How do I make prints of my artwork for resale?

March 19, 2008 3:45 PM

What is the best way to make prints of my art for resale?

I work primarily in acrylics and pen & ink/colored pencil.

I want the prints to be high-quality, archival and fade-resistant. They also must be crisp and show detail clearly.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

posted by Ostara to media & arts (7 comments total)

Check out iprintfromhome.com... their quality is excellent.
posted by xo at 4:27 PM on March 19, 2008

Here in town (the small burgh of Sacramento, CA) there is a place that specializes in such things. In addition to making high-quality, archival art prints to paper from originals (scanning included) they'll do that repro on swoopdy faux canvas which seems to popular these days. My guess is there's a similar place in or perhaps near your home town. Your local art store (you do support them, right?) can probably give you references.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 4:36 PM on March 19, 2008

In addition to making high-quality, archival art prints to paper from originals (scanning included) they'll do that repro on swoopdy faux canvas which seems to popular these days.

Giclée is what you're looking for, I think. I have a couple canvas prints done using this technique, and they came out really well. The colors are vibrant and the detail is very clear. I've seen the original of one of the works in question, and for 1/7th the price, I'm thrilled with the giclée. I think the originals in question were acrylic on canvas, but you might be able to do the same with you pen and ink works.

Google "custom giclee prints" and you'll find a ton of places that will do this for you.
posted by jewishbuddha at 4:52 PM on March 19, 2008

Ostara, the 'best' way for you may not be the same for someone else. Giclee, sure, but that can mean a wide swath of good to bad reproduction types.
Do you want to sell museum-quality prints that match color almost perfectly and are limited edition, or do you want to sell a lot of fair-quality prints (at open edition) at a much more modest fee?

The short of it is if you want the best in terms of high res and color quality for your art multiples, look for a printer owning the best tools, such as an Aztek Premier drum scanner, printing on 100% rag paper, pigmented inks and not dyes that fade. Or if going with a camera rather than scanner, be sure they are set up with a 4x5 digital and a dedicated studio for shooting flat art. File size can be several hundred MBs. Figure $175-250 for just the file services, not including printing. Printing costs depend on how many proofs you need to see, how large the prints, and the size of the print run, among other things. But once the files and proofs are set up, the printing is not a major price factor.

This isn't much info for you. Feel free to email me if you'd want to discuss. (I make art and use printing services...I'm not a printer). Anyway, be sure to shop around and get references before contracting your pieces out.
posted by artdrectr at 7:11 PM on March 19, 2008

artdrectr: In response to your question, I think that I have to start out with more modestly-priced prints. Though I would love to do limited-edition prints in the future, I think I need to work on marketing my art first.
posted by Ostara at 8:17 PM on March 19, 2008

The term "giclee" has fallen out of favor for whatever reason (probably because it got attached to every crappy digital print made in the last few years).

What you want is a carbon pigment print made on rag paper (Hahnemuhle makes nice ones). These are done on high-end inkjet printers, usually Epson's.
posted by bradbane at 7:29 AM on March 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

Update: I have ordered several prints from iprintfromhome and I have been very happy with them. The turnaround time and packaging is excellent.

I am still going to try some of the other options, as well. Thanks!
posted by Ostara at 10:27 PM on July 3, 2008