Printing your own work
I recently spent a good few months debating how I wanted to turn my digital images into actual physical images that I could handle and see on a wall.
I have spent a couple of years now getting better at photography and whilst I still consider myself an amateur and have so much to learn, I think I am producing some decent compositions that I am proud of (and to be honest that’s the most important measure here!).
But they are always viewed on a monitor, iPad or phone which just doesn’t feel like a great use of all those megapixels that I have. I wanted to see them there in front of me.
After a good bit of research I realised there were three main options open to me:
Outsource the printing online and get them printed remotely and delivered
Engage a local printer where I can see the process and view them as they are produced and collect them myself
Buy a printer and start to print my own images!
Option 1 - within this there were a couple of options to consider. I was looking into 3rd party fulfilment as a whole, so printing and shipping the item.
Squarespace comes with a couple of extensions that do provide prints, The main ones being print on demand giants like prihtful and printing, both of whom facilitate the printing of a range of goods, rather than focussing on photo prints themselves. After looking at them, I was not convinced of their offerings as they were both more geared towards printed merchandise.
I did briefly get my hopes up with the introduction of Printique, which is a plug in extension specifically for fine art prints, canvases etc. excactly what I was looking for. But only available in the USA and Canada, so back to square one.
The second alternative is to look for a print provider that can plug into Squarespace, in other words approach it from the other direction! The one that appears to be the most popular and best quality are the Printspace. Offering a range of printing options, paper options and framing options, the company looks really good, but they are expensive! Now that’s a relative term, I realise. As a fulfilment house, if you are able to command a decent prince (3 figures) for your work then your margin will still be great and the product is top notch.
But I’m just starting out and there is no way I can sell my images for £80 - £100 for an A3 piece. Not yet anyway!
For instance the cheapest A3 print is Fiji crystal archive matt or gloss at 9.15. Mounted and framed is another 37.27 and delivery to the uk 12.50. So all in an A3 print to fulfil is in the region of £50 without delivery. For a halfway decent margin this needs to sell for at least £100 - £120.
That’s a bit rich for me now, although having gone down route 3 I can appreciate the time and care involved and honestly do not consider those prices to be outrageous!
Option 2 - Engage locally
Now this is dependant on having a decent printer near by to make it viable and luckily where I am there are a few options, although most are commercial printers and more interested in flyers, posters and business cards than focussing on prints. I did find a local print shop which was excellent, run by a couple where one focussed on mounting and framing and the other on the printing. They had a huge Epson printer with a giant roll of paper so I took in some sample images and had a bunch printed off in A4 and A3. The cost was reasonable and they offered to trim them for me as well.
My main issue was the turnaround time and the fact that the paper types were limited. I always thought I liked and preferred matte images as I dislike the glare that a high gloss gives, but the images just looked a little flat.
So I was back to square one and began reconsidering option 3.
Truth be told I didn’t really look into option 2 much more because deep down I’m like a magpie with a shiny object. If I want something I usually find a way to justify getting it, which is a terrible character trait and not one I’m proud of, but one that imagine is not that uncommon!
There were a number of options open to me, Epson do a seemingly good range as do Canon. Then there was the question of refillable ink tank or cartridges, paper types etc. In the end whilst I did like the economy idea of refillable ink tanks, the Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro 300 stood out for me for the quality of its image output and range of inks.
Its not easy to find clear ideas of how many photos you will get from a set of inks and after having it for a month and printing off around 60 images or so of varying types and on various paper, I have a rough idea.
The waters are naturally muddied because different inks run out quicker than others. For instance, after around 45 A4 prints my grey was very low, so I bought a full set of replacement Canon inks (£144) not wanting to try the cheaper equivalents offered, at least not yet! Quickly after that the chrome and black started running low, but bear in mind this was after I had printed a LOT of images to start to try and sell.
Looking at A4 as the standard size and accounting for the A3 images I’ve printed off, and bearing in mind almost all are gloss images, I reckon that a full set of inks, with an additional grey, black and chroma will last me for the equivalent of 100 A4 prints. - now this may get better as I’m not there yet, but I’m basing my costings on that, which means 100 A4 prints will cost me around £200 in ink, £2 each.
For incredible photo quality images that I am either framing for myself or looking to sell, that’s still really reasonable, and 50% cheaper than the best other 3rd party option I had seen.
There will be natural fluctuation, and paper is another whole subject, but presently I’m using Canon Platinum Pro paper to produce Gloss images which are pin sharp and beautiful in colour.
This means an A4 print costs me £3 to produce (£2 ink and £1 paper) and a3 costs £6 (£4 ink and £2 paper). With some backing card and cellophane bags, a small insert and price, I can provide these for around £3.30 and £6.60 respectively.
Pricing was a challenge - too high and you price yourself out but too low and it’s not worth it. I decided to go with a margin calculation rather than an actual value, on the basis that I wanted to achieve 60 - 65% margin on all items. That means I make a profit that’s twice what I spent on the production. This means I currently sell my prints at £10 for A4 and £18 for A3 (although these are £15 at the moment as I want to try and get my name out there)
I have priced too low, but I have also priced according to my location and what I am happy to receive in these early stages of the game. These initial forays into selling are all about establishing my name and presence in the local scene, being able to stand next to my own work and see the customers faces when they buy it.
On paper I still make money. When I factor in my time in sourcing and buying frames, mounts, card and packaging, then my time printing, finessing, framing, packing and delivering, then I’m not really making anything. I’m certainly not valuing my time enough, but I can afford not to at the moment whilst I get known in the area.