Digital Fine Art Printing for Photographers

A Full-Day Workshop with Nat Coalson

Sunday 10 May 2026
9 am – 5 pm

Great photographs aren't truly finished until they're printed.

A print changes the experience of an image — and it changes your relationship to your own work. The final print is the moment your photograph becomes a physical object you can hold, hang on the wall, exhibit, or sell.

And yet, for many photographers, the journey from screen to print remains frustrating and unpredictable. Colour shifts, disappointing results, wasted paper and ink, confusion about which settings to use… these are common experiences.

They don't have to be.

The digital printing process isn't trivial. But it is structured, learnable, and — once you understand it — deeply satisfying.

This full-day workshop will give you the knowledge and confidence to produce prints of genuine fine art quality from your own photographs.

What We'll Cover

1. Modern Digital Printing Technology

We'll begin with a clear overview of how today's digital printing works — focusing on archival pigment inkjet printing, the standard for fine art photography — so you understand the full landscape and can make informed decisions about your own work.

2. Colour Management

This is the single most important topic in digital printing, and we'll spend substantial time on it. You'll learn:

• Why your screen doesn't match your prints — and how to fix that
• How to calibrate and profile your display properly, including the brightness issue that catches almost everyone
• The fundamentals of ICC profiles and how to use them with confidence
• Colour management settings in Lightroom, Photoshop and the printer driver
• The common mistakes that cause most printing problems — the "too dark, too warm, too muddy" traps that waste paper, ink and time — and how to avoid every one of them

3. Paper and Printing Substrates

Choosing the right paper for an image is one of the most important — and most enjoyable — creative decisions in printmaking. A print is a physical object, and the substrate you choose is half the art. We'll explore the properties and characteristics of a wide range of fine art media, from smooth cotton rag to baryta, textured papers and specialty substrates. I'll have many paper samples on hand so you can see and feel the differences for yourself — and we'll talk about how to choose paper that suits a particular image, rather than chasing a single "best paper."

4. The Print-Ready Workflow

I'll walk you through the complete post-processing workflow geared specifically towards producing a fine art print — from file preparation through soft proofing to final output. This includes an in-depth look at printer driver settings and the corresponding settings within your imaging software, so you understand exactly what each option does and which choices to make. This is where consistency is won or lost.

5. Live Printing Demonstrations

I'll have an Epson SureColor SC-P700 printer on site, making prints throughout the day. You'll see the entire process in action, from screen to finished print. I'll also print selected images provided by participants during the workshop — those prints are yours to take home at no extra charge.

If you'd like to have your work printed on the day, bring a small selection of images on a USB stick. (Or, better yet, send them to me in advance.)

A Note on Software

All demonstrations will use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, but the principles of colour management and digital printing apply equally to any professional, colour-managed imaging software capable of printing using ICC profiles: Capture One, Affinity Photo, and others.

Who This Workshop Is For

This workshop is perfect for you if:

• You're new to printing and want a clear, reliable starting point, or
• You've tried printing before, but results have felt inconsistent, expensive or frustrating, and
• You want the confidence to print your own work—or to work more effectively with a professional lab

No prior printing experience is expected, just a genuine interest in producing the best possible results from your photographs.

What You’ll Come Away With

• A clear understanding of how modern inkjet printing actually works
• The ability to set up and maintain proper colour management in your own workflow
• Confidence in choosing the right paper for any given image
• A complete, repeatable workflow from processed file to finished fine art print
• Knowledge of exactly which settings matter, and why

The digital printing process is one of those areas where a relatively small investment in understanding yields enormous returns in the quality of your results. Once you know what you're doing, your prints will speak for themselves.

There is nothing quite like holding a beautiful print of your own photograph. It is the most rewarding part of the entire photographic process—and once you experience it, you won't want to stop.