Searching for a specific Tom Waits image for a gift

November 29, 2010 11:37 AM

I would like to get a poster print of the image Tom Waits, Relaxing By Piano, photographed by Henry Diltz as a Christmas present for a friend. Can anyone suggest where I might be able to purchase such a thing?

I'd like to spend under $50 (although now that I'm getting the idea that this is a rarely printed photo, I understand that might not happen).

The image is available through Corbis (the site linked above) with a retail print/poster license, so it seems possible that someone has made poster images of it at some point for individual sale. That license begins at $670, though, so it's not an option for me--I like this person a lot, but not that much/I'm not that rich!

posted by tyrantkitty to Shopping (6 answers total)

Typically you can do that sort of thing at a Kinko's or similar printing place, though you'd have to check to see if the location in question has that kind of capability. The main thing is making sure that the image you have looks good and is in a decently accessible format for the printer.

I know it can be done; we have a big poster that someone gave us as a gift made from a screencap of It's A Wonderful Life, and I'm pretty sure that wasn't even a particularly high-res image.

(I am not advocating that anyone bypass copyright laws.)
posted by Madamina at 11:42 AM on November 29, 2010

fyi, the Corbis image linked to has a 'Corbis' Watermark, so even if one were hypothetically willing to bypass the copyright, the screen capture approach won't work unless a different source were found, or there were a way to remove the watermark, which would also be illegal.
posted by kch at 12:10 PM on November 29, 2010

Best answer: Well here's a place to buy a legit print but the cheapest one is $600. I don't see any posteresque options.
posted by grapesaresour at 12:17 PM on November 29, 2010

No grapsearesour, the cheapest one on that site is 11x14 for $250 (but well up from $50). There doesn't appear to be a watermark on it either.
posted by kch at 12:25 PM on November 29, 2010

bah, my mistake. grapesaresour you are correct. sorry.
posted by kch at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2010

Actually, it looks like it might be $600 for the photo, $250 for the frame.
posted by pjaust at 12:52 PM on November 29, 2010