Printers, Papers, Profiles: OVERWHELMED!!!

[Flashyhorsefoto]

Hi there,

new poster but have been watching the site for some time now.  I come here to get opinions, ideas and facts on everything that has to do with photography.

Here is where I am at;  I JUST bought the new iPF5000 and plugged it in.  I did my research on the printer and must admit it was a toss up between this and the Epson 4800, but for reasons of my own I decided that this was the way to go.  So now I own my very first printer of any great caliber and I realized that I really have NO CLUE about anything involving this stuff!  Although, I do know what quality is in a final product.

First of all; I find the whole paper profile thing very confusing, but I think I understand what it is about.  Yet it seems ridiculous to me that a person has to pour out SOOOO much money on programs like this when you should really be able to do this straight through (like the Media Config. Tool provided) your computer to the printer.

The other thing (and really the place where I am the most lost) is where does a person even begin with making a decision on paper?!  I truly dont know anything about this stuff.  What are some of the key brands of portrait quality papers on the market?  Where do you get them?  What makes them unique (as in what is good/not good about being cotton based vs. ?) etc.

I apologize for the rambling, I am just 110% overwhelmed by all of this and could really use a good starting point.  Especially in the papers division.

THANK YOU in advance for any help!

~Sibbea

[sidero]

i found the book "mastering digital printing," 2nd. edition, by harald johnson, to be a useful starting point for these types of questions.

[sgwrx]

i found the above book VERY helpful.  it's not a just book but it gives all sorts of alternatives and explains much about printers, inks, papers, framing, mounting etc. also color management for digital photographers by andrew rodney was very good in explaining pretty much everything about color management.

[Flashyhorsefoto]

Thank you for the suggestion on the book.  It sounds to be just what I need: a place to start.

[Tim Gray]

start here:

http://www.computer-darkroom.com/home.htm

Check the 'feature articles and essays' drop down and take a look at CS2 color management, and printing in CS2