"The personal touch" – Richard Walch explains how printing for himself enhances his business

With a career producing advertising and editorial work for brands such as Apple, Velux, Audi and BMW, Canon Ambassador Richard Walch says standing out from the crowd is an important factor in retaining clients – and for him, printing his own photos is a key part of doing that.

Richard uses his custom photo prints, produced using his Canon printer and hand-framed, as a unique calling card that he is sure helps him to retain clients and enhance his business prospects.

Printing at scale with the PRO-1000

Richard started printing his work in 2016, as an early adopter of the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 – the printer he still uses for all his work. For him, the biggest draw is the printer's large A2 print size.

"You need to be able to print bigger images if you're planning on doing it to a professional level, because they're more desirable. They give you a better return on investment," he explains.

The printer's ease of use is also a primary factor in Richard's dedication to the PRO-1000. "It works without needing to connect (via cable) to the computer, which makes things simple," he says. "You can't focus on making unique work if you make things needlessly complicated."

Play with paper

When making high-class prints for any occasion, whether to sell or to give away as gifts to clients, the thing that truly sets your work apart from the crowd is how you present it. Richard recommends exploring how you can use different elements to transform your work into a genuine piece of art.

"It's really up to you to find out where it can take you," he says. "For example, the standard ambition is to make a big, glossy, shiny image. But for me, I find it much more appealing to use papers that offer something different – perhaps a more matte finish, for example."

Even seemingly small and incidental factors such as this can have a huge effect on how your work eventually turns out, with unconventional sizes, thicknesses and textures all available to the adventurous photographer.

"There's a huge variety of paper, but you need to experiment to find out what works best for you and for your photography. You can start this journey and really personalise things in a way that you're happy with, and create something that’s really unique," says Richard. "Then you can mount it and frame it, and it becomes a truly unique work of art." And who can resist that?

Use Canon photo printing software

Richard recommends trying out Print Studio Pro, a plug-in for Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) and other photo editing software, which works with all current Canon PIXMA PRO and imagePROGRAF PRO printers. It helps you to enhance your photos so that fine details are dramatically improved and gradations are smoothed, enabling you to print highly accurate reproductions of your images. A live preview of your print lets you see exactly what you'll get when you finally press the Print button.

"With Print Studio Pro you develop the image in DPP, and it's almost like an HDR print. It shows a lot more detail," says Richard.

"[Canon's photo printing software] kind of does magic to the image," he explains. "So it looks good on your paper. The software is free to download and use. It's one of those things you need to get, and then it's just easy and you have fun with it."

Richard also uses the free Canon Quick Utility Toolbox software that comes bundled with the printer, including Media Configuration Tool (MCT) to manage paper profiles, and Accounting Manager to monitor ink consumption and keep track of his prints.

Reaping the benefits

Although printing isn't the primary focus of his business, Richard has certainly felt its benefits. "Of course, you get a job because you're an expert at shooting that specific product or a specific situation that a client needs," he says. "I focus on advertising work for companies, so that's my market. I don't make a living from selling prints. But if there's a client of mine who I want to do something special for, I'll make a really great print and give it to them. It's pure marketing, and it's highly effective."

Getting started in printing for yourself can be exciting and daunting, whether you plan to use your printer to create gifts for valued clients or produce prints to sell. For Richard, printing has been very fulfilling, enhancing his business prospects and his photographic career.

If you're considering investing in a photo printer, Richard has a final word of advice. "Yes, it is a fair amount of money, particularly for a bigger format printer," he says. "But if you want to seriously get into print, don't settle for something small. No matter what you're doing with your prints, you'll eventually need a printer that can create bigger images."