Question to those who sell prints...

[ShopMissElla]

I am still having the eternal dither about whether to invest in a printer. After much research it seems an Epson A3 is the only way to go which will be at least £400. (can't get a professional printer for fine art archival at A4)

I was using the one where I worked (fab wide format top quality). I recently quit the day job though (yay!!!) as my freelance has taken off and too many plates were spinning in the air!

I only sell prof. prints that will last on fine art paper with archival inks so getting them printed outside is awfully pricey as I generally print to order. (an ex work colleague is kindly doing them for me at the moment but I can't expect this forever)

Do you print yourselves or outsource? Is it worth the investment?

(I hope I haven't gone and put my threads in the wrong place again, every time I post within teams I mess it up!!)

Thanks!

[CopperLeafStudios]

Since you've already been selling prints, I would look at the numbers. How many do you currently sell, and what is your profit margin? What would your profit margin be if you bought the printer (assuming you'd still have to pay for ink, etc.)? What is the cost of the machine, and at your projected profit margin, how long would it take to pay off? Do some number-crunching, and see if it is worth it to you! :)

[Former_Member]

So far the only prints I offer are photographs. I've been having Walgreens help me out with that. I'll have to look into that printer you spoke of as my son wants to try to sell some of his digital art.

[ShopMissElla]

Thanks for the help! Yes indeed, not selling enough at the moment through etsy to warrant but I do also need them for my book layouts to send to publishers which need to be A3. (I do childrens book illustration too)
The profit is good once the printers paid for (about £2 to print with ink and paper - sell for about £10 but I would think of putting my prices up and selling limited runs)

Thanks again!

[Former_Member]

I outsource my prints to a local company and they do the photo captures and the prints for me for a reasonable price. It's one less thing I need to worry about. Since my drawings are more on the large format scale, I would have to purchase a large format printer to make my own. That is so not in my budget as an emerging artist. The printer I have now is great for producing note cards...and I'm cool with that.

[ArtifactsEtCetera]

I've been wondering this as well. I assume that whether I print them myself or outsource the printing, I'll still have to have the digital files professionally made... any input on that end of the process?

[ShopMissElla]

Thanks for the input, really helpful. All my work although handrawn is coloured digitally so I already have that covered but I'm not sure about how it works if you need things digitised too?

[PeonyandThistle]

This is something we've been wondering about too.... interesting to read everyone's thoughts!

[Former_Member]

At the moment i outsource all my print work to a company in England. All my files are digital even if they started out as hand drawn items. I have to have slightly higher prices to cover p&p from the printers and i have to factor in the extra time it takes to send and receive the prints. On the plus side i don't have any of the worry about getting a quality archival print and the problems surrounding this. I would consider buying a printer if it became cost effective.

[Former_Member]

I just started selling prints and the handful that I have had printed were outsourced. I've contemplated buying a new printer as well but couldn't justify the price just yet. Once things start taking off them perhaps I'll look back into that but I think outsourcing for the time being is working out for me.

[BethWold]

I had to look up A3 and A4 as I wasn't sure what sizes they were. My printer prints larger than A3 but smaller then A2(13 inches wide x infinite long). Epson Stylus with pigment inks. It was a big investment, but I got it with a $150 rebate. I've yet to sell enough prints to pay for it... and I'd already like to get something that will print even bigger...

I both love and hate my printer. I love the freedom of running off a print as soon as someone orders, of being able to choose my own papers, having full control of the process from start to finish, and I love the thrill of seeing an amazing print coming out of the printer(I still squeal sometimes!).

On the downside you have to figure in cost of printer, cost of paper, cost of ink, cost of wear and tear on the printer. Also you have to swallow the loss on any mistakes - if you put the paper wrong side up, if the paper is slightly crooked, etc(if you outsource they have to replace any mistakes). You have to know what your backup plan is if your printer stops working while you're in the middle of fulfilling an order. Also, if you're not familiar with color management, calibration, etc, it can be a bit of a pain to get the prints you want out of your printer.

Even with all the drawbacks, I wouldn't give up my printer and go back to outsourcing, but I know it's not the best option for everyone.

[Former_Member]

I use Nations Photo and so far everything that's come back from them has been top-notch. I just don't want to be bothered with replacing ink cartridges, paper jams, etc. Easier to outsource IMO....at least for me, for now.

[Former_Member]

I will add one more voice to the print-your-own column. You have complete control over the type of paper and the print quality, not to mention control over the turn-around time. Of course you have to get your hands dirty and learn what you are doing and face up to the inevitable mistakes. And you do have to figure in the individual costs of paper, ink, printer itself and so on,

Karen - not sure what you mean by having the digital files professionally made? Are you talking about scanning in non-photographic artwork? If so, you could use a scanner, have a professional scan it for you, or photograph it.

The end result does not have to be the same size as the original, unless you want it to.

Be forewarned that printers, (good, archival quality) ink, and papers can be very expensive.

[HausofAriella]

I was wondering the same thing not too long ago. I really wanted to make my own prints, but the kind of printer I would need was way out of my price range. I ended up finding one on Craigslist though for less than a quarter of the retail price that was in perfect condition other than being almost out of ink. If you can find a used one for a good price, it's totally worth it. Yes, archival inks and fine art paper can be a bit pricey, but it's far less than you would pay to have your prints professionally done. And like some of the others have said, you have complete control.

[Former_Member]

You do not need to start out with the top of the line. One can get pretty good ink quality without spending a fortune on a printer. The other considerations for printers are (1) type of paper (size and weight) and (2) speed. Nothing wrong with starting out printing up to 8x10 and then graduate to bigger sizes as the income warrants. Same for speed.

No matter how large the paper is that your printer can handle, there is always a chance that you might have need to print even bigger - unless you're willing to spend $5k to $10k to print on a roll 48" wide.

[ShopMissElla]

Thanks for all the answers, good to hear I'm not the only one.
Barry , do you mean use an A4 printer? Do you have one that takes fine art papers (300gsm)? If so, can you recommend a particular one? By the way your profile pic is the best ever!

For those in the UK paperspectrum are the best in terms of value without losing quality for lush fine art papers

[LizzysStudio]

I bought an Canon pro 9500 second hand on eBay cost me £270 inc postage, I don't sell enought prints to warrant it but when I go to sell at Craft stalls it worked out the same money to buy the printer as it would to take printed stock bought from a printers.

The prints are very good, I use the Canon rag paper. It costs about £2.00 a sheet of a3 paper and about 50p in ink, which sounds a lot but compared to the Epson equivalent people were claiming it was costing them about £2.50 plus all the unknown ink when it did a huge colour check and nossle clean when it was turned on. And yes it does take up to 300grm paper I wanted to be able to print my own cards, haven't got around to that yet.

The prints that I got from the printers didn't look any different from the ones that I printed off and I'm picky. But I did have my artwork scanned and colour matched by the printers which costs lots (£45.00 + Vat) when you don't end up selling the prints. How do you get yours copied ready for prints?

Hope that helps, I love your work, I thought that you have sold enought to warrant a printer.

[ShopMissElla]

Ah thanks Elizabeth! Your watercolours are so sweet. I do all my colouring digitally after scanning in the drawings so don't have to worry about colour matching or scanning originals so much. Having said that I do want to start selling some originals that are hand coloured so it's a good point to think about if I do prints of them. That Canon looks like a good printer and you got a good price, I did see a second hand but supposedly next to new Epson 2880 on ebay for 240, absolute bargain but nervous of no warranty. Yes I've found to get the prints from a printer is so expensive that the outlay on a printer is soon covered anyway.

Thanks!

[Former_Member]

I outsource, but then I'm lucky to have a local company that specializes in archival art giclee prints. It's a bit pricier, but through trial and error, I found that the quality is worth the price.

Eta: what is nice about outsourcing is that there is no upfront cost; I order as needed. And the other nice thing is that they make sizes as large as I need them, vs. the limitations a home printer can give you. Some factors to consider.

I cannot with good conscience sell an art print of my art that is not the best quality. This has my name attached and I'm asking people to invest in that, it needs to be good.

So it really depends on if you can get that kind of quality from your Epsom printer or not. I've heard they are very good.

[NomadWhite]

I sell invites, but I have done some prints as well I have a cannon pro 9000 mark II and I love it. It print up to 11x17. It has def been worth it to me to have my own printer.

[Former_Member]

I bought an Epson R1900 last year and I love it for prints. It was well worth the investment. I bought the printer before I even opened shop here on Etsy because people were asking for prints locally. It's been chugging along for a year straight without a whiff of problems. If you buy direct from Epson, they have great deals and hefty rebates you can look out for. I was on their mailing list for deals for about 3 mo. before I pounced. I got my printer for almost $150 less than I would have if I had purchased it locally that way.
It was an investment that I planned in advance for my business and I think it's great because it gives me a broad range of prices in my shop. You know. Something for everyone. Whatever you decide, I think your idea of going with an Epson printer is a wise one.

[kroksg]

Is it wrong to outsource my prints and have them sent directly from the printers to the buyer? It would cost the buyer more, as well as myself, if I had the prints sent directly to my house and then re-shipped to them again (most likely in the same container it was sent in to me anyway).

[Former_Member]

Having a printer send prints directly to the customer is a big no no on etsy. You have to ship the item to the customer yourself.

[kroksg]

Alright thank you!!

[kroksg]

Just learning all of this stuff, and I wasn't sure =/ But that's ok, I don't mind reshipping it, it's just the revising of the listings that is so annoying.