PrintThatImage.com Official Blog

Creating a Target Market for Your Work

2010-01-12T06:04:00.003-05:00

Today I am going to embrace something which is pretty much a no-go area among many fine artists: Creating for a target audience.

Woe to him who suggests painting something with the purpose of, well, selling! The underlying theory among artists seems to be to create whatever you want and then find a market for it. To me, this is a very backwards plan if you want to make a living selling your work.

My suggestion is to think carefully about what you enjoy most about your creative process, including the subjects you paint, and then to refine that in a way that meets the need of a specific market.

Create for a Target Audience

I am not saying that you have to paint ballerinas all day everyday (unless that's what you love!), but the idea is to create art that has an appeal to a significant segment of the population. Without this it's going to make your job of selling work very difficult.

For example, perhaps you just want to paint toilet seats. You just have this passion for toilet seat painting that you can't seem to quench. Well, maybe it's just me, but I think it's going to be tough to sell a lot of work. Unless of course you're picked up by a real gallery who wants to back you. Then you may be okay, but the minority of artists have this opportunity.

Nor am I saying that just because you're creating with a target market in mind that you have to relinquish all creativity. In fact, I would be willing to bet that it will force you to think more and create more challenging work. And of course not every piece you create has to be with the intent of selling. In fact, you certainly need to create "just for the sake of it" in order to allow yourself freedom to experiment and discover those happy accidents!

My point here is that if you want to sell art, you must embrace the fact that you're creating a product for consumption by the general public. Your art is a product - you are the creator, fabricator, manufacturer, designer, etc. You must have a viable business plan, and any worthwhile business plan talks about a target market.

A Closer Look

As an artist myself when I have time, the idea of painting one type of subject matter all the time is rather depressing. But I don't think it is a necessity when approaching the idea of painting for an audience. Creating various series of work in your own unique style allows you to tie together many different subjects or themes while keeping them all related.

You may decide to create a series of eight floral still life paintings, then move onto a series on birds for example. Each of these series can be marketed separately to relative potential markets. You might attend a botanical fair or raffle a print to a garden club in your area for the floral series. For the series on birds you may put a small advertisement in a birding magazine. The beauty of this method is that it really challenges you to keep a theme for a prolonged number of pieces, which will force you to become a better artist and give a solid foundation to your work.

In the long run you will probably find that you get more satisfaction painting one subject over another, and as you pick up more collectors for certain pieces you'll be able to judge what to paint next. As with any business there are aspects of being an artist that just aren't enjoyable. Sometimes that may be painting something you're not entirely enthusiastic about, but if it's paying your bills and allowing you to continue to paint then it's well worth it.

I know that the dream of being an artist is doing what you love all the time. That's the reason a lot of people pursue the careers that they are in. But being a professional artist does not exempt you from having to paint or do things that don't inspire you every single moment of everyday. You must be smart and attuned with the reality of having to make a living doing what you do in order to succeed long term.

I'll end with an astute quote from lifelong artist Chuck Close: "Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just get up and go to work."

Wholesale Printing Accounts for Galleries, Frame Shops and Interior Designers

2010-01-06T19:22:00.005-05:00

This is a quick post today - just to let fellow business owners and sales reps know that we do offer wholesale accounts for those of you interested in reselling our services.

This is a great opportunity for fine arts related businesses, especially in the south Florida area.

Here are some excellent examples of how we can improve your business with our products:

Frame Shops: Offer your customers digital photographic printing services as a perfect compliment to your framing services. We'll give you canvas print samples for your showroom free of charge. Perfect for family pics, travel snaps, and portraits. We even offer free delivery on Fridays to businesses located in Broward County - how cool is that?

Art Galleries: We make the nicest giclee prints in South Florida. 100% archival, beautiful accurate colors, museum quality. Combined with our state of the art scanning technology, you simply won't find higher quality for a better price. We're so convinced you'll love our work that we'll make your first giclee free of charge. Shoot us an email today (info@printthatimage.com) to set up an appointment. I will personally visit your gallery with samples, wholesale prices, and to answer any other questions you may have.

Interior Designers: Need wall art for your next hotel project? Or how about one or two highly limited edition embellished giclee prints for your next high-end home design? We work with literally hundreds of artists and are perfectly positioned to set you up with excellent fine art or decor prints.

If you want to set up a wholesale account or set an appointment for a personal visit to your business then give us a call at 954-762-7692 or send us an email at info@printthatimage.com.

Our website is open 24/7 at www.PrintThatImage.com

Thanks!

The Importance of Written Contracts for Artists

2009-12-31T06:24:00.004-05:00

Okay, so today I'm going to write about something a little different. This was inspired by some interesting discussion on the Professional Fine Art Network (pFAN) on LinkedIn.

Is it Necessary to Enter a Written Agreement with Galleries Who Sell Your Work?

The answer is YES. Always, without question. There is no situation in which written documentation should be neglected.

There are however various levels of documentation depending on the situation. But before I elaborate on that, let me explain why written agreements are necessary (though tedious and mundane for most of us).

If you are close friends with a gallery owner who has been in all ways trustworthy, reliable, and all that you expect of an ethical business owner, it can be difficult to see why an agreement is necessary. Here are a few situations that will show you why:

1. Gallery Owner Dies:
Not the nicest scenario, but these things happen. What happens to your work in a situation like this? Your work is now in the hands of new owners, family members of the previous owner, or some intermediary agency. Think of how difficult it will be to get that work back when there is no paperwork? You'll have to prove it is yours and figure out if any pieces are missing. This is no easy task at a stressful time such as death of a loved one. A written contract makes these things much easier.

2. Some of Your Work Goes Missing
Galleries carry a lot of artwork, and often keep pieces in storage to rotate with work on the walls to keep the gallery looking fresh. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that a piece is damaged by an employee, or sold with a partial down payment before full payment is secured (especially in tough economic times, galleries are more likely to do this to keep cash flow going). You might be "best friends" with the gallery staff, but you'll start to feel resentful if you notice work has been sold and you haven't made an agreement on the time line for payment, or with regards to damaged work.

3. Gallery is Robbed
This may seem like action movie material, but things like this happen - theft, fires, floods - and you need to have a written agreement with the gallery for any chance of filing a successful insurance claim.

So as you can see, situations may arise that are out of a gallery's control. And no matter how much you trust somebody, you must acknowledge that these are distinct possibilities and deal with them appropriately.

In ALL situations, at the very least, write up a consignment sheet which lists titles, descriptions of work, wholesale price (gallery price) and retail price (price at which pieces are sold to the public). Make sure all pertinent dates are included, and parties involved sign and print names on the sheet. This should be done whether it is for a one-time only public exhibition in a non-profit space, or for a long term contract with a high profile gallery.

Many long term gallery partnerships begin without a contract until the gallery feels comfortable working with you. This does not mean that you begin without a consignment sheet. You always need something in writing if you leave any work in the possession of a gallery.

If it is so obvious, why do we neglect to do it?
The main reason I believe is that artists do not want to "cause too much trouble." In reality, if a gallery doesn't want to "waste time" with written agreements then avoid them altogether.

Think of a written agreement as a clarification for both you and the gallery - it outlines the responsibilities of each party. If a disagreement arises then you can always refer back to a written contract.

You will also be taken more seriously if you take the business relationship seriously. It is normal business practice to have written contracts. Remember, as soon as you decide to sell your art you are no longer just an artist, but a business person also. Embrace this side of your art profession and you will be more successful.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclée prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Artist’s Guide to Giclée Printmaking

2009-12-28T09:15:00.001-05:00

In this article I am going to outline the basic procedure for making Giclée prints of your artwork. I hope to make this clear and simple since there seems to be a lot of confusion with the recent explosion in printmaking technology over the past decade.

First of all I want to give you a definition of what a Giclée is:

A Giclée is any print created using pigmented archival inks on archival paper or canvas using a high fidelity digital inkjet printer.

The important thing to note is that a Giclée does not have to be on canvas. This is a common misconception. These prints can be created on a wide range of archival fine art papers such as textured watercolor paper or photo paper. It is also important to note that just because something is printed on canvas it is not necessarily a Giclée. There are many inferior quality canvases that are not archival grade. In most basic terms a Giclée is an archival inkjet print.
Now I will outline the entire process that you as an artist will need to go through in order to create Giclée prints, and offer my suggestions and options to help you get the results you are after.

Step 1: Digitally Capture Your Artwork

This is the most important step in determining the quality of your prints. You basically have three options, varying in price and quality, but each with its own benefits:

Scanning Your Artwork:

The best way to turn your art into a digital image is to have it scanned on a specialized high fidelity fine art scanner. These machines cost upwards of $100K, and therefore scans can be pricey - expect to pay $60-$200 per scan dependent on the size of your work, and your desired final print size (prices are usually based on file size, with current market prices at $1 per megabyte). The Cruse brand of scanners, made in Germany, are typically considered the benchmark in the industry, so ask your local Giclée printer if they use one of these.
If you use this method, a resolution of 150 dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch) will suffice at your desired print size. If you wish to enlarge then you can go up to 600 dpi or more. The lens on one of these scanners will cross your painting up to 300 times and then compile all the information into one large digital image of unparalleled detail.

These scanners never touch your artwork which is placed facing upwards on the bed of the scanner (as opposed to face down on traditional flatbed scanners).

Another great benefit of these scanners is that you will never have problems with glare, highlights, or shadows caused by impasto or heavy brushstroke techniques. The scanning head has a light which is always shining directly onto the piece of the image being captured, eliminating these problems.

Professionally Photographing Your Artwork:

An effective “second best” method of digitizing your artwork. You can achieve beautiful Giclée prints from high quality photographs, and bringing a portfolio of work to a professional photographer should cost you less than scanning. Typical costs in Fort Lauderdale right now are $30-$50 per artwork, and I imagine that is fairly representative of nationwide prices.

There are some disadvantages inherent to photographing work:

- The camera is much further from the artwork than a scanner, and therefore the detail will never be the same. Minor changes in color due to ambient light between lens and artwork can also be a problem.

- Distortion may occur towards the edge of an art piece, especially in larger artworks. This can result in the colors or shapes breaking up and losing definition at the edge of an image.

- Shadows, highlights, and glare are more apparent, especially with very “brushy” paintings with high build oil or acrylics. If you paint in this style you should give careful thought to scanning despite the higher cost.

- If you need to enlarge an artwork in its print form it may be more difficult than with a scan.
However, working with a professional photographer in a correctly lit studio can yield excellent results. This is still the most common method of capturing artwork, and with improvements in digital cameras every year, the results can only get better.

Photographing or Scanning Artwork Yourself:

If you’re on a budget then this is the way to go. It is entirely acceptable and great Giclée prints are still possible this way.

You will need a digital camera with at least a six megapixel capability. The more megapixels, the larger you can go with your prints. Remember, you need about 300dpi resolution at the print size you want.

You should also have a tripod, and a room lit with natural light or full spectrum bulbs. Or photograph outside on an overcast day. I will write a future article on photographing your own work - for now just experiment with lighting and camera settings until you get decent results.
Alternatively, try scanning your work on a regular flatbed scanner. You can stitch multiple scans of larger works together on image editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Obviously this method is less reliable than professional solutions, but it’s a great way to get started. You just have to be less picky about the accuracy of your print colors and the clarity of larger prints. However, with patience and practice you can create amazingly good prints and save a lot of money in the process. If you’re very prolific and create multiple paintings in a week which you’d like to print then you should probably go this route.

Step 2: Prepare Digital Files for Printing:

Once the digital file is uploaded to an image editing program it is cropped to size and carefully reviewed for minor flaws such as scratches, blemishes, and dust particles. These can be corrected easily on-screen. The image can be compared to the original painting and any obvious color problems can be addressed. Resolution and output print size is checked. Most print makers will perform these services at no charge with your print job.

At this point an artist signature can be removed from the digital image for artists who like to personally sign every print without a duplicate original printed signature (there may be an extra charge for this).

Step 3: Proofing and Color Correction:

This stage can take from 5 minutes to 5 hours depending on the quality of the digital image and the desires and budget of the artist.

A first small proof print is usually made almost immediately for direct comparison to the original artwork. From there, necessary color corrections can be performed. For highly accurate color correction proof “strips” are made. These are 2”-3” segments of the artwork which can be laid directly on the surface of the painting for a direct comparison. Good proof strips will virtually disappear when laid on the painting.

Color corrections can become costly so if you’re an artist who is VERY particular about colors and accuracy then you should definitely go with a scan to capture your artwork as that will give the most accurate results and require less color correction. Print makers will charge anywhere from $50-$150 per hour to color correct your work.

A reliable Giclée printer will provide you with a proof for free or a very minor fee prior to printing the full size print. Make sure to inquire about this up front as any print maker who can’t do this may be trying to hide poor quality work.

Step 4: Printing the Final Piece:

After proofs have been reviewed by the artist the final print is made. Today’s Giclée inkjet printers will print at resolutions of 1440 ink droplets per inch or higher, giving unsurpassed detail. A 24” x 36” print will take anywhere from 7-25 minutes to print depending on print resolution.

Giclée inkjet printers typically use 8 or more pigment-based ink colors (as opposed to dye-based inks which fade more quickly). This gives Giclée prints the ability to match virtually any color an artist can create. Traditional printing presses use only 4 ink colors.

A quick aside: Despite the technology used in Giclée print making, it is a popular myth that “you can’t distinguish a Giclée from the original.” I have yet to see a Giclée print that looks identical to the original painting in every single way. To the untrained eye this may be the case, but to artists and printmakers it is virtually impossible to achieve. Having said that, technology comes extremely close - just bear this in mind as you work through the process of making your first Giclée prints.

Step 5: Protective Coating of the Print

This separates the good prints from the best prints, and applies only to prints on canvas. Some printmakers will use canvas that is already finished in glossy, matte, or satin coating prior to printing. In those cases the ink is the last layer of the print, and therefore very susceptible to scratching and atmospheric damage. The best Giclée prints are coated post-printing with a varnish or veneer formulated specially for the materials being used. This coating helps protect from scratches, UV damage, and moisture. Without this coating I doubt that a print can actually qualify as being archival.

The coating is applied by foam roller or spray for a perfectly smooth finish with no brush strokes. Or, it can be brushed on to simulate paint strokes. At this point the Giclée print is finished and ready for sale by the artist. However, some artists take it one step further.

Step 6: Embellishing Giclée Prints:

This stage can actually be performed before or after step 5, it’s up to the discretion of the artist. In order to create one-of-a-kind prints for collectors, many artists “embellish” their canvas prints with paint strokes. This works especially well for artist’s who create brushy impasto style originals. Although the strokes can be clearly seen on a Giclée print, the texture is missing. By adding brush strokes to the print, the artist adds texture, originality, and value to their Giclées. Typically an embellished Giclée edition is limited to 25 prints or less to maintain high value among collectors.

And that’s about it from start to finish. I know it was a little lengthy, but I hope it has illuminated the somewhat misunderstood process of Giclée printmaking.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclée prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Adding Value to Your Giclee Prints

2009-12-28T09:13:00.001-05:00

Today I’m going to show you some ways to add real and perceived value to your giclée prints which will help you command higher prices for them. If you’ve read my article on pricing and structuring your art prints for more sales then this is an important part of developing your higher end product offerings.

Take a look at these possibilities and use them to your advantage at your next art fair or gallery opening:

Number and Limit Your Editions

A simple and effective way to add real long term value to any of your giclée print editions is to limit the number of them that you produce. Obviously, this creates scarcity in your collector’s mind and helps you sell pieces faster and for higher prices.

There are a number of important issues and side-benefits here that you need to be aware of:

1. Select the size of your editions wisely. In general it is recognized that any edition over 200 has about the same value as an open edition print, and you should certainly make your editions smaller than this. In fact, if you’re just starting out and making a name for yourself then I recommend making much smaller editions - no larger than 80 prints. Aim to create an edition size that you can sell out completely, relatively quickly (within a few years).

2. Limiting your print editions creates a much higher value in the secondary resale print market (that is, art buyers who purchased your prints and are now selling them). Although you don’t reap the direct monetary benefits of these sales, it certainly increases the value of other editions that you produce and builds your name and reputation.

3. Be scrupulous. You must decide on an edition size, then stick with it - no exceptions. Keep track of which numbers have sold and once you sell out, don’t make more. The ease with which you can reprint giclées makes it very tempting to print “just one more” when an edition has sold out. This will cause you to lose favor with collectors and can ruin your reputation. Don’t do it.

Create Artist Proofs

What is an artist proof anyway? That’s somewhat up to your own discretion as an artist. I suggest one of two options:

1. The first few prints of any given giclée edition can be used as artist proofs. As an artist works with a giclée printmaker there may be some subtle variations in the first few prints as colors are manipulated little by little with each reprint in order to achieve prints closer to the original. Hence, each of these artist proofs are unique and command higher value.

2. Any prints from your edition can be used as artist proofs. The difference in these prints is that you personally inspect each artist proof prior to signing off on it. This is a little less cut and dry than option one, and you’ll need to be able to explain clearly why your artist proofs are more valuable. However, it makes it easier on you from a cost perspective since you don’t have to print your artist proofs first, before you can print standard giclées to offer for sale.

Make sure to limit your artist proofs to only 10% of your total edition at most, and number them separately from the rest of the edition. For example, let’s say you want to create an edition of 50 giclée prints for one of your paintings. If you make 10% of them artist proofs then that would be 5 prints. You would sign these with your name followed by A/P 1/5, A/P 2/5, etc. Then your standard prints would be signed with your name followed by 1/45, 2/45, etc, up to 45/45. Therefore, the entire edition results in 50 giclée prints of that given image, and it is clear to collector’s what they are buying.

Increase your price accordingly for artist proofs. If you sell standard limited edition giclées for $195, then an artist proof could be sold for $245 or $295. You’ll need to decide on that yourself.

Finish Your Giclée Prints by Hand.

I consider this a step below “embellishing” prints, which I will talk about in a moment.

Hand-finish your giclées by brushing on a varnish coating - this will create brush marks on the surface of the print giving it a more hand painted look. Experiment with different coating mediums to give you the look you want and that compliments your artwork. For painters who use thin layers of acrylic or oil you can simply brush on varnish with a big brush. For those whose originals are impasto high build acrylics and oils, you may want to experiment with some of the gel coatings that are available. These will allow you to create more texture on the print.

Embellish Your Giclées

This has become a very popular way for artists to add a lot of value to giclée prints. It works best on canvas prints, but can be done on fine art papers too.

Once you have the finished giclée in hand, go back to the easel with it and paint over portions of it with real paint. Generally match the colors and brush strokes as they are in the original so that you give it the same look and feel, but don’t get caught up in being exact. The point here is to create a unique piece from the print. Embellishing works especially well with prints of impasto oils and acrylics. Feel free to really add a lot of paint, heavy brush strokes, and originality to the print. You’ll be able to show potential collector’s who can’t afford your originals, and they will be impressed.

Here’s the catch - make your embellished editions very limited. You must make them valuable and rare, almost as rare as the original. To begin with try no more than five per edition. Once you’re selling a lot of work in multiple galleries you can progress to 20 or so, but be wary of making more than that. They will lose uniqueness. Your target buyer here is people who have already purchased originals, or are one step away from purchasing originals, so think high-end. Don’t under price these embellished prints - they have your original paintwork on them.

All of these are simple and fairly work-free ways to increase the selling prices of you giclée prints anywhere.

Though many people may disagree with me, I also strongly suggest keeping some of your paintings as unlimited open edition prints (albeit in smaller sizes, no embellishment etc.). This allows you to continue to market to lower priced markets and new or young collectors who may not yet (notice the word yet) have the financial wherewithal to purchase your originals or high priced limited editions. This is a key to building a larger group of loyal collectors in the future.

Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclée prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Get Paid More and Make Cients Happier with Your Next Commissioned Artwork

2009-12-28T09:10:00.001-05:00

Landing a commissioned art project is exciting, but it can also be a nerve racking experience if not handled well from the outset. Today I’m going to share some secrets I’ve learned that will help you next time the prospect of a commissioned artwork arises.
I was a self employed airbrush artist for four years and learned the hard way about commissioned work - virtually everything I did was on commission: people rarely buy airbrush artwork that is already created. So, after numerous successful commissioned works on motorcycles, cars, RVs, T-shirts, and softball helmets I have a few key tips regarding what works and what doesn’t when it comes to accepting a commission and following through with the goods.

Set Clear Expectations for Yourself and the Client

Without a doubt this is the most important thing that you must do before accepting a commissioned work. You need to be up front about everything from the outset. Although the client has likely seen a few pieces of your work, make sure to emphasize that his or her commissioned piece will be similar in style and technique.
People tend to think that because you’re an artist and can paint a picture, then you can paint anything. As we all know this is not true. An artist works hard to perfect his or her style, and may or may not be able to paint what the client desires. The goal here is to manage client expectations - be clear about your style, color palette, capabilities, and working process. Listen to the client, and then speak at length with him (or her) to get the picture out of his head and into yours. Once everything is clear, then proceed to pricing etc.

Never Quote Immediately

A lot of clients will be pushy and insist on a quote up front immediately. DON’T DO IT. Simply get his or her contact information and tell him/her that you will call within 24 hours with an estimate. This makes you more professional. Don’t get pushed around when it comes to pricing your work. Value yourself and your time. If the client has a problem with that and doesn’t want to wait then you don’t want to do business with him/her anyway.

Quote High

Virtually every artist I know undersells his/her own work. If you want to be paid what you’re worth then you must take time to consider the entire commission project - research, preliminary sketches, materials required, gas and travel expenses, sanity, and completion of the final piece. Once you know exactly what you’re getting into you can make an educated estimate for the client. This is what I suggest - carefully calculate all the work and materials required for the project, come up with a figure in your mind of what you’d like to be paid, then double it. This is the figure you go to the client with.
Commissions are always more work than expected, and people frequently want to negotiate. Go in with that mindset. Quote high and with confidence. If the client accepts then fantastic, but if he wants to negotiate you have given yourself some working room. Always know before you go into any negotiation the least you are willing to accept for the project, and never go lower - if you have to let the job go then so be it. It’s better than slaving resentfully over a project that you wouldn’t have painted otherwise. Value your time and work and others will value it also.
When you get paid well you create better work, and you will work harder to please the client.

Get 50% Up Front

No exceptions here. You must get paid 50% of the agreed price before doing a single second of work on the project. There are three reasons for this.
First and most obvious, you’re eliminating the risk of working and not getting paid. This eases your mind and you can relax more while creating the work.
Second, you test how serious the client really is - if he will not pay now, it’s going to be tough to get anything from him later, and if you do it won’t be the full amount.
Lastly, you work harder when you’ve been paid for something you have yet to provide. You will produce better work, and the client will be happier.
If you don’t take the business side of your art profession seriously, you’re not taking your art seriously. It can be tough to ask for money up front, but you must be confident - we do it all the time. You pay first at fast food restaurants then get the food. You pay for books online then receive them in the mail. You will be more respected and taken more seriously if you request 50% up front. Just do it.

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclée prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Five Keys to Profiting from Your Next Art Show

2009-12-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

So you’ve tried the art show thing and it hasn’t been the leap to art stardom that you had imagined. In fact, it was downright hard work and poor sales.

I can’t whisk away the hard work, but if you follow the advice in this article you will sell more art, generate more leads, and leave the show with a great sense of achievement and money in your wallet. That’s the idea right?

Here are 5 things you must do to make your next show a success:

1. Maximize Opportunities:

Just like your website (if you have one), you will have numerous visitors to your booth who will simply walk in, look around, and leave. Why did they come into your booth? Well, they probably liked the look of some of your creations. Maximize this opportunity - engage every single person who walks into your booth and encourage them to sign up for your email newsletter. Make sure you have a notebook conveniently placed at the front of your booth for people to leave contact info - especially email addresses. Aside from actually making sales, getting visitor information for follow-up should be your priority.

It’s important to remember that only about one or two people out of ten will feel comfortable doing business with you on first contact. Most people require between five and seven “contacts” with you (email, direct mail, phone, newspaper ad, etc) before they will trust and buy from you. Keep that in mind and act accordingly to maximize your chances of long term results from every art show.

2. Diversify Your Product Offerings

A lot of artists seem to hesitate to do this because they fear it will decrease the value of their originals, but offering a variety of print sizes and editions of your work is one of the best ways to generate big sales at every show.

The segment of the general public who has a couple of thousand dollars to spare on buying art, never mind your art specifically, is very small. Respond by building a multi-tiered product offering with items available from $5 and up. Your low dollar items can be art cards, greeting cards, bookmarks, etc. You should also offer small prints of your work, limited editions on paper and canvas, framed and unframed giclees, and highly limited embellished giclees on canvas. You don’t have to do them all, just make sure you have items that anybody can buy as well as high end originals and giclees.

If you worry about decreasing the value of your work just take a look at artists who have done this very successfully - Guy Harvey and Thomas Kinkade. Try buying one of their originals, they’re not cheap. In fact, selling a lot of prints only increases the value of your originals. Be organized, honest, and effectively communicate the differing values of various editions of your work, and this strategy will be very rewarding.

The key here is having products that virtually anybody can buy. So if somebody loves a painting but can’t buy it, you can offer them a print edition, art card, or the like. You’ll be surprised how quickly small sales add up - at least you’ll have cash in hand to buy yourself dinner and pay for gas to get home (See my article “Structuring and Pricing Your Art Print Editions for More Sales” for a detailed explanation of this sales strategy).

3. Don’t Let Buyers Leave Without Leaving Information

This is an extension of point 1 above, but I felt it deserved its own segment.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of selling a piece of your work, no matter how small. But you MUST remember to request contact information from every single buyer. If they don’t feel comfortable giving it to you then tell them you’d like to send them a thank you card, complementary art card, or something else that will encourage them to give you at least a name and email address.

People who have purchased your work are far more likely to purchase again, so don’t lose them. You’ve heard it before - 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customers. You need to get the information and stay in contact with these people. Once again, this will generate long term revenue.

4. Effectively Promote Yourself

This is one of the hardest things for many artists (and people in general) to do. A lot of people do not understand how to effectively promote themselves. They either come across as arrogant and pushy, or totally close up and sit in the corner. With a little practice it’s very easy.
Don’t try and sell your product immediately. Art is very personal, and therefore your immediate goal upon anybody entering your booth is to make a great first impression. Be friendly and welcoming, but don’t overdo it. Start up some conversation and genuinely get to know the people you’re talking with. Here’s the important thing - focus on your visitors, not yourself. Ask them questions rather than just telling them a pile of information about yourself, that’s boring. Once they ask you about your art (and they will) then feel free to elaborate and let your passion shine through.

People buy on emotion - give them reason to like you and you’ll greatly increase your chance of a sale. If you can make them laugh then that’s even better. And even if they don’t buy it’s easy to ask for an email address before they leave. You’ve made them feel good, so they’ll want to hear more from you.

Remember, you must take a long term attitude when building a valuable and responsive group of collectors for your work.

5. Follow-up Quickly

Your job isn’t complete when the art show is done. In fact, the work that will lead to serious long term sales is only just beginning. Within a couple of days of the art show make sure to follow up with every single contact you made - personally. Don’t send out a generic email blast, though you can send a newsletter along with your personal follow-up or shortly thereafter. I will write an entire article on the follow up strategy, but for now keep in mind that you are simply building genuine relationships.

Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclee prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Art Cards and Why You Need Them

2009-12-28T09:03:00.002-05:00

What I’m going to tell you in this article will vastly improve your online art or photography marketing strategy and eventually lead to many more sales and a group of dedicated collectors.

First of all what am I talking about when I say “art cards?” By this I mean a small print of your artwork, no more than 4”x6”, on art paper or thin card. They should only cost you a dollar or two to make and you should be able to buy them in bulk quantities, or make them yourself (of course, you can get them from us at PrintThatImage.com).

Art cards make excellent impulse buy items at your art shows, gallery exhibits, etc., but that’s not why I’m promoting them here.

The real power of the art card lies in your ability to give it away for free to interested potential clients - visitors to your website for example. It costs you very little, but it is something of value to your website visitors. And of course, you don’t give it away totally for free. You get email and contact information from each visitor who wants one.

By the very nature of giving away something that has to be mailed, you must collect all contact information from your site visitors - that’s a pretty good deal. You now have name, address, phone number, and email address of somebody who was looking at your art online and liked it enough to request a free print. That sounds like a qualified potential collector to me. Not only that, you’ve started things off on the right foot by giving them a gift - a great way to generate goodwill towards you and your website. And all for just a buck or two!

On the other side of things, people who visit your site and don’t request the free art card do so for only one reason: In their mind they have compared the benefit of receiving a free piece of your art in exchange for giving you their information and decided it wasn’t worth it. Don’t take it personally, not everybody will like your art, and it actually works in your favor. You will not waste resources marketing to people who would probably never buy your work anyway. That’s great news!

Of course there are always people who will take anything for free, but that’s life and as you continue to build rapport with your email list you’ll figure out which ones have no real interest. In fact most of them will probably drop off the list by themselves shortly after joining. Write it off as a necessary business expense.

A couple of things to remember before running off and making 100 art cards:

• Make sure that every single card has your name, website, and copyright prominently displayed (we can do all that for you at www.PrintThatImage.com/printcustomization.html)

• Make sure that you only make one or two of your prints available for free otherwise you’ll devalue your work. In fact, I would really stick to just one freebie, and make the rest of your work available for sale in the same size and format. That way you’re not only generating an email list, but giving sign-ups the first piece in their new collection of your art.

So, don’t waste anymore time without offering a free art card on your site. You’ll see your visitors turn into subscribers, and eventually those subscribers will turn into buyers. As your list grows, the key then is following up in a manner that will induce sales, which I’ll cover in another article.

Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclee prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

If you want to sell online, do what online sellers do

2009-12-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

I work face to face with a lot of artists locally here in Fort Lauderdale, and frequently talk with them about their online experiences. One of the most common complaints I hear is “I have a website, but nobody ever buys anything from it.” Well, my goal today is to point out a few reasons why you may be struggling to sell online, and how you can do better.

I always like to look at websites which are successful at what I’m trying to achieve for guidance. So, for selling a product take a look at Amazon.com, Ebay.com, and for creative sales - Etsy.com.
Here are some lessons to take away and implement on your own art or photography site:

Make it obvious from the outset that you have products available for sale:

Look at the home page of each of the above mentioned sites - there are items for sale right there on page one. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to purchase them, but it does tell me that this website sells stuff. Make sure to have at least one item obviously for sale on your home page. That means the price and “buy now” button must be viewable immediately. Oftentimes when I review an art or photography site I’ll think it is simply a portfolio site until I get a few pages in, and then I discover that there are items for sale. But I’m a patient visitor - often on the website to give some advice on improving it. Regular traffic may not be so forgiving, and can leave without ever knowing that you offer something for sale.

Make transactions as painless as possible:

Getting people to click on the “buy now” or “add to cart” button is only half the battle. The last thing you want to do is have them abandon your checkout process because it’s tedious. If you don’t want to pay a monthly fee for a professional merchant shopping cart account then use a reliable system such as Paypal which has options that only charge per transaction. You simply place the “Buy Now” buttons on your site.

Get rid of “call for pricing” or “call now to purchase” on any items on your site. When was the last time you called Ebay or Amazon to buy something? Everything should be clickable and purchase-able online with no hassle. Otherwise you will lose valuable potential clients. Of course, make your contact information readily available for people who do have questions, but don’t lose the potential to capture impulse buys.

Organize your products logically:

There are many ways you can do this, and it will depend on your specific product line, but make sure you do it.

You should group similar or related products together. As an artist you may place all of your limited edition prints on one page, and open edition posters on another. The goal here is to make things obvious and not to confuse your visitors. Remember, confusion makes for a quick exit from your site.

A quick related note: The chances of making a sale to a customer on first visit to the site are very slim. You decrease the chances of scaring away prospects by keeping your lower priced items up front on the homepage.

Make sure to present a well rounded view of what’s available on your site, but that doesn’t mean you have to lay everything out with prices on the home page. Entice visitors further into the site with good deals and sale prices on the home page.

Increase sales by offering upgrades and complimentary items at checkout:

Once you start having more sales and interest from your site visitors you should upgrade to a shopping cart with the ability to upsell at checkout (I recommend www.EasyWebAutomation.com or www.1ShoppingCart.com) Just like checkout at the grocery store, use this feature to showcase lower priced impulse buy items. You can also feature higher priced related items that visitors may have missed on the main site. For example, a photographer may offer a frame to someone who buys a canvas print of their portrait. Or an artist may have small open edition prints available at checkout.

The important thing to keep in mind is that web traffic appreciates simplicity over almost anything else. The easier you make your site to navigate and buy from, the less likely your precious visitors will leave and go elsewhere.

Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclee prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Artists – Is your home page holding you back?

2009-12-28T08:40:00.001-05:00

Your website home page or landing page is the most important page on your website. Why? It’s your first impression to anyone who visits your site. It’s where people decide whether to leave or stay and look around. It has to be perfect.

Unfortunately, many artists and creative professionals do themselves a great disservice with their home page, and thus lose business and prospects.

The main problems I have found on creative websites can be broken into these three categories:

1. Home page takes too long to load:

There is nothing worse than having a slow loading home page. I believe that for many people this is the single biggest reason why you have poor results from your website. These days people take seconds or less to decide whether to stay on a site or leave. It is imperative that your home page loads quickly.

This is especially a problem with artist and photographer websites because we all like to show off nice large images or beautiful flash slideshows on the front page.

Solution: My advice is to get rid of the flash. Sorry, I know a lot of you may hate to hear that (I once wanted a flash site also), but for most people flash takes too long to load and they leave. Also, with flash you can often only see one image at a time - you want to give people an overview of your work at first glance and entice them to take a closer look on another page of the site. On your home page, stick with smaller images and a link directing traffic to your portfolio. And if you insist on having a flash portfolio, do yourself a favor and include a regular image portfolio too. Search engines prefer images over flash anyway.

2. Home page is confusing and cluttered:

No need to elaborate on the problem much - too many links, too many colors and unconventional layout make a home page confusing.

Solution: Decide on the number one goal of your home page and then make sure that you set it up accordingly. Here are some goals to consider: capture visitor email addresses, send visitors to portfolio, sell a specific product, get visitors to answer a survey. An important side note: research of eye movement during internet use has shown that most people intuitively look at the upper right side of the page first upon entering a website. Use this to your advantage and situate key page elements accordingly. It’s a great place for a newsletter opt-in box, for example.

3. Home page is unconventional:

As creative people, many of us tend toward the unconventional. In creativity that may be a good thing, in home page design it certainly is not. When I visit your site I expect to be able to navigate easily without a thought.

Solution: Look at large successful websites for guidance on how to layout your own site. There is no need to re-invent the wheel here. Be creative in your use of colors, icons, fonts, etc, but not in the basic anatomy of your home page. For example, there are only two places for the location of your primary navigation bar - across the top of the page underneath the title bar, or on the upper left side of the page. Look at successful sites, take notes, and apply them to your own site.
Apply these solutions to your own website and you’ll see improved traffic, page views, and time on site, along with more sales & email sign-ups.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks for reading!

This article is copyright ©Chris Kennedy, 2009.

Chris Kennedy owns and maintains PrintThatImage.com, a specialty printing site for giclée prints, fine art printmaking, gallery wrap canvas prints, and promotional products for professional artists and photographers. His office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Your New Year's Resolution - Get that email list started!

2009-12-26T12:26:00.008-05:00

As the Florida art fair scene approaches its peak in the following months, the post-holiday lull in January is a great opportunity to re-organize your art show strategy and prepare for upcoming shows.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of preparing for that next show is getting yourself a book for email sign-ups.

I know that among the list of preparing business cards, flyers, pricing your prints, coordinating giclee productions, and getting your inventory straightened out, a book for email sign-ups might seem trivial. However, I am convinced that taking a proactive approach with all of your booth visitors and requesting them to join the email list is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your art career at every show. You never leave empty handed, even if you don't sell a painting.

It doesn't matter if you aren't set up with a newsletter or email marketing program yet, just get the list started. After you get back from the show make sure to follow up personally with all new sign ups and thank them.

Here's a short list of steps to take to begin building a solid email list of potential collectors for your artwork:

1. Buy yourself a decent sized notebook.
Split the pages into columns for name, email address, and any other contact info you'd like visitors to give you. Remember not to add too many columns or people will look at it and think it's a lot of work to sign up - you want it to be effortless. Asking for a business card if you want more information is a good idea.

2. Place the book in an obvious location.
Make sure that every visitor has the opportunity to see your sign up book. Place it at the front of your booth on a small table with a pen readily available, along with business cards and flyers. The last thing you want to do is lose a potential sign up because you're chatting with visitor number 1 and visitor number 2 can't find your book.

3. Encourage people to sign-up.
Most people need some encouragement to join your list. Make sure to engage every person who enters your booth and chat to them. If they comment on your art and mention that they like it, ask them to join your email newsletter to stay up to date and see your newest work as it is finished. The worst can happen is that they say no. Maintaining a positive and genuine attitude while talking to visitors is the best way to ensure people will want to remain in contact with you.

4. Tell people what to expect.
Let potential sign-ups know that you will never share their information, and tell them how frequently they will receive communication from you. "I send out a monthly newsletter" is sufficient.

5. Follow-up
The golden rule for making this strategy work long-term is following up with all new sign-ups within a couple of days after the art fair, and then maintaining a steady stream of communication with your email list thereafter. Make sure to say thank you, remind them who you are, include an image of your work to refresh their memory, and invite them to visit your website.

6. Sign up for an email marketing solution
As your list grows it will become worthwhile for you to sign up for an email marketing program such as Aweber or Constant Contact. Subscriptions for starter packages usually start under $20 per month, and will make your life much easier. You will also look more professional and stay more organized. These programs allow you to schedule outgoing emails, create specific lists of contacts based on your needs (galleries vs collectors for example), and include images, branding, and more in your communications.

Thanks for Reading!

Chris Kennedy
www.PrintThatImage.com

P.S - If you're in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or South Florida area, don't forget to use PrintThatImage.com for all of your giclee and art printing needs!

Four Excellent Websites for Artists

2009-12-23T10:31:00.005-05:00

Consider this my Christmas gift to all of you – it’s a list of websites that you should absolutely check out, bookmark, and subscribe to if you are an artist. Each is full of information for improving and broadening your knowledge as a professional artist.

www.EmptyEasel.com – a longtime favorite of mine, this daily blog by Dan covers virtually every aspect of creating and selling your art. Website advice, marketing articles, how-to articles, and featured work by numerous artists are just a few of the topics covered on this site. If you subscribe to the email list you simply receive a weekly preview of the articles coming up every Sunday so you can pick and choose which days you want to visit.

www.ArtFairCalendar.com – this doesn’t require much explaining, but Connie Mettler’s site is your number one contact for all things art fair related. The most up to date and comprehensive list of art fairs, calls for entries, and state-specific art fair reviews and deadlines on the web.

www.ArtistCareerGuide.com – I found this site from reading Jackie Battenfield’s book “The Artist’s Guide – How to Make a Living Doing What You Love” which is a tremendous resource for all people interested in learning to support yourself with your creative talents.

www.ArtBizCoach.com – Alyson B. Stanfield has a fantastic blog for guiding your art career, and also hosts numerous workshops. From marketing to studio organization, you’ll find what you need here.

Making the most of your 2010 art fair season.

2009-12-23T08:43:00.003-05:00

Despite the lackluster economy and poor art show sales throughout the past year, January 2010 brings in the opportunity to start afresh.

Let’s just think about it for a moment – you really can’t do anything about this economy, it’s just a fact of life. Things are gradually improving, albeit slowly, but don’t let poor art show sales get you down too much. Instead, look at each show as an opportunity to make connections – with other artists, potential collectors, gallerists and dealers.

Get out of your comfort zone

If you are exhibiting at an art fair then you need to put in every drop of energy to get out of your comfort zone and talk to people. You can’t afford to let any visitor to your booth leave without acknowledging them and at least making an effort to strike up some conversation. Remember that selling is a relationship thing. People prefer to buy from people they know and trust. It does you no good whatsoever to sit in the back of your booth reading a book and expecting people to just buy your art.

I understand why artists do this. It’s more comfortable. It is difficult to get out and actually promote yourself. However, actively engaging the visitors to your art fair exhibit makes the difference between leaving the show with one hundred contacts for follow-up or just one.

Think of each art show as a networking opportunity

Think of art fairs as big networking events. Don’t make sales your priority. Make people your priority and sales will follow. Put the emphasis on talking to people, getting to know them, letting them ask you about your work, and making a good impression. This makes people willing to join your email list, give you their business card, and occassionally buy from you right away. When you get back from an art fair, follow up one or two days later with personalized emails, notecards, or phonecalls to the people you met. This is how you start relationships that can flourish into lifelong partnerships. Think longterm.

I am no stranger to the world of art festivals. Starting in January 2010, I have lined up almost 40 fairs in Florida to visit. My goal is to introduce myself personally to as many artists as possible, explain a little about my company and show the quality of the art printing and giclee services we offer. Do I plan on selling to artists directly at those shows? Not really, I may take a few orders, but my priority is getting to know the artists personally so that I can serve them better by knowing their real needs.

Stop wasting your time and money

Each art fair season I talk to literally thousands of artists, so I get a good idea of the sentiment at art fairs. I also get an up close view of artist-visitor relationships in progress. I am truly amazed by the lack of enthusiasm on the part of many artists. I enter a booth, receive no welcome, and when I ask about work I am given a cold answer that makes me feel that I’m actually bothering the artist for daring to ask about the work.

Why do you even bother going to a show with this attitude? It’s a great way to waste your precious time and money. I know it’s art and that a lot of people may not “get it” but you need to be able to explain what it’s about to anybody. You should have a 30 second “elevator pitch” just like any other business owner.

The last thing I want to do is discourage you. I love art. That’s why I’m in this business. But it frustrates me that obviously talented artists ruin their chances at so many art fairs because they just want sales rather than relationships with people which then lead to sales.

So here’s what I say – welcome in the new year with a resolution to make more connections at your next art fair. Be positive, you’re doing what you love! Let your enthusiasm shine through, be confident. There are no rules in art – you are the expert in your own field of creativity. So go out there with a positive attitude and remembering that your art career spans a lifetime, so take a long term approach to each new connection you make.

I hope to meet you at one of the Florida art fairs this season. I’m starting with the Las Olas Art Fair in Fort Lauderdale on the first weekend in January. I’ll have sample giclee print packets for any interested artists so make sure to say hello! Good Luck!

Creating Postcards for High Profit Sales at Your Next Art Show

2009-12-10T05:46:00.001-05:00

Today I’m going to demonstrate a little bit of a different approach to using promotional materials to generate a great source of revenue as well as promoting yourself and your art.

You may have noticed that over at PrintThatImage.com we offer a full line of high volume printed materials such as business cards, flyers, and posters. We also offer 4x6 and 5x7 postcards in quantities of 1000 and 5000. Traditionally artists create a pretty looking promotional postcard to pass out at shows since they cost only fractions of a penny each.

However, how about creating genuine mailing postcards and then packaging them in sets of 10, 20, or more for resale? The high quality of these postcards makes them perfect for resale. We have already created a layout for the back side of your postcards - all you have to do is send us your design for the front. See the example below for what one of our good artist friends (www.JulietteBelmonte.com) has done:

Imagine you create a postcard design and make 5000 of them. If you check out our promotional products page you’ll see it only costs you $150 to do this. Imagine you sell them in quantities of 50 postcards (you can pick up stationary gift boxes for about a dollar each). Your total cost would be $250, and you would have 100 pre-packed gift boxes of postcards to sell. Let’s say you sell your postcards for $14.95 per box (what a deal!). That would give you $1495 in revenue, or $1245 profit. Nice huh?

So, how many art shows do you take part in? How many items do you have available to sell at a $14.95 price point? Combining sales at art shows and on your website you should be able to sell 100 boxes of cards in a year or less.

Of course, the benefits are not only monetary. Think of what a great marketing tool this is. People are actually paying you to market your work. Create an eye catching postcard with contact information and website on the back and you’re sure to add a few art collectors to your list. Not a difficult way to increase your income and exposure - give it a try and see for yourself!

Standard Canvas Prints vs. Premium Archival Giclee Prints

2009-12-09T13:09:00.004-05:00

As you can see from our website , PrintThatImage.com is now offering two different types of canvas printing solutions: Standard Canvas and Premium Archival Canvas

Today I wanted to go over the difference in the two products so that you, as an artist, can decide what works best for your situation.

Let me start out by saying that you can print your artwork on either canvas product and end up with beautiful prints that art show shoppers will love. In fact, prints on each canvas are virtually indistinguishable to look at.

However, here is a list of differences in the canvases that you should be aware of so that you are not misled when purchasing canvas prints or reselling to collectors:

Premium Archival Canvas is CERTIFIED ARCHIVAL, Standard Canvas is not:

What does this mean to you as an artist? Well, prints on standard canvas can not be called "giclees" for this reason. They are printed on the same printers, with the same archival inks, and coated with the same archival coating as our Premium Archival Giclees, but the canvas is not "certified archival" by the Fine Art Trade Guild.

I have spoken with the manufacturers of this canvas (they manufacture both of our canvases actually) and they have assured me that prints on our standard canvas will last at least 30-50 years, and likely longer, without fading or discoloring.

In other words, your art prints will hold up for a long time on either canvas. However, if you're working with a gallery to sell high end giclees, our Premium Archival Canvas is the one to go with. For art fairs, art shows, and lower price points then go with standard canvas. I would also suggest Premium Archival Canvas for embellished giclee prints that you are marketing as limited edition, one of a kind prints.

Premium Archival Canvas giclees are stretched on higher quality stretcher bars:

After asking local artists in Fort Lauderdale and Miami how we could improve our giclee prints, one response that came back consistently was "nicer stretcher bars". So we obliged, and now all of our giclee prints are stretched on 100% douglas fir stretchers. The gallery bars are extra wide at about 3" across (still 1.5" thick standard gallery wrap depth though).

We import our standard canvas stretchers from overseas which means you get the absolute lowest prices, but they are made from a less dense pine. These are lighter weight, and not finished quite as smooth as the higher quality bars. Still, they are perfect for keeping our prices affordable to even the most starving of artists! And of course, you can always upgrade to nicer stretcher bars - just let us know.

Standard Canvas Prints are More Affordable:

Obviously this is an important consideration when you're making a living as an artist. Think of standard canvas prints as your bread and butter product, and use our Premium Archival Giclees for your highest end product offerings. It's important that you can make your work affordable to a variety of buyers, and Standard Canvas will allow you to do so. Building a profitable structure to your print editions will help you to prosper as an artist rather than just "get by."

For more on structuring and pricing your print editions please pick up my free guide on the subject (Sell More Art - An Essential Guide to Pricing Your Fine Art Prints). It's a 4 page article you can read over lunch (it's delivered to your Inbox immediately) to help you make more profit and sell more art at your next show.

I hope this has clarified any confusion on the canvas printing services we offer - our goal is to allow you to print and sell your art, at prices you decide, with plenty of profit in there for you to pay the bills :) Thanks for reading!

Premium Archival Canvas - In Detail

2009-12-08T08:13:00.004-05:00

As we launch our newest product, Premium Archival Canvas, I thought it would be appropriate to cover it in a little more detail here on the blog.

So really, how does Premium Archival Canvas differ from our standard canvas, and how will it benefit you? Let me explain:

A Word on Inkjet Canvas Technology

This canvas was only made available to the Giclee industry in 2009, and as such, it is the most advanced giclee canvas in world right now.

Looking at each of these canvases side by side, they are virtually indistinguishable. The real technical advancements with our Premium Archival Canvas are in its specialty surface coating.

Inkjet canvases must be treated and prepared specifically to accept inkjet pigmented inks. This is all done in the manufacturing process. It's kind of like an artist applying gesso to an unprimed canvas in order to prepare it for paint. Just as there are numerous brands and types of gesso, so there are various inkjet coatings. Many of these coatings (including that on our standard canvas) include optical brighteners which allow the full pigmentation of the inks to show in a print. This makes for spectacular prints, but unfortunately the optical brighteners are not approved archival, and thus prints on standard canvas can only be guaranteed for 30 years or so without fading (they should last many many more years than that if taken care of and kept out of direct sunlight). Still not bad, and the price makes it a great option for artists and photographers looking to sell canvas prints, but who can't afford the price of archival giclees.

Recent Innovations Create Premium Archival Canvas

Up until recently true giclee canvas has been rated archival, but due to lack of optical enhancers on the surface, the color saturation and color range that could be achieved in printing was not as good as on optically enhanced canvas. Many less scrupulous print shops have sold these optically enhanced prints under the guise of "giclee" when really they are not archival at all.

However, our new Premium Archival Canvas has a cutting edge coating on the surface that allows the inks to reach their true color gamut (range) AND contains no optical enhancers. The manufacturers achieved this by changing the properties of how the ink was dispersed and absorbed by the canvas coating, resulting in absolutely stunning, truly archival giclee prints. I spoke to them at length in person (well, over the phone anyway) with the technical guys at the manufacturing plant to learn as much as I could. I've tried to boil it down and make it as untechnical as possible so that you're not bored to death :)

A New Era in Giclee Print Making

So, we decided to give this canvas a try a few months ago and have been just amazed at the results. We are convinced that there is no better giclee canvas on the market, and that the prints you get from PrintThatImage.com on this canvas will be the nicest giclee prints you've ever seen. I know that's a pretty strong statement, but I wouldn't make it if I didn't think I could stand behind it.

Better Giclee Canvas Merits Better Stretcher Bars

Also, you'll notice the prices on our stretched premium archival giclee prints is considerably higher than on the standard stretched canvas prints. That's because we are using higher quality stretcher bars on these new giclee prints. They are more solid and made from 100% douglas fir.

The 1.5" thick bars are super heavy duty. They measure about 3" across. Giclee prints stretched on these "fat bars" just give an impression of extra-high quality. Perfect for gallery exhibitions, museum shows, and highly limited edition embellished giclees. Also great for giclee prints you don't want to frame.

Please let us know if you have any questions about this new product, we are always glad to help.

Thanks for reading and visiting our website!

Matte Photographic Paper - In Detail

2009-12-05T08:36:00.002-05:00

High Quality, Bright Colors, Great Price

Our matte photographic paper is probably the most diverse product we offer. We recommend it for anything from mini art prints to sell at your next art fair, to crisp and bright photographic enlargements. Although the paper is not officially certified archival, it is acid-free and prints will last for many years (at least 30) without noticeable fading.

Matte Photographic Paper also has the largest color gamut (range of possible colors) of any of our products. This means that if you have extremely colorful or high contrast images that just don’t seem to pop on other media, we recommend giving this paper a try.

This paper is also our most affordable product. We can always work volume discounts for multiple prints, putting the absolute best quality prints in your hands no matter what your budget.

Make Miniature Prints for Your Next Art Show

We work with a lot of local artists here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and many of them create miniature art prints of their work on matte photographic paper. These make an excellent complement to their giclée prints on canvas, allowing them to offer work for sale at an affordable price to many art show shoppers. Some of these artists order in volumes that allow them to get prices down to just $1.00 per 4x6 print - a great way that you too can make profit at your next art fair.

We’ll even customize your prints with name, title of work, copyright info, and website for an added touch of professionalism.

Perfect for Portfolios

If you’re a professional artist or photographer, why not have us print your entire portfolio on matte photographic paper. We can print your images separately, or you can layout portfolio pages on a program such as Photoshop and then send them to us via the image upload page on our site. We’ll print and cut them to size. This paper is a great way to showcase your work to potential clients because it really shows off the colors and subtleties in photographs.

Crystal Clear Photographic Enlargements

The smoothness and brightness of this paper makes it perfect for big prints. Print your best photographs, travel snaps, and family pictures up to 44” wide, by as long as you need (42” wide if you need a white border for matting and framing). Just think of how beautiful those panoramic images will look.

No Need for Framing

Framing can be expensive, especially on those large images. That’s why we now offer Laminated Image Mounting - check it out on the site at www.PrintThatImage.com/lamination.html. It’s the perfect way to hang your prints on matte photographic paper without breaking the bank. An 11” x 14” plaque mounted print is just $24.00 - ready to hang, print included.
As always, if you have any questions about our Matte Photographic Paper then don’t hesitate to contact us at info@PrintThatImage.com. Thanks for reading!

Creating Prints on Luxury Watercolor Paper - Perfect for Watercolorists and Pastel Painters

2009-12-04T16:24:00.003-05:00

This article is going to showcase our Luxury Watercolor Paper

Contrary to popular opinion, giclee fine art prints are not just for acrylic and oil paintings on canvas. In fact, watercolor and pastel paintings make for some of the most accurate and impressive giclee prints available. The reason for this is the lack of heavily textured brush work in these mediums.

The great challenge in re-creating any original art piece as a print is in capturing the essence and texture of the brushstrokes. Obviously, with highly textured work you are attempting to create a 3-dimensional original in a 2-dimensional way. While the superb fine art scanner we use at PrintThatImage.com does a fantastic job of capturing every nuance of your painting, the fact that watercolor and pastel works are typically 2-dimensional in their original format lends itself to virtually unsurpassed print quality.

In effect, you limit the variable in the print making process to color correctness alone, rather than color correctness and texture.

With that said let's take a quick look at our Luxury Watercolor Paper, and how it can help you to increase your art sales:

If you're a watercolorist or use pastels in most of your originals then this medium is absolutely the best paper to pick for reproducing your work. It is very heavy, almost like card in thickness and has a beautiful velvet-like quality to it. It also has the same texture as the high quality watercolor paper that you use for your original paintings. Of course, it is archival quality - completely acid free.

Watercolorists are typically seen as fast painters, and many of you probably do very well selling only originals. However, wouldn't it be nice not to have to work quite so hard for every penny? To take a little pressure off creating enough work for your next art fair? I strongly recommend giving our Luxury Watercolor Paper giclee prints a try. It's really simple and very affordable. Here's how I suggest you try it out:

1. Make digital images of a few of your favorite paintings - no need to be fancy here, we'll start with small prints. So, place the paintings in good light (outside on an overcast day is perfect), and snap a few pictures with your own digital camera.

2. Send the images to us. You can upload them directly at http://www.printthatimage.com/ImageUpload.html

3. We will review your images for resolution and quality, and make minor adjustments if necessary.

4. Take andvantage of our free proofing option. We will send you proofs of the prints prior to printing at the sizes and quantities you'd like. Proofs are mailed right to your door, no charge.

5. Review the proofs, make notes, and shoot us an email or give us a call. We'll make any adjustmets you need and either go ahead with full size prints, or send you another set of proofs. Our goal at PrintThatImage.com is to create long term customer relationships, so we invest our time and materials up front in order to make sure that you are satisfied with our print quality and customer service.

If you'll just give us a try I know that you'll really be impressed with how beautiful your paintings look printed on our watercolor paper. With 4x6 prints starting at just $2.16 you can make good profit on them at your next art show, while at the same time opening up ownership of your work to a whole new group of collectors.

For a really professional touch have us add your name, title of print, website information, and copyright to the border of the prints.

If you're in the Fort Lauderdale area then we can personally scan your original painting to create your giclees, but otherwise send us your images by uploading right on the website.

We look forward to working with you, thanks for reading!

Laminated Image Mounting - An In-depth Explanation

2009-12-02T08:23:00.011-05:00

It's always tough to present products online in a way that fully captures the look and feel of product in real life. So today I'm going to give a fuller explanation of what I feel is one of our nicest products, in the hope that you'll get a better idea of the beauty of Laminated Image Mounting and how it can be useful to you.

Laminated image mounting in most basic terms is taking a printed image and mounting it onto high grade fiberboard or masonite, then finishing in a variety of colors and styles.

In more detailed terms, your image is printed onto acid free matte photographic paper, cut to size, and then heat laminated onto masonite or fiberboard. This process results in a durable plastic protective laminate covering your images. It's so durable you can actually wipe your images clean with a damp cloth without damaging them. Perfect for photos, diplomas, and art prints.

Here's where it gets interesting. Not only is this a durable way to protect images forever, but it's available in 3 contemporary styles that really look fantastic:

The Plaque Mount: The simplest and most affordable style is our plaque mount. Your picture is laminated onto 3/8" inch thick fiberboard that has a 1/8" beveled edge, hand finished in gold, silver, white, or black edge coloring.
The fiberboard has a custom cut groove in the back for hanging flush on any wall. This gives a clean, ultra-contemporary look to any image.
Sizes start at 4" x 6" for $11.99 and go up to 40" a 48" for just $169.99. Without the need for framing you simply can't beat this for quality and durability at this price. We include the print in the price, so you just need to vist our plaque mounting page, select your size, and then upload your image.

The Box Mount: A step up from the plaque mount, the box mount lamination adds extra depth to your image. With this product your image is laminated onto 1/8" thick masonite with a beveled edge. A 3/4" box frame is added to the back, flush with the masonite, and then hand finished in your choice of color. This is perfect when you want a contemporary look with a little more bulk to it, or if you need something which adds more of an accent color to your decor. The extra 3/4" give you more to work with. Prices start at $17.49 for box mounts, so still a great product at a great price.

The Float Mount: My personal favorite, our floater option adds a whole new dimension to your pictures. This design actually gives the appearnace that your picture is "floating" off the wall. Once again your image is laminated onto 1/8" thick masonite with a beveled edge, finished in your choice of color (black, white, silver, or gold). A 3/4" box frame is also added to the back of this product, but a few inches inside the edge of the masonite, giving the floating appearance. Very sleek and contemporary, with prices starting at $14.49.

I have also included a profile (side) view diagram below left to better illustrate this product. The greenish-blue part is the masonite with the image mounted on the right-most surface. The gray rectangle is the box frame with touches the wall on the left-most side.

Check out float mounting options on our site today.

Suggested Uses for Laminated Image Mounting:

Since we specialize in fine art printing I would remiss not to suggest creating your own unique art merchandise using these beautiful products. I think these work especially well for contemporary abstract art prints and fine art photography. They will truly make your work stand out at your next art show, so why not try a few small ones to begin with and see the reaction.
Remember we only use acid-free products in the creation of our laminated prints, so your art is totally "collector friendly".

We can work with you to create custom pieces, sizes, and edge colors too, so don't feel restricted by what's on our site.

Laminated Image Mounting also works great for corporate product displays, menu boards, diplomas, certificates, family photographs, and basically anytime you want to give a contemporary look to your documents and photos. Give it a try today and please contact me with any questions. Thanks!

Gallery Wrap Canvas Prints - The Perfect Gift

2009-12-02T07:46:00.007-05:00

If you're looking for an affordable, personal, and totally unique gift for friends and family this Christmas season then our gallery wrap canvas photo prints are an excellent choice.

These fantastic canvas prints are available ready to hang on your wall in a variety of styles and edge options. All you have to do is send us your favorite photo and we'll print it on our superb poly-cotton canvas with the best pigmented inks in the industry. The canvas is finished with a beautiful gloss protective veneer that will keep the picture like new for many years to come.

The beauty of gallery wrap photographs is that there's no need to frame them. Select from 3/4" or 1.5" edge thickness, and then choose white edges, solid color edges of your choice, or have us mirror the edge of your image so that it wraps around the sides of the canvas as shown to the left.

If you do want to frame your canvas print then we recommend going with the 3/4" white edge to save yourself some cash.

Every single one of our canvas gallery wrap prints is hand inspected for blemishes prior to packing and shipping. Each is finished with a sawtooth hanger (or two depending on size) on the back, making the print ready for your wall as soon as it's unpacked. We use the utmost care in packaging and shipping your canvas prints - each is hand wrapped in protective plastic packing wrap, then carefully boxed with card protecting the face of the print, and surrounded by packaging peanuts.

That's why we guarantee your satisfaction with every single item you order at www.PrintThatImage.com or your money back.

If you're still not confident about placing an order because you don't know how your image and colors will turn out then we'll gladly mail you a sample proof print free of charge prior to printing your image full size. Just visit our Proofing page and click "Add to Cart" next to "Add Free Proofs with my Order". We will work with you until you are totally satisfied with your colors and print quality.

So visit our site today and see how you can turn beautiful memories, portraits, and photographs into the perfect gift for that special someone.

2009-07-11T23:37:00.002-04:00