Selling prints - what size image do you print?

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Scott
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If you're selling prints - lets use an A3 print as an example - what exactly would you print?

Do you print an A3 borderless print?

Do you print an A3 print with a (say 1/4 inch) margin, so the image is slightly smaller than A3?

Do you print on paper slightly larger than A3 so that the image itself is A3 and they get a bit more space for mounting?

I'm imagining it's horses for courses, but I kind of want to get a general view from people who've done all of this! :) I don't push my work, therefore I don't sell much, but then every time I do there is always something I'm left questioning!
 
At the very beginning I asked myself..................what are people going to buy (granted I have not sold too many ~ but another exhibition hanging tommorow ;) )
and on the first one I was obliged by gallery rules to frame everything.

So, FWIW I print a few sizes (subject and cropping being my guide) 12x8, 10x10 and 8x8 [I have printed larger!]
These are all mounted & backboarded
Some are framed
I did have a few plain prints in my browser in Feb 2019 exhibition but none grabbed more than a scant look.................of those I am mounting & backboarding some this afternoon ;)

FWIW I am also offering greetings cards this time.

As you said horses for courses......................ask yourself what would you buy ~ plain print, mounted or mounted & framed???

PS all my prints have borders so that they can be properly mounted but the print areas are as stated above :)
 
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Thanks @Box Brownie - I guess your 10 x 10 has (say) an 9 x 9 image inside a 1/2" border?

The plan evolves every time I get an order - once every 6 months or so! and that's half the b****y problem! :p It's a slow moving plan that never survives engagement with an actual customer!

As it stands though, the plan is (was? pfft It's a great plan - the best) to offer unmounted, and later mounted prints. I don't have a mount cutter yet - I guess the "plan" was to get that when someone ordered one!

@jerry12953 , thanks for that - maybe that's a better option and would help govern / better limit what I'm printing, rather than trying to be all things to all people. That also seems to be my camera default aspect ratio so makes life easier for me.


My print prices are grouped off ISO sizes - A4 - A1 as I think most people understand that. But (and I think this might be one place I'm going wrong) for A4, I'd also accept 12 x 8 (camera default aspect ratio) and 12 x 10 - I similarly round down for the other ISO sizes. I don't usually crop when I process my images unless there is something that needs to be removed. It's probably a mistake that I'll need to revisit,, but I guess I take the image with the default aspect ratio (3:2) and never really consider someone might buy this... and what do I crop it to?!

I also offer panoramas and square where appropriate. I take a lot of panoramas, but due to screen sizes and facebook limitations, they just don't seem to get the attention I feel they would if people saw them large and printed. And this is the main reason I got a roll printer, so I'd want it to be a proper offering. Panos would likely need custom mounts I suspect.

I might occasionally do framed prints as a special, if I see a frame that looks good and fits an image. But those would be off the shelf frames.

I've got greeting cards on my website, but haven't actually got a plan to print them. I printed a few cheap postcards of a single image and put them in a friends shop, and they seem to have done steady business actually, so I really should have done more, at a higher quality.

I need to stop making excuses (because lets be honest, that's exactly what I'm doing!) and actually make an effort, update my website, start properly marketing, selling, putting myself out there, etc, especially after buying that printer!!!! All I do at the moment is fail to maintain my website, and post a new photo to facebook once a week or so! How I even get the orders I do, god only knows....
 
Hi Scott @James Blonde

Re: prints sizes ~ as mentioned the PS in post #2 the sizes 12x8, 10x10 and 8x8 are all the actual printed areas.................I use Trade Canvas Prints @Tradecanvasprint for all of my most recent prints and they have, by choice, available with not additional cost 1 13mm (1/2 inch) border. That border is enough to properly T-Hinge the prints in the mounts which forgive going metric are 50mm larger that the printed area (NB all mounts are cut a couple of mm undersize and that ensures no white border showing when mounted :)

Any other questions just ask or PM as needed?

PS in regard to the Greetings Cards I found a printer who really did my images justice...........................I just await 'my public' seeing them and fingers crossed buying them at least :D NB I printed 4 types (2 with cute wild & captive animals and 2 off flower blooms) and total 100 off.
 
Awesome, thanks for that @Box Brownie! :D Misread the original, so missed the bit where you said about the print area, doh! blonde by name.... yeh. :rolleyes:

Trade Canvas Prints are probably who I'd use for canvas, which I've got as a special order if anyone wanted it. I've used them a couple of times and the product is excellent!
 
Awesome, thanks for that @Box Brownie! :D Misread the original, so missed the bit where you said about the print area, doh! blonde by name.... yeh. :rolleyes:

Trade Canvas Prints are probably who I'd use for canvas, which I've got as a special order if anyone wanted it. I've used them a couple of times and the product is excellent!

And the TCP prints are also up to a very good standard :)
 
For me, part of the discipline of picture-making is that I compose in-camera. My main camera's ratio is 3:2.

So this translates to 12 x 8", 15 x 10", etc, for image size. But I'd normally print onto a paper size that's bigger, with a white border - it doesn't matter if the border's the same vertically as it is horizontally - but that gives space at the edges for handling and mounting ...

In mounting, the mat aperture must relate in some way (as above) to the actual image area. You can either have the mat mask the image (intrude on it slightly), or allow some of the paper border to show, in which case you might allow more space at the bottom where you might write some image id & attribution in fade-resistant media. Or not.

These are the basic choices, if you want to preserve your images' integrity. Cropping an image to a different proportion changes it's nature, and shouldn't be undertaken lightly.

Framing is a realm where you can bend the rules a bit, but the image proportions and their relationship to the mat aperture are crucial.
 
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Hi ,
My finished A3 product measures 20 x 16 inches and a printed area of 15.25x11.25 inches, allowing .25 inch overlap by a 2.5 inch mount.
 
I think as long as you clearly explain what the actual result is, which one you choose probably doesn't matter.

i.e. say something like, "A3 prints are printed on A3 paper with a border to allow you to frame" or "A3 prints come mounted in a frame, the total size of the item including the frame is xx cm * yy cm", etc. That way folk know what they're getting and how much space it'll take up on the wall.
 
My prints sizes are governed by the good-value mounts kits that I use. £2.40 for a 20x16 mount, backing board and bag. Other sizes are available.

https://www.kadinsky.co.uk/index.php/value-picture-mount-kits.html


I have recently opened a homeware, gift etc shop and I want to start selling some of my photography and these look to be good quality and competitively priced. My question is (as someone who has never actually done this before) do you get the actual print done to a size slightly larger than the aperture or should it be the full size of the mount ?

PS Do the prints actually “stick” to the white backing piece or the mount or neither lol ?
 
I have recently opened a homeware, gift etc shop and I want to start selling some of my photography and these look to be good quality and competitively priced. My question is (as someone who has never actually done this before) do you get the actual print done to a size slightly larger than the aperture or should it be the full size of the mount ?

PS Do the prints actually “stick” to the white backing piece or the mount or neither lol ?

I refer you to my posts #2 & #5 above....that might help;)

PS do also have a look here.........https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...t-mounting-advice-sought.574287/#post-6660783

PPS best of luck with your new shop venture :) (have any pictures of the shop and its layout?
 
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At long last I have had time to print and mount some of my shots and get them displayed (albeit in a temporary way) in the shop
 

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At long last I have had time to print and mount some of my shots and get them displayed (albeit in a temporary way) in the shop


Looks nice....... hopefully once displayed appropriately they will get attention and sales :)

Have you included a biographical tag/label about the picture in the cellophane bag to inform the potential buyer about the picture?
 
Looks nice....... hopefully once displayed appropriately they will get attention and sales :)

Have you included a biographical tag/label about the picture in the cellophane bag to inform the potential buyer about the picture?

Not yet but that’s my next job as each one has a little story behind it which is nice to explain.

Must admit they really do look much better when printed than on a computer screen.
 
Not yet but that’s my next job as each one has a little story behind it which is nice to explain.

Must admit they really do look much better when printed than on a computer screen.

The curator/exhibition organiser was the person who suggested adding as mini biog(not a "War & Peace" ;) ) tag ~ basically keep it short and sweet with enough detail to engage the person/people looking at the image.

In these Covid19 times where some(all?) shops are discouraging handling of the goods, I wonder in your situation whether the biog tag/label should be printed in duplicate i.e. one in the cellophane bag seen when turned over.........the other, to discourage too much handling, sellotaped or blue tacked to the front of the bag in an uppermost corner?
 
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