The Printer’s Eye
Forty-five minutes to find out whether your series holds up,
on screen and on paper.
Your series,
seen by a printer.
Your series is almost ready.
What it needs now is an eye that knows how an image behaves once printed.
In one session, we go through everything that decides
how it will look in print.
Print-Ready Review · 45-minute video call · 10 to 20 images · €150
What the screen doesn't show you
On screen, everything looks right. On paper, blacks close up, colours drift, contrast hardens.
A portfolio is not a collection of good images: it is a piece of writing, with rhythm and silence.
Better to check both now than in front of a jury or a gallerist.
What we'll go through together
We'll look at your series as a whole: its rhythm, its strongest images, and the ones that weaken it.
The series as a whole
We'll examine each key image for print: shadow detail, highlights, contrast, and how colors behave on paper.
Print readiness
We'll test the sequence: which image opens, which one closes, and where the series needs to breathe.
The sequence
We'll soft-proof your key images on candidate papers. Soft-proofing: previewing on screen how an image will look on a specific paper, using that paper's color profile.
Soft-proofing
We'll choose the paper together: matte, satin or baryta, and how each one changes the mood of your series.
Paper
We'll discuss retouching: what to correct, what to leave alone, and what Photoshop can do to prepare an image for print.
Retouching
We'll settle print sizes and presentation: formats, margins, and how the series will hang or sit in a portfolio.
Size and presentation
We'll finish with a plan: what to do first and in what order, ready for your next print or submission.
A plan
What you will get is advice, not a sales pitch.
Asking questions at a print lab can feel like stepping into a sales conversation.
Here, there is nothing to sell you. We are not trying to win your print job.
You get an honest opinion on your series, your files and your paper, and you decide what to do with it, at any lab, or at home.
Ask everything you have hesitated to ask.
Who it's for
Photographers at any stage who want an informed outside view of their work:
emerging photographers shaping a first series,
developing photographers with a body of work in progress,
experienced photographers preparing a new project, a submission, an exhibition, or a book.
The series does not need to be finished.
What you take away
Selection and sequencing settled.
A clearer series
Paper, retouching and print size, image by image.
Precise choices
What will work on paper, and what needs correcting.
A printer's opinion
A written report
To keep going without losing the thread.
What you will get is advice, not a sales pitch.
Asking questions at a print lab can feel like stepping into a sales conversation.
Here, there is nothing to sell you. We are not trying to win your print job.
You get an honest opinion on your series, your files and your paper, and you decide what to do with it, at any lab or at home.
Ask everything you have hesitated to ask.
We look for what your series already says, and what it could say more clearly.
I am a French photographer, born in 1977 and based in Paris. For more than twenty years I have worked alongside other photographers, editing their images, organizing their archives, following their commissions, and carrying their books and exhibitions through to the finished print. In 2018 I founded Atelier Pigment, a Paris studio devoted to fine art inkjet printing, film scanning, archiving, and post-production consulting.
My working relationships tend to be long ones. I have worked for two decades now with Harry Gruyaert and, since 2018, have produced both his exhibition and his collector prints. I have also worked with other Magnum Photos photographers such as Martine Franck, Bruno Barbey, Patrick Zachmann, Thomas Dworzak, and Guy Le Querrec, as well as with Hermès, Yves Saint Laurent, the Centre Pompidou, UNESCO, FoMU in Antwerp and the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York.
My own photographic work has been shown in art centers, museums, private galleries, and festivals, including the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, the Museo de Antioquia in Medellín (Colombia), the French National Library (BnF) and the Goethe-Institut in Paris, and belongs to public and private collections, notably that of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Working on both sides of the print gives me a particular way of listening to image-makers. To photographers rethinking a portfolio or preparing a series for print, an exhibition, or a book, I bring a clear eye, technical rigor, and direct, measured advice.
Who you'll be working with
How to prepare
Send between 10 and 20 images 48 hours before the session, and a short text if you have one.
Come with the questions you would like answered.
The series does not need to be finished: it can be a first edit or a long project.
The review suits emerging and established photographers, and anyone preparing a series for print, a submission or an exhibition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime. If you’re feeling ready, go ahead and apply.
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You book a time and send your images 48 hours before. We meet on a 45-minute video call, and a written report follows.
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Between 10 and 20 images is a good start for a 45 minutes review, sent 48 hours before the session.
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No. There is no print order attached to the review, and you take the report to any lab you choose.
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Yes, up to 48 hours before the session.
45-minute video call
10 to 20 images · Written report
€150
Reschedule up to 48 hours before the session.
Portfolio print-ready review