Have you been contemplating on selling prints of your original artwork? In this article, you will discover, how to sell art prints online so you can earn extra money from original art that has already been sold.
Original Pastel Painting by Dave Nevue
Sell Art Prints Online And Make Money
By the end of this post, you will know…
- Who Should Sell Art Prints Online
- Preparing Your Artwork For Prints
- Photographing Artwork
- Editing Your Digital Image
- Scanning Artwork
- How To Sell Art Prints Online
- Sell Art Prints Online Websites
- Print Your Art
- Fine Art Giclee Printing Paper
- POD (Print On Demand)
- Artist Website
- How To Price Your Artwork
- Online Marketing Strategies
How much do you love being an artist?
I can not think of anything I would rather do than to create art and have someone enjoy it in their home.
I have been selling art online since the early 2000s and I have enjoyed every second of it. I am not going to lie and say it was an easy journey.
I have spent thousands of hours learning how to drive traffic to my artist website but the time invested was worth every second of it.
The only way you can be successful in selling art online is by learning everything you can about digital marketing.
If you are willing to put in the time you can do very well selling online.
Did you know that the opportunities for you to generate an income selling your art online are better than ever? There are almost 4 billion internet users in the world and online sales are increasing every year.
As long as you have a computer and internet access, you have everything you will need to have your art seen by millions of people all around the world.
How do you think it will feel when you wake up in the morning and find that someone has purchased one of your creations?
Let me tell you, it is a better feeling than having your first cup of coffee in the morning.
Before I talk about how you can earn extra money selling prints of your art I would like to share with you some online business courses created especially for artists and crafters.
The Art of Selling What You Make by Tara Gentile
How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Blogging to Sell Your Products by Megan Auman
Simple Email Marketing for Makers by Megan Auman
Brand Your Creative Business by Megan Auman
Why am I talking about taking courses in a post about selling prints online?
Because of the increase in competition.
It was easy for me to build an audience when I started selling my art in the early 2000s.
There where just a handful of artists who were selling similar artwork.
Today there are thousands of artists trying to make some money selling their artwork.
Investing in courses will help you to separate yourself from all of the competition online.
Ok now that we got that out of the way let’s go over everything you will need to know about selling prints of your original art online.
Who Should Sell Art Prints Online
Some artists might feel that if they sell prints of their original artwork, the value of their work diminishes.
Other artists might feel that generating extra income from selling prints of their artwork will help them when times are tough and original art sales are slow.
There is no right or wrong answer to who should be selling prints of their art. The answer all depends on your unique art business goals.
You might decide to only sell your original art part-time at craft shows or fairs.
Maybe you want to earn some extra money so you can afford vacations every year. (In that case, you might want to sell prints of your original artwork.)
Maybe you will only want to sell prints after your original art has been sold, and that is ok.
You might want to offer prints so people who can’t afford your originals can still enjoy your work.
As you can see there are many different reasons why you might decide to sell art prints or not to sell art prints.
Take some time and think about your objectives.
Where you would like to be in five or ten years from now?
Ask yourself, “Is selling prints of my artwork right for me?“
You will be the only person who can answer that question.
There is no right or wrong answer. You can always change your mind in the future.
If you are selling prints now and you decide in five years it will be better for your career if you don’t sell prints all you have to do is stop offering them.
The answer you give today is not etched in stone. Your business decisions will change as your art business grows.
If you are ready to start selling prints of your art online and make some money, continue reading. You will learn everything you need to know to get your art prints seen around the world.
Preparing Your Artwork For Prints
In order for you to sell your art online, you need to first photograph or scan your art.
A digital image allows you or a printing company to make copies of your art which you can sell on your artist website, craft shows, Etsy, art blog or POD sites.
The options available for you to make money from your original art are endless.
Different Ways You Can Sell Art Pints:
- Framed art
- Merchandise like mugs, shirts, calendars, keepsakes, etc.
- Greeting cards
- Postcards
Before you can start making money selling prints you have to first digitize your artwork.
Below are two ways you can create a digital image of your art.
Photographing Artwork
If your art is larger than A4 paper (A4 paper measures 11.69 inches x 8.27) you will need to photograph your art.
Taking a picture of your artwork can be a challenge. You might want to consider hiring a professional photographer if you are having difficulties.
The other option you have is to learn how to photograph your art yourself or ask someone you know to do you a favor.
Keep in mind, art sells online because of the quality of the image representing the art. People can not see the art in person or touch the work if they are shopping online. They will have to trust the image that is being showcased.
If you are going to be taking photos of your artwork you will want a decent camera. It is an investment but it will be cheaper than hiring someone to photograph your artwork.
Best Cameras For Photographing Art:
Sony Alpha SLT-A99 Digital Camera Body {24.3 M/P}
Pentax K-5 Digital SLR Camera Body {16.3 M/P} – With Battery
Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR Camera Body {15.1 M/P}
Tripod:
Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber 3-Section Tripod Legs 25-68.9″ –
Photographing Art Tips:
- Don’t place your art in direct sunlight or use a flash.
- Photograph your art in the shade or a well light room with natural light.
- Line up your art so it will be easier for you to crop.
- Take multiple pictures using different lighting. Digital images are free and you can easily delete the ones you will not be using.
Related Post: 7 Tips Photographing Artwork to Sell
The quality of your image will determine if your artwork will sell or not. I highly recommend dedicating some time learning how to take pictures like the pros.
The time you spend learning will greatly increase the chance of you landing a sale. Practice makes perfect. The more you do something the better you will be. Do not get discouraged at first. You will be learning as you go.
The good news is, if you do not like the images you took, you can take another one at no extra cost. That is the great advantage of digital cameras. When you capture the perfect shot, start making prints and post them online.
Related Resource: Craft Photography Fundamentals with Candice Stringham
Editing Your Digital Image
After you have photographed your artwork you will need to crop, resize for print and adjust the contrast and color to get your image to look as beautiful as your art does in real life.
Adobe Photoshop CC and Lightroom provides the best photography tools to organize, edit and enhance your photos.
Adobe Photoshop is a powerful software and will take some time to learn. If you are unfamiliar with Photoshop I recommend taking some courses.
There are plenty of tutorials that will help you to learn Photoshop in no time.
Related Resources:
Practical Photoshop Basics with Khara Plicanic
Photoshop Mastery: Fundamentals with Ben Willmore
Scanning Artwork
If your art is smaller than A4 paper, you will be able to scan your art.
I use and recommend the Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner – Corded for scanning my graphite drawings.
Details:
- 6400 x 9600 dpi for enlargement up to 17” x 22”
- Scan slides
- Removes the appearance of tears, creases, dust, and scratches
- Scans in greyscale
- Scans 9 x 11 paper
Related Post: How to Share Your Drawings Online
After you have a digital image of your artwork, you will be able to reproduce your work.
The options you have are, printing the images yourself, using a printing service or using a POD site.
There are pros and cons for both scanning your artwork or taking photographs of your art. You will need to determine what will be the best solution for you.
Best Place To Sell Art Prints Online
Now that you know how to make digital images of your art let’s talk about how to sell art online and make money.
You have a few different options when it comes to printing your art.
You can hire a local printing service to make prints of your digital images. The downside of using a professional printing service is that you will have to come up with the money upfront. If your prints do not sell you will be out of the money you spent.
Another option is to make prints yourself. There are professional printers available at very reasonable prices. The positive for printing your own prints is that you do not have any inventory. If someone orders a print online all you have to do is print the image and ship it.
After you have covered the cost of the printer everything is profit minus the cost of the paper and ink.
The other option you have is to sell your art prints on a POD (Print On Demand) service.
A POD service allows you to sell your prints with no upfront costs.
People can purchase prints of your art directly from the POD site you are using.
The POD site will collect the money, print the item and ship the product directly to the customer.
All you do is wait for your commission to be sent to you. The profit is low using a POD service but you have nothing to lose.
This might be an option you might want to look into if you are just starting.
Etsy allows you to integrate specific POD sites like Printful into your Etsy Shop.
After you decided how you will be printing your artwork, you will need to decide where you would like to promote and sell your art online.
There are many options that are available for you.
You can sell your prints at craft shows, fairs or online.
Even though more art is being sold online, it is still a challenge for many artists to be noticed online and land a sale.
You need to build an audience, build relationships, build trust and have images that accurately represent your work.
POD (Print On Demand)
The other option you have is to sell art on Third-Party POD websites.
POD sites (Print on Demand) are companies that will do all of the transactions with your buyers, print the product and ship it directly to the buyer.
You will not make as much of a profit selling your art with Print on Demand services but there are no upfront costs and you will not have to do any extra work.
Popular POD Sites:
One thing that makes Art Storefronts stand out from other POD services is that they will pay you immediately after a sale.
Some POD services will pay you monthly if you have to reach a required limit before getting paid.
Orders are printed on archival-quality inks and media.
Fine Art America is a name known by artists and photographers around the world.
Prints are available on:
Art prints, posters, canvas art, framed art prints, metal prints, acrylic prints wood prints, paintings, drawings, photos, digital art, greeting cards, and mixed media.
Fine Art America has recently started printing on merchandise on tech items, homes decor, and bags.
The next few POD services are similar to Art Storefronts and Fine Art America. Take a few minutes to look at what each service has to offer before you decide on signing up for an account.
Sell Your Art On Products
The POD services listed below are a little different from the ones above. Redbubble, CafePress, and Zazzle are known for providing prints on over 100 different items like mugs, shirts, calendars, buttons, etc.
Artist Website
If you are planning on selling your art online long-term, you might want to consider owning a website. You will have total control of your sites look, feel and you will have the option to sell original art as well as prints of your art. The possibilities are endless.
I recommend beginners to learn how to build a presence online with a platform like Etsy and learn everything about building a WordPress site and digital marketing. In the long run, you will be better off building a business on land you own versus building a business on rented land.
Related Posts:
How To Install WooCommerce On A WordPress Artist Website
How To Add And Manage Products In WooCommerce
Building a WordPress site is easier than you might think.
All you have to do is purchase a domain name and hosting from a hosting service like BlueHost and use their one-click WordPress Installer.
Within just a few minutes your site will be live and you can start designing it exactly the way you envision it to look.
While you are operating your Etsy shop you can start becoming familiar with all of the tools I use for my online business by visiting Art Marketing Resource.
Related Resources:
WordPress Dashboard Guide eBook
Related Post: Sell Art Online – 16 Websites And Website Builders For Artists
Etsy
If you are just starting out and you are not familiar with WordPress or building websites from scratch, you can start an Etsy shop very quickly and start selling original art and prints online in no time.
Etsy is a third-party site that was created for artists to sell originals. Etsy quickly built a large following. Collectors around the world learned that they could find unique original art and crafts from artists around the world.
In the beginning, Etsy would only allow artists to sell original artwork from the platform. Over time Etsy decided to allow artists to sell prints of their original art.
Art collectors will be able to view and purchase your art directly from your Etsy Shop. You will have to produce and ship the prints to your buyers.
Are you ready to start your Etsy Shop?
Related Resource:
How to Open an Etsy Store Video Tutorial
Starting an Etsy Store can be intimidating and confusing, I wanted to make it an easy process for you so you can start selling your artwork. There are 6 videos that will go over everything from start to finish. I will walk you through step by step. There is also a PDF that you can download and print with some extra valuable information.
- Video 1 Intro with PDF
- Video 2 Shop Preference Page
- Video 3 Name Your Shop
- Video 4 Add Items to Your Store
- Video 5 Select a Payment Method
- Video 6 Set up Billing
- Open Your Store
Print Your Art
If you are going to sell on a platform like Etsy, craft shows, fairs or you just think it will be more profitable for you, you will need to print your own prints or have a company print your work for you.
Printing Yourself
It is easy for anyone to produce high-quality prints and it has become very affordable.
Once you have paid off the printer your profit margin will be higher than working with a POD site.
Recommended Printers:
Epson Artisan 1430 Wireless Color Wide-Format Inkjet Printer (C11CB53201)
UPDATE: the Epson Artisan 1430 has been discontinued. Epson is recommending the Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Inkjet Printer as a replacement.
Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Wide-Format Color Inkjet Printer (C11C655001)
Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II Inkjet Photo Printer (3295B002)
Epson Stylus Photo R2880 Wide-Format Color Inkjet Printer (C11CA16201)
I recommend pricing these printers online so you can find the best prices.
Also, search for any coupon codes that might be available.
Fine Art Giclee Printing Paper
If you are going to print your own prints you will want to decide what paper you will be using.
Here is a list of some popular products artists are using.
- Hahnemuhle William Turner 310gsm Deckle Edge 8.5″ x 11″ – 25 sheets Available in different sizes.
- Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm Deckle Edge – 8.5″ x 11″ – 25 sheets Available in different sizes.
- Hahnemuhle German Etching 310gsm 11″ x 17″ 25 Sheets Available in different sizes.
- Hahnemuhle Museum Etching 350gsm 13″ x 19″ 25 Sheets Available in different sizes.
- Hahnemuhle Fine Art Bamboo Fiber Natural White, Smooth Warm Tone Inkjet Paper, 290gsm, 8.5×11″, 25 Sheets Available in different sizes.
- Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta 325, Ultra Smooth High Gloss, Bright White Inkjet Paper, 325gsm, 8.5×11″, 25 Sheets Available in different sizes.
- 11 x 17″ Photo Rag Baryta Fine Art Paper (25 Sheets) Available in different sizes.
How To Price Your Prints
If you want to sell your art prints and make a profit you will need to become familiar with the market. Take some time to research what people are paying for art prints and what artists are charging who have a similar artistic style as you.
The information you gather will give you a good idea of where your pricing should be.
Many artists price their artwork without knowing what people are willing to spend.
After some time when their prints are not selling, they start to change the prices.
Changing the prices of your artwork on a regular basis will only confuse your audience and scare off potential buyers.
A more productive plan will be to learn how much your artwork is worth and price it accordingly.
Keep in mind your art is only worth what someone is willing to spend.
Do not price your art with your emotions.
To create excitement, you might want to consider holding specials throughout the year.
Providing specials will help you to generate extra income while showing the buyers your regular prices.
The buyers will feel they are receiving a discount instead of becoming confused with sporadic price changes.
Related Posts:
How to Price Art – Ultimate Art Pricing Guide
Online Marketing Strategies
It does not matter what platform you are going to use to sell art prints online. For you to see any type of results you will need to learn how to market and promote your art online.
You can have the most beautiful art in the world and if no one knows it exists it will not sell.
Selling art online is easier than you think. It does take work but you do not need to have a marketing degree in order for you to be successful in selling your art online.
Are you new to selling art online?
There are five areas you will want to become familiar with so you can build a solid art business foundation.
Once you know what to focus on your job will become easier. Focusing and putting your energy into these five areas will separate you from your competition.
To make this learning process easier for you I came up with Sell Art Online Startup Plan.
The Sell Art Online Startup Plan is absolutely free and packed with easy to understand information to help you build a solid foundation for your business.
It does not matter if you would like to sell art online for extra spending money or if you are trying to build a career being an artist, you will want to take some time and become familiar with the startup plan.
Schedule sometime during the week for learning about all of the different types of online marketing strategies available.
You will not be able to learn it all in one sitting. Learn what will be productive for your business today and build on it.
There are a few key online marketing strategies you will want to learn about so you can build brand awareness and drive traffic to your listings.
What’s Next
Are you ready to make some money?
Don’t make the same mistakes many artists are making.
Many artists think that just because they have a good image of their work online, it will sell.
Uploading an image of your artwork is just the first step.
You need to promote your listing. People will not buy your art if they do not know it is available for sale.
You will want to schedule some time during the week to promote your art. Decide how much time will work best for your schedule and stick to it.
Keep in mind artists spending time on their art marketing plan are going to reach more people than artists not spending time on marketing.
Do you want to sell art online, or do you want to be the artist who just says they have art available for sale online?
Conclusion:
Can you make money selling art prints?
Yes, you can.
Selling art online is both exciting and rewarding and selling art prints online is a great way for you to supplement your income while you are waiting for your original art to sell.
All you have to do is decide who will print your product, what art websites you will use to sell your prints and learn how to market your art online.
How To Sell Art Prints Online And Make Money Overview:
- Who Should Sell Art Prints Online
- Preparing Your Artwork For Prints
- Photographing Artwork
- Editing Your Digital Image
- Scanning Artwork
- How To Sell Art Prints Online
- Sell Art Prints Online Websites
- Print Your Art
- Fine Art Giclee Printing Paper
- POD (Print On Demand)
- Artist Website
- How To Price Your Artwork
- Online Marketing Strategies
Popular Craft Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Are you ready to take your art business to the next level?
Investing in marketing courses and tutorials will maximize your profit and speed up the growth of your business.
Below are some of the most popular art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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Hey,
The post is unique and informative for me. The step by step guide of your post is just amazing for me.
Thank you, Ritika. I am happy to hear that you found this post helpful. Good luck with selling your art prints.
Dave
Hello. I noticed in the list of POD sites that Zazzle and Society6 were crossed out. How come?
Thanks.
Sharon
Hi Sharon, Sometimes when a link times out (takes to long to upload) there will be a line through it.
If there is anything else I can help you with please let me know.
Dave
What is the best way to price prints on a site such as fineartamerica ? Do you charge only a few bucks per each size hoping for many sales or much more substantial prices? I’ve seen some go up to over 200 on their markup on large sizes. I’ve never found a very good answer in their forums.
Hi Ellie, There are many variables to consider when you are pricing your artwork and reproductions of your creations such as you long you have been selling your art, cost of goods, time to create your art etc.
I have written a detailed post that I think will help you make a better decision for your prices. You can read it by visiting https://www.nevuefineartmarketing.com/how-to-price-art-ultimate-art-pricing-guide/
If there is anything else I can help you with just let me know.
Dave
Dave,
Great article, thanks for posting. One note on printers – the Epson Artisan 1430 has been discontinued. Epson is recommending the Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Inkjet Printer as a replacement. We haven’t tried the XP-15000 yet (still in the box) so can’t give an update.
Jeff
Thank you for the update, Jeff. Let me know your thoughts when you try it out.
What’s the standard for numbering and signing prints of one’s art?
Hello Ryan, the standard numbering and signing of prints should be determined by your goals. The lower the number of prints available the higher the value the prints will be. You will want to decide what will be most valuable for your art business.
For example, I know artists who have 250 prints available, 1,000 prints available and also unlimited prints available.
I hope this helps and good luck with your sales.
Dave
Thank you for all the information. I am still in the beginning stages, but this was really helpful information.
I am happy to hear that you found the post valuable.
Best wishes for your success.
Thank you so much for this information! My father is an artist but no one knows how to find his art etc! I hope to help him and this information is vital thank you
Hannah,
Thank you for your kind words and I am happy to hear that the content is valuable to your father. If you have not already be sure to sign up for the free newsletter. I send several art marketing articles every Friday.
I wish the best for your Dad’s art career.
Dave Nevue
Very helpful infomation for artists online. Thanks
Thank you Mark.