How To Make Your Own Art Prints

Making your own art prints is now easier than ever, with really high quality equipment available to the general consumer at surprisingly affordable prices. The question is -- is it worth it?

Depending on how archival and professional you want to go with making art prints, you could spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands and thousands of dollars on equipment and materials!

You have to decide if you're ready to put in the time and money required to get yourself set up as your own printing studio. This requires purchasing:

• a device to capture your artwork digitally (either a high-resolution digital camera or a high-resolution scanner)
  
• an excellent inkjet printer
  
• high quality fine art paper and ink
  
• packaging materials
  
• and more (we'll get to each of these individual components shortly).
  

If you're just starting out as an artist, you may want to try getting some prints made for you at a local print shop or online first. This way, you have a low up front investment and you can get just a few of your pieces printed to see how they come out, and see if they sell. But... it's an awful lot more fun to have total creative control and make things yourself, isn't it?

Making your own art prints can be incredibly satisfying and lucrative! You just have to make sure you're ready to spend the time and money needed to get things set up and running the way you want.

Still convinced you'd like to make your own art prints? Woohoo! Let's get you started!

Each component of making your own art prints is equally important - from your original piece down to the paper you're printing on.

The first step in making art prints is capturing your artwork digitally so that you'll be able to print it from your computer.

This is often easier said than done, and this is why professional art print labs and giclee studios are able to charge the hundreds of dollars in set up fees that they do when making high quality reproductions of original artwork for artists!

Professional studios have 'digital capture' equipment which involves an extremely high resolution camera and perfect studio lighting set up to enable them to get the clearest, most accurately colored representation of your artwork possible.

But... there is good news! You can also achieve a really high quality reproduction at home with the right set up and equipment.

If your original artwork is 8 1/2 x 11 or smaller, you can use a flat bed scanner. Scanners vary widely in quality and price, so you'll have to find which one works best for you. Luckily, even the less expensive scanners you can find at office supply stores can provide excellent results as long as you disable the default 'picture correction' software they come with, and use a software tool like Photoshop to adjust the scanned image.

If your artwork is too large to fit on your flatbed scanner, there are a few options:

1. Take a picture with your digital camera. This is not always easy, but very possible to get a high quality image with a digital camera, particularly if you have a high megapixel SLR camera and a tripod. You'll get the best results if you set up your artwork outside on a bright but cloudy day. The colors will be the most accurate and you'll eliminate any shadows or glare.
   
   
2. Scan in multiple pieces and piece them together on the computer. If your scanner glass is right up against the edge of the scanner, you can lay your artwork on the glass a corner at a time and scan different sections. Then, you can use a program like Photoshop to take your multiple scan files and combine them into one finished file.
   
   
3. You also always have the option to take your original artwork to a print shop, have them digitally capture your work, and then use the files you get on a CD to print your artwork from home if you desire! Their color correction may not always match up with your set up at home, though, so remember to print some proofs on your own printer before committing to your really nice paper!
   

Choosing a printer can be the most daunting part of this whole process, because ultimately the printer dictates how amazing your final prints will look!

Laser printers are great for things like greeting cards or stickers, but for high quality fine art prints, it's best to go with an inkjet printer.

Lucky for you, photo printers are getting really good these days, allowing virtually anyone to produce high quality, fade-resistant prints at home. But there are a lot of choices for professional inkjet printers.

If archival quality is of utmost importance to you, you'll want to find a printer that uses pigment-based inks instead of dye inks. What's the difference? Well, pigment inks hold their color the longest of the inks offered for printers on the market today. Dye-based inks are more water-soluble than pigment-based inks, but...they are also often more vibrant, particularly with deep black.

Dye based inks won't fade tomorrow or anything, though! I did a lot of research when deciding which printer I was going to use for my art prints, and ultimately decided on the Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mark II. It has dye-based inks, but they are conditioned to last a very long time, particularly if they're not showcased in direct sunlight for long periods of time.

image of the Canon pixma pro 9000 Mark II printer on Amazon.com

This step can get complicated if you're printing your own art prints from home.

For example, I have a Canon Pixma Pro 9000 professional quality inkjet printer. It is AMAZING and I love it to pieces. That said, if I try to print on paper that doesn't have a specific ICC Profile preloaded into the printer software, things can go awry.

Generally, I use Canon brand fine art paper, I can select it from the printer settings menu, and everything comes out just right looking practically indiscernible from the original piece of artwork. But there have been times where I've wanted to print greeting cards, business cards, or other items on paper not specifically pre-programmed, and it can get frustrating.

I'm still working out how to figure out the intricacies of printer settings versus Photoshop settings, and ICC profiles.

If you've found that you're struggling with this as well, here are some helpful resources regarding ICC profiles and different types of paper and color settings for printers.

Dry Creek Photo's Guide to ICC Profiles

Red River Paper's video and text tutorial for installing ICC profiles

Assuming you haven't run into the dreaded ICC profile quicksand, you now have a beautiful fine art print in your hands just waiting to be trimmed and signed. Congratulations!

I've read that some fine artists like the precision of using an X-ACTO knife and a ruler for their prints. Others like rotary cutters and a ruler, or an all-inclusive paper cutter.

Printers can often print your image a little bit crookedly on your paper, so it's always a good idea to make sure whatever method you're using, you've lined up the edges of your image to be trimmed with a border or to the image, rather than just measuring inward from the edges of the paper.

I personally use a nifty paper cutter for my prints, cards, and invitations. It's put out by Carl and it is really pretty awesome at what it does! You don't risk cutting yourself because the blades are concealed under a handle that you just slide to cut the paper. The one drawback is that you don't always have the easiest time lining up your paper, but you get the hang of where the edge is with practice.

It's also convenient because there's a grid right on the board you put your paper on that's marked with inches on the X and Y axis as well as outlining standard picture sizes like 4 x 6, 5 x 7, etc. so you don't have to do extra measuring.

So you've successfully printed and trimmed your own art prints. Hooray! It's a great idea to sign your prints, too. Whether you're doing a limited edition run or an open edition, customers generally like seeing your signature, even if it's lightly in pencil in the border or on the back. It makes it more official and personal.

Once you've trimmed and signed your art print, it's time to frame it or package it to sell!

Framing options are seemingly endless, and it really comes down to a matter of personal taste. If you're comfortable making your own frames, you can purchase materials at art stores, frame shops, or photography shops.

If you prefer to leave it to the pros, there are many frameries and art stores that offer great deals on custom framing.

For selling prints, a frame is not always necessary. Since frames are such a personal choice, customers are often better off purchasing their own frame to suit their decor (but it certainly doesn't hurt to display your art print in a frame at a craft show or online in your online shop to give customers an idea of what it could look like!).

I like to slip my art prints into an archival cello sleeve that has a self-sealing edge. This keeps dust and dirt away from the print, keeps it safe in transit if I'm mailing it to a customer, and also protects from general shelf wear or fading. If you have several prints you're getting ready to pack away for a show or to send in the mail, putting them in individual sleeves makes it easy to store them, stack them, and organize them in a folder or drawer.

Some great online retailers for cello sleeves are ClearEnvelopes.com and ClearBags.com They're both the same company, but one deals with higher bulk purchases and the other in smaller orders. Definitely have a look. I've heard of a few other places like Nashville Wraps as well. Basically it comes down to doing your research and finding the best price for your particular needs.

*Art Print Wrapping Tip*: Find self-seal envelopes with the seal on the outside of the envelope. Some put their glue seal on the flap itself, but this can be dangerous because when you pull your art print out of the envelope it could touch the plastic and get stuck or torn. With the strip on the outside of the envelope instead of the actual tab that folds over, you keep the sticky strip away from being able to ruin your print!

I hope this has been helpful to you! I've given you the tools and tips to get you well on your way to capturing your artwork digitally, printing your art prints at home, and cutting and wrapping them for display or mailing to your customers.

If you've been hesitating about trying to print your own art prints, hopefully this has given you a little boost to help you take the plunge! If you have any questions about any of the steps involved in making your own art prints at home, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me! If there's something I don't know the answer to, I'd be happy to refer you to someone or a website that can help.

Thanks so much for reading and best of luck with creating and selling your own art prints!

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