Education

Classes, Workshops, Individual Tutoring, and Group Opportunities

Photo By: Grace Coudal

We offer a variety of educational programming to bring together participants with shared interests in analog and digital photography, printing technologies, and visual culture & theory surrounding photography, film and representation. Our fees are kept low for programming participants and include a discounted student/recent grad rate for every program.

Workshops

Piezo & Fabric Updates - 2024

Piezography

LATITUDE was recently made aware of changes to Epson printers and the availability of Piezography inks for our printer. Epson is in the process of restricting their printers’ compatibility with reusable ink cartridges. This modification makes Piezography printing unsustainable in the long-term. In addition, we anticipate these restrictions to impact our ink manufacturer which will limit our access to the specialized ink needed for this process. We can anticipate losing access to these inks within the next two years. When requesting any Piezography related educational services, printing services, or DIY appointments, we ask that participants acknowledge that the availability of Piezography is limited and will no longer be available at LATITUDE within the next two years.

Fabric  

As of June 2024, we have limited our fabric offerings due to distributor changes and all future new DIY Fabric printers must enroll in a Fabric tutoring session. We currently offer Organza Silk, Cotton Percale, and Ivory Linen. Stock is available on a first come, first serve basis. We can not hold or reserve fabric nor can we guarantee its availability ahead of a DIY appointment.The tutoring session costs $50 and includes a test strip on one of these fabrics. Check our Instagram page or sign up for our Newsletter for notifications regarding stock and DIY availability. Details to come!

Individual & General Tutoring Sessions

We offer general one-on-one sessions covering common workflows to produce your work.

We offer custom tutoring sessions as well as general tutoring sessions to guide you through common workflows. Submit your tutoring request using the form on this page and email education@latitudechicago.org with any questions.

Tutoring sessions are offered weekdays between 11am-5pm. They are designed for one person. Please consider taking a class instead if you would like to learn with multiple people.

We will respond to tutoring requests in the order they are received. You can anticipate hearing back from a staff member within 2-3 business days. We are currently booking individual sessions 2 weeks out from their request.

Refund Policy: For all LATITUDE courses, full payment is required to reserve your spot in the one-on-one sessions. If you need to cancel your reservation for any reason, LATITUDE can provide a 100% refund for cancellations made 10 days prior to the date of the session. Cancellations made with less than the 7 day notice will be given a 100% lab credit. Cancellations made within 72 hours of class run will be given a credit for 50% of the purchase price which can be used for any lab purchases, including re-enrollment, in the future. No refund for cancellations made on the start day of the course and will be considered a donation to the space.

  • This session is ideal for someone who is a complete beginner to digital printing or someone who has printed but needs a thorough refresher. No prerequisite

    • $95 for 90 minutes

    • This tutoring session covers the basics of printing on rolls and sheets of paper through photoshop in a color managed workflow on LATITUDE’s small format 17-inch printers. Students will learn how to resize their images, edit their files nondestructively, load rolls and sheets of paper, and work through all of the print menus needed to send a file to print.

    • Students will leave with two 8x10 prints on standard paper as well as an understanding of how to be a successful DIY user in the LATITUDE space.

  • This session is ideal for a lab user who feels comfortable printing on the 17-inch printers but wants to take their printing skills to a more advanced level. ***This is not a required class to use the mural printers.

    • This tutoring session is designed for someone who understands the basics of printing but wants more guidance when making larger prints on our 44-inch large format printers. Students taking this session will learn how to print test strips, add crop marks, arrange multiple images on one canvas, as well as the basics of trimming, print handling, and packaging.

    • Students will leave with either two 16x20 prints or one 20x30 print on fine art paper, 1-2 test strips for each image, and a greater understanding of how to create and transport large prints safely.

Printing Sessions

Scanning Sessions

  • This session is designed for individuals looking to make color accurate ultra high-resolution digital files from 2D reflective media. *** This tutoring session is a prerequisite and is required for DIY use of the camera scanner.

    • $100 for 2 hours ($85 for Students/Recent Grads)

    • This tutoring session covers scanning workflows on LATITUDE’s Overhead Scanner, also referred to as the copy stand. Students will learn how to: make adjustments to the scanning workstation to accommodate various sizes of artwork originals, adjust light sources for a balanced exposure, utilize a digital workflow utilizing Sony’s Remote and Capture applications, adjust shutter speed and aperture to create a balanced histogram, .ARQ file management, importing images utilizing Camera Raw, stitching images in Photoshop, sizing files, rectilinear adjustments, and exporting final files.

    • Students will leave with two ultra high-resolution digital files of work(s) they provide and/or LATITUDE supplied demo materials.

  • This session is designed for photographers looking to make very high-resolution scans from any film type.

    • $200 for 2-3 hours ($150 for Students/Recent Grads)

    • Drum scanning is a wet mounting scanning process that produces the largest and highest quality scans possible. The tutorial will cover preparing your film, the intricacies of mounting the film onto the cylindrical drum, how to load the drum, and how to unmount your film once the scans are complete.

    • Includes 3 drums (1 used during the tutoring session).

CUstom Sessions

  • We offer individualized tutoring sessions tailored to fit your individual interests and needs. Sessions can be arranged for everything from file management and print consultation to Photoshop editing and flatbed scanning.

    • $50/hour ($40/hour for Students/Recent Grads)

    • Day membership fee waived.

    • Runtime is a minimum of 90 minutes/maximum 3 hours.

    • Price of tutoring includes instruction only. DIY prices will apply to any prints made during the session.

Group Opportunities

LATITUDE’s tours, workshops, and visits can be designed for a group based on their educational interests and/or needs. These opportunities would benefit all those who are looking for an introduction to the lab space, exploration of printed matter, and an introduction to the Chicago image-making community.

2024 Education Price Updates:

Our workshop and individual tutoring prices have increased to cover the costs of labor and materials. It’s been three years since the last increase for Intro to Print and all other educational offerings have remained the same price since 2018.  New prices reflect the actual cost of paper, ink, and labor which have all seen increases during this time. This transition provides sustainability for Latitude and the creation of accessible educational materials. If there are any questions regarding this change in pricing, or if finances are standing in your way, please contact education@latitudechicag.org. We want to thank the community for their understanding and patience as LATITUDE continues to grow in our mission of providing access to education and resources.