By Kaye Davis - Grand Master of Photography (NZIPP), Hon. FNZIPP Master of Photog. II (AIPP)
You’ve spent weeks, maybe months, sitting at your computer selecting, editing, refining, and crafting images you love and feel proud of.
The print is where all of that work becomes something tangible. Something a judge can stand in front of, walk towards, and experience as a finished piece of photography.
So let’s talk about how to give that image the best possible chance to shine.
Print or Digital: Does It Actually Matter?
It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is that the judging statistics don’t appear to show any particular advantage for print entries over digital. So if you’re considering printing purely because you think it will improve your score, the evidence doesn’t really support that idea.
But I think there’s a more interesting question to ask.
Ansel Adams famously described the negative as the score and the print as the performance. In today’s world, you could easily substitute “digital file” for “negative”. The file holds the potential; the print is where that potential is realised.
For many photographers, and I’m definitely one of them, an image doesn’t feel truly complete until it exists in printed form. That’s not a romantic notion. It’s a creative perspective, and awards provide an opportunity to honour that.
There’s also something about what the printing process asks of you. Choosing a paper. Deciding on a weight. Considering borders. Discussing matting and presentation. Each decision requires another layer of thought and commitment.
The process of seeing your image become a physical object often changes how you think about the work itself. For some photographers, it even changes how they shoot.
That said, digital is a completely legitimate choice, not a compromise.
Some images genuinely suit screen presentation. Some photographers don’t have access to quality fine art printing within their timeline, location, or budget. A well-prepared digital entry is far better than a rushed or poorly produced print, and both formats are judged equally.
Choose the option that best serves your image and your circumstances.
If you do decide to print, though, commit to it fully. A print that has been thoughtfully produced, from paper choice through to presentation, communicates something about your approach to photography that a file upload simply can’t.
What Actually Happens in the Judging Room?
Before we get into paper choices and presentation decisions, it helps to understand how your print will actually be experienced.
Judges effectively see your print twice.
The first viewing happens from around two to three metres away. At that distance, judges aren’t assessing paper texture, border treatments, or mat presentation. They’re looking at the image itself.
Does it command attention?
Does it create impact?
Does it invite them to step closer?
This is where composition, tonal structure, storytelling, and overall visual strength do the heavy lifting.
The second viewing happens up close.
Now everything changes.
Surface texture, tonal subtlety, shadow detail, highlight transitions, print quality, size, borders, mats, and presentation all come into play. This is where a carefully crafted print rewards the viewer, and where a poorly considered one can quietly undermine an otherwise strong image.
Something worth remembering is that paper choice can’t rescue an image that doesn’t work at a distance. But a great image printed poorly can absolutely lose some of its impact when viewed up close.
Your print needs to deliver on the promise the image makes.
What Does a Print Bring That a Screen Can’t?
With both formats viewed under the same judging conditions, here are some of the differences worth considering.
Reflected versus Transmitted Light
Prints are viewed in reflected light. Screens generate their own light.
Because of that, shadow detail, highlight transitions, colour relationships, and tonal gradation behave differently between the two. A beautifully crafted print on the right paper can reveal subtleties that a screen simply can’t reproduce.
The reverse is also true. Printing can expose weaknesses that your monitor quietly hides.
Surface and Texture
No matter how good your monitor is, it can’t replicate the visual and tactile qualities of a cotton rag, baryta, Washi, or specialty paper.
When a judge steps close to a print, they’re engaging with something physical. That’s an experience digital presentation simply doesn’t offer.
Craft as Evidence of Mastery
A beautifully crafted print demonstrates another layer of photographic craftsmanship.
The decisions around paper, surface, borders, presentation, and finishing become visible. They communicate care, intentionality, and control. That’s not a criticism of digital entries. It’s simply recognising something that print
uniquely brings to the table.
The Mat as Compositional Framing
A mat can influence how an image is read.
When thoughtfully considered, through both print placement and mat opening, it can help frame and support the composition. The key is ensuring it complements the image rather than competing with it.
At the end of the day, it’s still the photograph that’s being judged.
You’re Not Printing It Yourself, But You Still Own the Outcome
Most photographers don’t own a professional-quality wide-format printer, and that’s perfectly fine.
What isn’t fine is assuming that handing your file to a printer transfers your creative responsibility along with it.
The photographers who consistently produce excellent prints treat their printer as a creative partner. They understand the available options, ask questions, and communicate their intentions clearly.
That relationship almost always leads to better results.
Before placing an order, have a conversation.
Ask questions like:
● What fine art papers do you stock?
● Can I specify a particular paper?
● Do you provide ICC profiles for soft-proofing?
● What colour space, resolution, and file format do you prefer?
● Should I apply output sharpening?
● Can I order a test print?
The more prepared your file is before it reaches the printer, the more control you retain over the final result.
Soft-Proofing: Don’t Skip It
Even if someone else is doing the printing, soft-proofing is still your responsibility.
It’s one of the best ways to identify colour shifts, blocked shadows, clipped highlights, or tonal issues before they appear on an expensive sheet of fine art paper.
Ask your printer whether they can provide ICC profiles for the papers they use.
If they can’t, you can often download profiles directly from manufacturers such as Ilford, Hahnemühle, and Canson. While many professional printers use custom profiles, manufacturer profiles still provide an excellent reference point and can significantly reduce surprises.
The Paper Should Serve the Image
In judging, paper choice comes up more often than many photographers realise.
Sometimes positively.
Sometimes not.
The question isn’t “Which paper looks impressive?”
It’s “Which paper is right for this image?”
And more importantly, does the paper support the image, or does it try to become the main event?
I’ve occasionally seen photographers spend more time choosing a paper than choosing the image. Personally, I think it should always be the other way around.
Baryta
Baryta papers are the closest inkjet equivalent to traditional darkroom fibre papers.
They offer beautiful tonal depth, rich blacks, and excellent highlight separation. They’re particularly well-suited to monochrome work, portraiture, and images with strong tonal range.
Smooth Cotton Rag
If there were such a thing as a versatile all-round fine art paper, smooth cotton rag would be high on the list.
The matte surface is refined and understated. It allows the image to remain the hero without the paper drawing attention to itself.
Textured Cotton Rag
Textured rag papers introduce another visual layer through surface texture.
They can suit painterly, conceptual, botanical, and fine art imagery beautifully. Just be mindful that heavy texture can soften fine detail, so testing is worthwhile.
Gloss Papers
There’s nothing inherently wrong with gloss papers.
For some images, they’re absolutely the right choice.
However, under judging lights, highly reflective surfaces can sometimes become more difficult to view comfortably. It’s simply a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default.
Metallic Papers
Metallic papers can produce remarkable results when used thoughtfully.
They often work well with reflective surfaces, water, cityscapes, and highly luminous colour work. As with any specialty paper, the effect should support the image rather than exist purely for novelty.
Papers Beyond the Usual Categories
Then there are papers that sit outside the standard fine art categories entirely.
Japanese Washi papers bring an organic texture, translucency, and handmade quality that can feel incredibly natural with the right subject matter.
Pearlescent papers introduce a subtle iridescent sheen that can complement ethereal portraiture, florals, and certain landscape images beautifully.
The key principle remains the same.
Paper choice should complete an image, not rescue one.
The strongest print entries are usually those where the paper feels inevitable, as though the image could never have lived on anything else.
Weight Signals Quality
In fine art printing, weight and quality often go hand in hand.
A 300gsm or heavier cotton rag or baryta generally feels substantial and considered.
Lighter papers can still produce excellent images, but they often communicate a different level of finish when viewed up close.
Whether we realise it or not, weight communicates something about quality and intent.
Plan for the Mat Before You Finalise Print Size
This is one area where a little planning can save a lot of frustration.
All prints are matted or mounted for judging. You’ll need to decide whether the image fills the entire mat board, the mat window overlaps the image, or whether a paper border remains visible.
Make those decisions before finalising print dimensions.
If the mat is to overlap the image, remember that you will lose a few millimetres around each edge. That may not matter at all, or it may be critical to the composition and any key elements around the image borders.
Communicate your intentions clearly to both your printer and framer.
Your future self will thank you.
Allow More Time Than You Think You’ll Need
Yes, this is the inevitable don’t-leave-it-until-the-last-minute reminder.
Fine art prints often continue to settle for 24 to 48 hours after printing as the inks fully cure. What you see immediately off the printer isn’t always what you’ll see two days later.
Build time into your schedule for:
● Test prints
● Reprints if necessary
● Framing
● Delivery
● Unexpected surprises
Because there will almost always be one.
Store finished prints flat and protected.
Handle them carefully.
Judging lights have a remarkable ability to find fingerprints and pressure marks.
A Final Thought
A print asks a little more of us as photographers.
It asks us to think beyond the image itself and consider the object it becomes; the paper it lives on, the way it feels in the hand, how it reads from across the room, and how it rewards someone when they step closer.
None of those decisions need to be complicated.
They just need to be intentional.
Ask questions. Test things. Give yourself enough time.
Because when everything comes together, a great print doesn’t simply reproduce an image.
It completes it.