Last Updated on 03/15/2019 by Mark Beckenbach
You’ll be creating and printing like a boss with these tools!
Having the right tools to edit and print your images in your photography studio is just as important as having the right camera and lenses to take the images. The post processing side of things is often overlooked, but having the right equipment in your photography studio is essential. In this roundup we’re going to look at items that will speed up your post processing times, monitors that display razor sharp, color accurate images, and printers that will blow you away with their print quality. These are all items every photography studio should have, especially if you want to create the best images for you and your clients.
While your clients never likely see what goes on behind the scenes in your photography studio, they can certainly tell if their images are up to par. Using top quality post processing equipment in your photography studio will definitely show when you hand over images to your client, or when you hang images on your studio walls. Make your life easier and take out some of the guess work when it comes to editing, and make peoples jaws drop when you hand over images that you have printed in-house. Check out the essential tools every photography studio should have below.
Loupedeck+ Photo Editing Console
Pros
- Improved build quality compared to the first generation Loupedeck
- Mechanical keys provide much better tactile feedback
- Significantly more customizable than the original
Cons
- Lacks basic tilt adjustments
- No wireless connectivity option and cable is non-removable
- Pricey (MSRP: US $249)
Check out our full review
Buy now ($249): Amazon
Wacom Intuos Pro (Medium)
Pros
- Great build quality
- Covers a large area
- Pen is comfortable to use for long periods
- Easy to configure
- Great battery life
Cons
- There’s really nothing bad to say
Check out our full review
Buy now ($349.95): Amazon
Pro Tip: Getting colors right in post in incredibly important, especially if you plan on printing your work. In order to make sure your monitor is displaying colors that are true you need to calibrate your monitor. This Spyder5 monitor calibrator is super easy to use. You simply plug it in, place it on your screen, and then follow the instructions. In about five minutes you will have a perfectly calibrated monitor and will no longer have to worry about getting accurate colors.
BenQ SW240 Monitor for Photographers
Pros
- Large color gamut
- Small size makes it easy to use in tight spaces or to take on location
- Easy to calibrate and profile with BenQ’s Palette Master Element software and on board ‘color chip” (but a colorimeter is required)
- Controls are straightforward and easy to access
- Matte screen
- Price: $399.00 USD (as of July 3, 2018)
Cons
- No Hotkey puck
- Unlike the SW271 and SW320 you cannot use it with two computers at once
Check out our full review
Buy now ($399): Amazon
The BenQ SW 271 Display (27 Inch)
Pros
- Screen space – large but not too large
- Large color gamut
- 10-bit color depth capable if using DisplayPort or HDMI (with HDMI 2.0 cables)
- Easy to calibrate and profile
- Ability to create 3D 8-bit or 14 bit LUT as well as matrix profiles when using BenQ’s Palette Master Element software
- Hot keys puck for switching between sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998) emulations and black and white mode
- Gamut Duo function allows you to do a side by side comparison of how an image is rendered in sRGB (1998) compares to Adobe RGB (1998) before you publish it or send it to a client
- High resolution. 3840×2169 pixels (4K) in a 16:9 aspect ratio
- A plethora of input options: Display Port, HDMI, and USB Type-C
- Easy to set up and adjust for the right height and viewing angle
- Price compared to the competition
Cons
- No Thunderbolt 3
- Price – while a heck of lot cheaper than similar sized and featured Eizo ColorEdge CG and NEC MultiSync PA series monitors, $1,099 isn’t chump change.
Check out our full review
Buy now ($1,089): Amazon
Pro Tip: There is nothing better than printing your images and seeing them right in front of you. The euphoria of seeing your work in physical form is hard to beat, but when you handle your work you want to make sure you handle it correctly. Always wear cotton inspection gloves when handling your prints. The gloves are very affordable, and they will save you some grief. The gloves will stop fingerprints and oils from your skin from getting on the print, and they can help stop your nails from scratching the ink. Practice safe print handling!
Epson Surecolor P600 Printer
Pros
- Setup isn’t that painful if you’re a Mac user
- Lots of versatility: I was printing canvas one minute, then thick matte paper, then glossy paper
- Printing is super fun and can be addicting, and the Epson P600 makes it fun while making it simple.
- Very simple integration with Adobe Lightroom–which makes printing even easier and fun
- This thing actually teaches you how to load the various types of paper on the little LCD screen, and it’s very simple if you pay careful attention to the diagrams.
Cons
- It ships in a massive, intimidating box that will probably make you not want to open it to begin with.
- Takes around 10 minutes to initialize itself after you’ve inserted the inks and turned the printer on.
- WiFi Setup froze up upon setup, and we needed to turn the printer on and off to get it back to doing its job.
- Manual paper insertion tray should have much better designations for paper sizes and alignment
- At this level, you’re buying inks pretty much by the individual color, so you need to justify it to yourself.
Check out our full review
Buy now ($673.47): Amazon
Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 Printer
Pros
- Prints really large sizes, though not billboard or taller than you sizes
- Great build quality
- Pretty simple to setup
- If you haven’t used it in a while, the printer will spend quite some time agitating the ink to ensure that it’s ready for you.
- Very color accurate when using a calibrated display and the ICC profiles are applied
- WiFi connectivity with Canon’s own cameras is a nice touch if you’re already in their ecosystem of products. Though it’s not implemented as well as it could be.
- AirPrint for Apple users is possible and it’s quite nice if you’re a serious mobile photographer.
- I haven’t created a single bad print that I hated, though sizing has been off once when printing from my Canon 6D.
- Canon’s Luster paper and printing output beats Epson’s, but Epson’s is still quite good. Where Epson takes the lead is with Matte.
Cons
- WiFi is seriously one of the biggest pains of working with this printer if you have to go onto multiple hot spots (from camera to printer and then back to your office to the printer). This is due to the printer’s inability to store passwords.
- You’ll need a fair bit of space if you’re in a NYC (or any small apartment/home office in any big city).
- Heavy. Set this thing down in one spot and pray that you never have to move it again.
- A touchscreen panel would be a welcome addition.
Check out our full review
Buy now ($1,299.99): Amazon