will be charged 1.5% per month (18% per year) until payment is received. All collections and legal fees will be the sole responsibility of the debtor.

Returns / Refund policy:
All jobs are considered closed after 5 business days. No claims for refunds are accepted after 5 business days from receiving the job. No refunds will be permitted without an RMA#.

Payment Types Accepted:
Visa, MasterCard, Discover. To facilitate faster processing of your credit card,
please download and fill out our Credit Card Authorization Form PDF.

Other payment type accepted:
Company or Personal Check, Cashiers Check, Bank Check, Money Order and Cash.
Checks or Money Orders should be made out to Photographer At Large.
We also accept Wire transfers. The fee per transfer is $35.00 usd.

To see a complete list of payment and shipping terms, Click Here.
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