Fine-art printing · Lisbon
The print studio behind the books.
A fine-art pigment printing and scanning studio in Lisbon — the same workshop, and the same hands, behind the XYZ books. You deal directly with the printer, from file to finished print.
From a bookshop to a printing studio
XYZ began in 2013 as a photobook publisher and bookshop — built by two photographers who wanted to make books on their own terms. Printing grew out of that work. To control how an image survived the move from screen to paper, we brought the printing in-house; in 2021 we opened that craft to other artists as XYZ Prints.
The studio still sits where the books are made, in Anjos, Lisbon. Nothing about it is a production line — every print is made one file at a time, by the person who runs the machines.
You work directly with the printer
No account managers, no sales desk, no file thrown over a wall. When you order a print, your file lands with Pedro — the photographer who runs the studio — and it is his eyes on the proof and his hands on the paper.
That means honest advice before you commit: which paper suits the image, where a file needs work, when a smaller print will read better than a bigger one. The wizard handles the ordering — the judgement stays human.
What the studio does
- Fine-art printing — pigment prints on archival papers, from a single proof to a full edition.
- Film scanning — high-resolution scans on the Imacon Flextight, 35 mm to 4×5″.
- Artwork reproduction — medium-format capture of paintings, drawings and objects.
- Mounting & finishing — Dibond, museum board and PVC mounting, openly priced.
- Framing — custom framing for finished prints, by in-house order only for now.
- Prepress & proofing — soft-proofing, ICC profiling and a test strip before the full run.
How a print is made
Every file is printed on an Epson SureColor P9500 — a twelve-ink pigment printer with a gamut wide enough for deep, neutral blacks and clean, un-muddied colour. Each paper carries its own ICC profile, and nothing goes to full size until a test strip confirms it on the actual stock.
The papers are archival and acid-free — matt, baryta, cotton rag, Japanese washi, canvas — chosen to outlast the moment they are made for. Pricing for standard work is published up front; only genuinely bespoke jobs need a quote.
- Printers — Epson SureColor P9500 & P8000.
- Inks — 12-colour UltraChrome PRO pigment.
- Colour — per-paper ICC profiles, test-strip proofing.
- Papers — cotton rag, baryta, washi, canvas.
Certified, signed and embossed
Every print can leave the studio with a certificate of authenticity — a printed document, signed by hand by the studio’s print master, Pedro Guimarães, and finished with XYZ’s own blind embossing seal, pressed dry into the paper.
Each certificate sets down the full make of the work:
- Artist & title — the maker and the name of the work.
- Print master — who made the print, signed by hand.
- Paper & inks — the exact materials and printing process.
- Dimensions & edition — print size and edition number.
- Date — when the print was made.
It travels with the work as its provenance — for an artist’s archive, a collector, or a gallery.
XYZ Family
XYZ Prints is one of three things we do under one roof. Each arm feeds the others — the publisher needs printing, the printing needs binding, and an artist who makes a print today might make a book next year.
Publishing
XYZ Books
Photobook publisher, bookshop and exhibition space since 2013 — the catalogue that started it all.
Printing & binding
XYZ Press
Book printing and binding — the workshop that turns a manuscript into a finished, bound object.
Online soon
Fine-art prints
XYZ Prints
Fine-art pigment printing, scanning and reproduction for photographers and artists.
You’re here
The people behind XYZ
XYZ was founded in 2013 by two working photographers — and they still run it.
Pedro Guimarães
Co-founder · printer & publisher
Pedro is a photographer based in Lisbon, with a master’s in photographic studies from the University of Westminster. XYZ began as the photography bookshop he wanted to exist; printing grew out of it. Today he runs the studio himself — proofing and printing every file that comes through it.
Tiago Casanova
Co-founder · publisher & printer
Tiago is a photographer and book-maker from Madeira, trained as an architect in Porto. He co-founded XYZ with Pedro and shapes its publishing — editing, designing and making the books. His own photography, including Pearl, a monograph on his native Madeira, follows islands, landscape and territory.
Come and see the studio
The studio is open by appointment in Anjos, central Lisbon — come by to handle paper samples, talk through a project, or see prints in the flesh before you order. Drop-off and pickup welcome.
StudioRua Ilha do Príncipe, 3A porta E
Anjos · Lisboa