Cheapest way to get good prints?

[Former_Member]

I know the best way to make money at art is by selling prints, but I haven't found a very economical way to do it. I'm unemployed, so I can't invest much in it.

I have prints of some of my things on CafePress, and the quality is really good, plus I don't have to invest anything. I also don't have to deal with the shipping. On the down side, even if you buy it through my CP shop I only get 1/3 of the money, and if you buy it through the marketplace, I only get 15% of 1/3 of the money. It's ridiculous.

I looked into getting my paintings professionally scanned and printed but the cost would be more than the paintings are even worth!

[srowlan]

wow! I'd really love to hear more about this... I'll be checking in on this thread for sure! :) So what is cafepress?

[brienna]

I've also looked at Zazzle online (you can upload images and get paid the royalties of your sales) and locally working with a giclee printing studio to custom-order (so I only get them printed after someone pays for them), or even doing chemically processed photo prints (I do antiquated pieces in sepia for something unusual and affordable), but I'm not an expert on prints.

I think the most economical way to accomplish printing is to do them yourself using archival inks and an excellent printer (that's something you can discuss with HP or another printer company if you want to do them from home - but you're right, it's an investment to do it this way initially). It definitely seems to me that prints are the most successful sales on Etsy though, but I think we all want to find a home for our originals as well.

;o)
brienna

[Former_Member]

I haven't had prints made of my paintings for exactly the reason you state: the cost of the Giclee is high enough that I'd have to charge as much for the reproduction as for my original work. It is ridiculous!

Also, I have made hand-pulled prints (mostly linocuts and serigraphs) and resent that people represent Giclees as "limited edition prints." Limited, they may be, but they are NOT prints, rather, Giclees are photographic reproductions of original work. A hand-pulled print IS an original work, in that it does not exist in another form.

Ha! Sorry. You got me started. ; )

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to look into Zazzle.

I have used my home printer to do some, and I've even sold a couple (people particularly like the one in my icon), but they're not very good and I can't afford to invest in a higher quality printer or archival inks. Maybe if I get a job.

[Former_Member]

You can check this page...

http://beta.finerworks.com/prices.aspx

I can't say if they are good because I'm still waiting for the examples, but the prices are good... if you buy more than one the rest are half the price... so they say... :)