Friday, June 5, 2015

My journey on "how to sell art prints"

Good morning
and I hope everyone has a good week.  As for me, sure, it's been good.  Ask me that a few months ago when I was trying to figure out how to get artwork made into art prints....I would  have had a different answer. 
"Get prints made" they say....
"I want a print" they say...
"I'll buy one when you get your prints"  ....you get the picture
Who knew making prints was soooo difficult!  What type of paper would you like to print on?  What kind of ink should I use?  Should I use canvas to make prints?  
How is the best way to package these said prints?  Oh and don't get me started on the pricing!
What a mess of confusion. 
Four print processes later and a wee bit of money later...I am figuring out what works best for me.  It wasn't an easy or cheap journey however. I am still on the cheaper side of print making than some artists I know.  We haven't even touched the giclee' printing process!  So, I am here to share my findings with whomever wants to learn....
First things first, Create art!  Make what you want and put in on paper, canvas, board or whatever your flat surface medium you choose. Paint to your hearts desire and let your emotions run wild within the piece.  Fill it with love and laughter and smiles or whatever you feel at that moment.  Just get it out and down for others to enjoy.
Secondly, Finding a printing place to best suit your needs.  If your piece is large, you will need to make a "Digital Copy" of it.  I took my pieces to a photo processing place in Anchorage to get my digital copies made.  They were professional and they were good to personable as well.  I was given my images on a cd with a high resolution image, a low resolution image and a TIFF image.  I really don't know what that means, but hey, they did.  One image is for making prints, one was for uploading and making prints online and one was for uploading to social media.  Sounded so much better that way!
From there, I was able to take my digital images and find a printing company.  There are a ton in Anchorage to deal with, and I drove around town stopping at all of them and asking questions.  I found a good printing place that had quality work, but their customer service was less than quality.   The guy seemed to know what he was talking about, but conveying it to me....yep...me...wasn't his strongsuit.  He and I just weren't on the same page.  I left.  I found another print place that I could understand and the guy made a lot of sense.  I left my images there to be printed. One thing with printing companies, they specialize in certain types of print.  This one just so happened to be in the photo prints! I received my prints on photo quality paper.  They were vibrant and printed well, but for my taste...I didn't like the on photo paper.  It wasn't what i was looking for. 
Back to the drawing board.
I found a printing company in Fairbanks that has great customer service and does great work. Artist quality work;  I dropped off my originals to have prints done.  The thing with this company is they will make prints from small pieces of work.  Nothing bigger than 11x14 roughly.  If your work is bigger than that, you will have to get digital copies. 
So for now, I am still going to try new places and new papers, as well as, new ways to make prints until I get something paved down.  I would suggest doing the same for your prints.  Try textured papers, matte paper, canvas!  Try digital copies of your work and look up places online.  Printing online is a little cheaper, but be cautious because you don't know what you get until its in your mailbox!
Best of luck and I will keep you updated on my progress!   

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