How to go about making prints. . .

[Former_Member]

Hello all!

I'm starting the process of making prints of my pieces and am quite frankly unsure of how to proceed. A photographer friend suggested purchasing a scanner (flatbed) that would provide high quality scans for printing. I've looked into some scanners, but thought I'd check in with you fine people to see if you had any words of wisdom for me as far as how to proceed.

Feeling a little overwhelmed. . .blurg.

Sarah

[Former_Member]

If most of your pieces are under 8.5" x 11" , a flatbed scanner is definitely the way to go. That's what I use for the majority of my pieces, and it works the best. You don't need a super high-end scanner, I use an all-in-one printer that has the scanner built in, and it cost me about $60. Just be sure to scan at a high enough resolution.

Scanners larger than that tend to run very expensive (I believe 400+$, depending on the size), so if it's larger work, you may want to look into getting it photographed, or taking it in to a print shop to be scanned for a fee

[beadedwire]

You can scan or photograph the originals.
Scans work well with some small originals but not oils (canvas shows too much, the uneven paint strokes look odd), pastels (which smudge and again look odd when scanned), thick acrylics.
Photography works well if you are careful about not having any glare or shadows and use a tripod.

[Former_Member]

Awesome. Thanks you guys! I'm looking into getting a flatbed scanner and have found several that look promising. As far as the actual printing of said prints, should I do that at home or find a place to it for me?

[Former_Member]

Gah. To *do* it for me. Must. Get. More. Coffee.

[Former_Member]

For the printing, it's your choice. Personally, I go get them printed somewhere since my printer isn't good enough to do art prints, and I don't have the money to spend on a high quality printer.

[Former_Member]

I have a Cannon MX420 and this has a wonderful scanner which I use to list my photos, cards, tags. I have to take pics of the altered art.

It also does a great job printing the photographs also. You just need to get the higher end archival ink and use good photograph paper. I don't recommend HP paper. Cannon so far has given me satisfaction.

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much for the advice, Sarah and Debbi! :)

[Former_Member]

I have used Kinko's/Fed Ex for copies, but just for my son's school reports. You just email it to them, and they print for you when you go in to pick it up. I don't know about photo prints, but I am sure they can do that, too. They only charged us about 20 cents per color print and it looked awesome! My printer was broken at the time and it was sort of an emergency. You know, one of those "Hey Mom, I have a report due tomorrow" kind of things.

[Former_Member]

^You really don't want to use a Kinko's or FedEx type place for art prints. You want to find a place that at the very least uses high quality archival photo paper and archival inks, that are guaranteed to last 80-100 years. Kinkos type prints fade pretty fast, even if they might look awesome when printed, which is why they'll do the trick for school projects, but if you're selling prints, you wanna make sure they're getting something that will last.