TWCL

[Lavenderbard]

My daughter posted a scan of some of her artwork on facebook, and one of her facebook friends expressed a desire to buy a print of it... to frame and hang on the wall and all that.

My daughter is thrilled, of course, but also a bit nervous. She's never tried do prints before, and neither have I, so we're at a bit of a loss. Don't know how we should go about making the print itself, don't know what the price should be, wondering about if we should be getting it properly matted and all that.

So... um... could someone who has done this before give us helpful advice? Please!
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[ewomack]

How big of a print are they requesting? A poster size? A local print shop (like a FedEx/Kinko's type shop or equivalent) could give you an idea of the options available and prices. They are capable of making nice copies, but it's also hard to know what people mean by "print." As much detail as you can get will help you manage expectations.
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Ed Womack

[Lavenderbard]

They were apparently were thinking around 20inches. But the original is only 8-1/2 by 11. I'm not sure how gracefully it will scale up. I told her to tell them so, and they responded that anything they could get they wanted.
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[vulpeslibertas]

You can also give them a sample of the scaled-up image (say a 2" by 2" focus on an area of detail, like a face). And say "This is how it will look when its full size." Then they can decide if they want the 8.5 x 11 or 20" version.

Also good to ask if they intend to hang it on a wall or whatever. Resolution isn't quite as important if you are looking at it from 10 feet away.

Best to think of as many questions at once and ask them all at one time, rather than pepper them with questions over a period of several weeks (after which they'll just get irritated and not buy).
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[Lavenderbard]

vulpeslibertas wrote:

Best to think of as many questions at once and ask them all at one time, rather than pepper them with questions over a period of several weeks (after which they'll just get irritated and not buy).

Right. And I'll want to take a checklist to the print place/framers too, so I don't forget to ask all the right questions while I'm there, either.

So we need to prepare a scaled up sample for them to compare and say "yes/no" to. They did specifically say a "to hang on the wall in their daughter's bedroom", so we do know that much. We need to ask if they want us to do the framing and matting and stuff, and or if they want us to do it, and we need to know how much money it costs if we're going to do it, so we can tell them when we ask.

And look into the cost of the print itself, in both sizes so we can figure out the price for that.

Anything I need to know to watch for as far as quality of the print itself? Paper, ink, that kind of thing?

Anything else I've missed?
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[vulpeslibertas]

Sounds good to me, but I've never printed anything up. Also good to know about shipping and packaging costs.
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[Varethane]

You probably want to ask what they're willing to pay for the print. Depending on how you get it done, the total could come to $10 or less, or well over $100; with that much variety, you definitely don't want to shock them with a huge price tag when they were expecting something cheap, or on the flip side leave them unsatisfied with the quality if they were expecting (and willing to pay for) fanciness.

Cost of the print will vary wildly depending on what size you want to get. Anything larger than tabloid size (11"x17") will have a pretty severe jump in cost-- you can go to places like Staples and FedEx Office (once Kinko's), or similar local alternative printshops, and get artwork printed off at that size or at 8"x11" for anywhere between $.50 and $2.50 depending on paper stock. (They usually offer multiple paper stocks; for what it's worth, I like getting my artwork printed on fairly heavy photo paper with a Satin finish, since it's got a little bit of a sheen to it without being as fingerprint-sensitive or, er, glossy, as most Gloss finishes). What's most important is that it feels good to you and shows off the detail that you want to see.

If you want to ramp up past the 11x17 range into the larger sizes, poster-print, etc, the price will jump to somewhere around $20 at the low end and..... actually I have no idea what the high end is, somewhere in the hundreds I'd assume (if you wanted the print to fill a wall). There are some online printers that will handle this sort of thing, and their prices can be pretty good; the major drawback of online printers, though, is that you don't really have the same option for back-and-forth with the printers (ability to flip through and feel all the paper samples, ability to tell immediately if your colours are printing wrong, etc). Staples and Fedex do offer +tabloid printing, at a cost, but from what I've seen (depending on the branch) this tends to be more suited for signs and billboard displays than for art pieces.

If you want to really get fancy, you could do a giclee art print, though that would involve a serious hike in cost.

Personally I'd suggest the 11x17 option and matting it into a nice frame (or just matting it and mailing it like that, to cut down on shipping costs). Definitely make sure you have a good scan (sometimes things like fingerprints and bits of eraser fluff that are invisible in a web-sized file are blatantly apparent in print, particular if the image has lots of light areas), and that you (and your daughter) are satisfied with the resulting print before sending it off, though.

(Apologies for tl;dr; I'm procrastinating on homework and for some reason it is making me much more inclined to wordiness than usual)
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[Lavenderbard]

Varethane wrote:

(Apologies for tl;dr; I'm procrastinating on homework and for some reason it is making me much more inclined to wordiness than usual)

Wordiness does not offend me.

Thank you for your insights.
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[Clint Wolf]

Normally I wouldn't suggest the FedEx/Kinko route, but if it's one single print then that might be the best option. Ordering online usually requires a minimum run and if you're not ordering several the shipping costs get wasteful, anyhow.

I agree that it doesn't sound like this customer needs anything bigger than 11x17, they might even be happy with something like 9x12, especially if you don't think it will scale well. If the image wasn't made with print in mind (150+ DPI, ideally 300) then you're going to have a lot of quality loss.

That's also presuming the original image was made digitally. If it was drawn and scanned, then you at least have the option of re-scanning it at a higher value (or having the print place do so), and that should take care of any loss issues.

I wouldn't bother with the giclee business, especially if you don't have a hi-rez image to work from. I believe when my wife orders her prints she chooses the photo paper/satin finish option Varethane already mentioned, and it looks quite nice.
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[Lavenderbard]

The original is colored pencil. (Although people keep assuming that they are paintings, which she gets a kick out of.)

There should be a picture online somewhere... Ah, found it!


We'll be printing it from a scan... it looks like it can be blown up a little and still look good enough for a "wall distance" viewing, and if they want something bigger they'll just have to use mats.

Everyone's comments here were extremely helpful. Thank you!
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[smbhax.com]

Lately I've just been using the stand-alone Sony "PrintStation" kiosks they've got at my local Fedex--because I got tired of dealing with staff who couldn't seem to get good consistent b&w results on their big printers. With the PrintStation, I don't have to bother with staff since it's all automated, and it comes out nice and consistently, on pretty nice glossy photo paper. It *is* a bit pricey though, like just under $6 for a 8x10", I think.

Oh, and asking them if they want you to frame it for them is probably overthinking it. Framing is kind of a pain, AND expensive, and besides, if you leave it to them then they can pick the kind of frame they want, etc.
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