Printer Awards 10th Birthday

Happy 10th Birthday Fujifilm / PPLA Colour Printer Awards! The briefs have been set for the 2004 Awards, so it's time to start selecting your image and requesting your Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper.

1st place, Bures Island, Toby Sillence, Metro Imaging London. Bures Island brief was set by Taylor James, London

The Awards are split into two sections - Hand Printing and Digital Retouching - with three separate digital briefs to consider per category.

There is prize money totalling £1,000 cash and £1,000 of Fujifilm products up for grabs for the Hand Printer and Digital Retoucher of the Year. But it's the end result that attracts the judges' attention, so how can you make sure that your work stands out? In the first of a two-part series, we focus on the digital retouching category.

The Re-touchables Brendan Haley from Photographic Retouchers Taylor James comments on how he thinks the industry has changed recently and how this has been reflected in the Awards.

"Technology is developing so quickly that it's becoming easier for savvy retouchers to achieve the great results which would have taken hours of painstaking work previously, using older software. Since the digital category was introduced to the Printer Awards three years ago, there have been two new versions of Photoshop alone and also many new elements for the retoucher to consider.

"Today's retoucher has to be so much more aware of other disciplines that can impact on the job. In our global market, colour management and ICC profiling is ever more crucial. From the original scan to the final artwork, the retoucher needs to be aware of everything in order to produce the best quality and accurate colour for its intended purpose.

Colour Printer Of The Year 2003 Lee Adams, Metro Imaging, London

"One of this year's briefs is an automotive composition which we've originated at Taylor James. We wanted to incorporate the range of elements we have found particularly challenging so far this year. It's not a case of deliberately setting difficult briefs, but new technology means it's becoming easier to achieve results which would have previously taken many hours.

"It's not enough just to produce a pretty picture; retouchers have to maintain the photographic realism of a shot, and account for the limitations of reproduction to maintain the integrity and consistency of colour between various media. It takes a lot of hard work and time to make sure the end result is perfect, but that's exactly what we have to do for our clients. The Printer Awards' briefs are designed to reflect this and allow entrants to show off the high standards attainable in today's industry.

In December's Profile newsletter, we'll focus on the hand printing category and get inside the mind of another judge on the panel. Deadline for entries is 28 February 2004.

For more information contact Jerry Deeney on 020 7465 5793, or email printerawards@fuji.co.uk