Suggestions on pipeline

[Rattletrap]

Hi--

I've decided that some of the paintings I've done on my iPad may be salable as prints. So now I've begun the process of thrashing around with the notion of establishing a way to get the painting on paper and in the hands of a buyer.

How are you guys managing that? My printer just isn't up to volume, and besides, some prints will be larger than it will handle.

All help appreciated!

--Tim

[Steve B]

Re: printers- how big do you want the pics to be? I have an Epson Workforce 1100, and I print 12" x 18" prints on full , normal thickness watercolor paper. It's been a very good printer for me, and cost me something like 125-250$.

Beyond that, I'm curious to see what others would suggest. It's not the prints that stop me though, it's the difficulty of actually reaching the customer.

Deviantart might be a good place to browse this issue. The conceptart forums might have some input too.

[Drawman39]

Hi Rattletrap,
Seems to me you have two options:
1. Buy a large and expensive printer.
2. Pay a third-party printer to do it all for you. There are numerous options online.

Also, if you create a Deviantart ID you can generate prints (at a price) from your member gallery:
http://www.deviantart.com/.
Best of luck with it all.

[Rattletrap]

Hi Rattletrap,
Seems to me you have two options:
1. Buy a large and expensive printer.
2. Pay a third-party printer to do it all for you. There are numerous options online.

Also, if you create a Deviantart ID you can generate prints (at a price) from your member gallery:
http://www.deviantart.com/.
Best of luck with it all.

Following the suggestion of someone on here, I tried these guys. Couldn't have been happier with my trial run. Very streamlined operation--Simple, cheap, fast and easy.

My suggestion is to pick something other than glossy for the finish on your prints--the glare is like a mirror. They offer a wide variety of presentations and sizes, in paper and canvas and finishes for both.

Highly recommended!

--Tim

[Steve B]

Well, it's unclear just how big of prints the OP wants, or what he wants to print them on, but the Epson Workforce 1100 printer I mentioned prints up to 13 x 19, or actually 13 x by up to 40 (banner sized prints, essentially). The inks are archival and waterfast as well, and it takes full 180 lb watercolor paper. Looks great. Not sure what he's looking for though, so it's hard to say.

IMO purely uneducated opinion, if you sold what I'm producing with a matting or in a frame at a fair or a store or whatnot, I'd thin it was professional.

As before, it cost me 125$ at Office Max. I've been stunned by the quality. I had a 500$ printer before- a Canon Mark Pro II, which is a very good printer. Personally, I noticed no difference for my print needs. I think it makes a difference if you're printing photos in professional grade large format photos in particular, on photo paper. But for much of the stuff we're doing I've not noticed a difference. I think, for the price range of 100-500$, for the amateur artist, what I'm suggesting is within reason. I think, however, if you really want to print big images-- say, 17 x whatnot (and they make those kinds of printers)-- then you're really looking at 700-1000$ for various good quality Canon and Epson printers. You can find them used on Amazon and Ebay though, for much less. I just decided to go for something cheaper that I could return and have a warranty with, just in case. So I bought mine new.

[ukoa]

I've always had good luck with AdoramaPix.
Decent price and the prints come out great.