The studio behind the books

A fine-art pigment printing and scanning studio in Lisbon — the same workshop, and the same hands, behind XYZ Books. You deal directly with the printer, from file to finished print.

XYZ Books 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.

Books on pale wooden shelves along both walls of the XYZ Books bookshop — XYZ Books, the publisher and bookshop XYZ Prints grew out of

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. 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.

Order a print →

The printer

Every file is printed on the studio’s two Epson SureColor printers, the P9500 and the P8000. The P9500 prints with twelve UltraChrome PRO pigment inks, a gamut wide enough for deep, neutral blacks and clean, un-muddied colour.

The colour

Each paper carries its own ICC profile. Nothing goes to full size until a test strip confirms it on the actual stock.

The paper

Archival and acid-free: matt, baryta, cotton rag, Japanese washi and canvas, chosen to outlast the moment they are made for.

See the papers →

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 Prints’ own blind embossing seal, pressed dry into the paper.

Each certificate sets down the full make of the work:

Artist and title — the maker and the name of the work.
Print master — who made the print, signed by hand.
Paper and inks — the exact materials and printing process.
Dimensions and 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.

A finished print with the XYZ Prints blind embossing seal

The people behind XYZ Prints

XYZ Books was founded in 2013 by two working photographers, and they still run it.

Pedro Guimarães

Co-founder · printer and publisher

Pedro is a photographer based in Lisbon, with a master’s in photographic studies from the University of Westminster. XYZ Books 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 and printer

Tiago is a photographer and book-maker from Madeira, trained as an architect in Porto. He co-founded XYZ Books 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.

The XYZ family — XYZ Books, XYZ Prints and XYZ Press

XYZ Prints is one of three things we do under one roof. Each 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.

Visit XYZ Books → (opens in a new tab)

Printing and 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.

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An artist at work editing prints in the studio

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.

Rua Ilha do Príncipe, 3A Armazém E
Anjos · Lisboa

Drop-off and pickup welcome.

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