Wall art is all the rage – you only need to spend 30 seconds on Pinterest to see that! So if you’re an entrepreneurial creator looking for ways to earn passive income, learning how to make prints of your art is a great place to start.
It’s big business, too. The wall art market is expected to soar from $61 billion to $98 billion by 2030. So why not bag yourself a teeny, tiny sliver of the pie?
To help you get started, I’m going to cover the three key aspects of making money from your art prints:
- Turning your artwork into digital prints
- The different options for selling your art prints online
- Add-ons you can offer to make a little extra cash
And along the way, I’ll share a few stories of other artists so you can learn from their tips, experiences, and mistakes.
Let’s dive in.
Three steps to turn any piece of art into a digital print
To make money from art prints, you need to duplicate your artworks so you can sell them at scale. And that means turning your physical art into digital files.
So before we get into all the different options for selling your prints, we first need to cover the logistics of creating them.
How do you turn your art into a digital file? And, most importantly, how do you make sure the quality and colors are accurate? Keep reading to find out.
1. Scan or photograph your artwork
If you came here thinking there was some magical, super-expensive way that artists turn their work into digital prints, let me set your mind at rest.
You can make your art digital in the same way that you would make any other physical thing digital – by scanning it or taking a photo.
But of course, not every scanner or camera is up to the job. Experts recommend printing at 300dpi, which is a measure for the number of pixels per inch. So you’ll need a scanner that can recreate this quality or a camera that can shoot at least 12 megapixels.
If your artwork is smaller than A3, scanning your art is the best option. Here are three popular models for you to explore:
And if you need to go bigger, here are three great cameras for the job:
2. Clean it up in Adobe Photoshop
Once you’ve scanned or captured your artwork and sent it over to your computer, you’ll need to give it a spruce up to check it’s looking the part.
For that, I would recommend Adobe Photoshop. This has all the tools you need to remove marks that your scanner or camera has picked up. And while you’re at it, you can brush away any graphite smudges or inky blemishes that you don’t want to be in the final version of your print.
3. Print a test proof to fine-tune your artwork
Last but not least, create a test print of your art so you can compare it side by side with the original. This is ideal for checking the colors and making sure everything feels accurate.
If you opted for the HP Envy 6000, you’ll be able to print your proof at home. But you can’t just use bog standard paper for this job! Get yourself some high-quality photo paper, ideally 150gsm or over, so you can really get a feel for how it’s going to look.
We’ll talk more about paper stock later. But first, let’s look at the different options for selling your prints online.
Four options for selling your prints online
You’ve created your artwork. You’ve turned it into a digital file that’s ready to print. So let’s talk logistics.
Here are four totally different ways to sell your art prints online.
1. Print and post them from your own home
The first and most obvious option is to sell your art prints through an ecommerce site and print them yourself at home. This is the path Cristina Gómez followed when she started selling her illustrations as prints.
“I’m the kind of person that loves the detail and the connection between seller and customer,” says Gómez. “Printing and shipping them from home was something that truly connected with me.”
But it’s not easy, she warns.
“You’ll need to figure out which printer to use, the best paper to make them look great, and how you’re going to ship them. All of these choices are going to affect the price of the print. Quality of paper, ink, your work hours, the shipping materials,” she says. “So bear in mind that you’ll need to do a lot of Excel sheets!”
Illustrator Cristina Gómez
In the end, Gómez decided it was all too much work and opted for a print-on-demand service instead – which we’ll talk about next.
2. Connect your ecommerce site with a print-on-demand (POD) service
If you like selling through your own store but find printing art at home too much work, then print-on-demand (POD) may be a good fit for you.
As Gómez explains,
“POD is a great option because you don’t need to turn your home into a warehouse. They take care of the production and the shipping. And because you know how much it’s going to cost you, it’s easier to price your products in your shop.”
Illustrator Cristina Gómez
Gómez uses Printful herself, but here are a few other options you could explore:
Still trying to decide between printing at home or on-demand? Here’s how Gómez sums it up: “When I was producing the prints at home, I spent a lot of time packing orders, printing, buying materials – time that, with the POD system, you can invest in designing or drawing your next print.”
Good point, well made.
3. Sell your art through an existing art store
Want to simplify things even further by cutting out the DIY ecommerce store? Then sign up for a site like Society6!
Websites like this have huge audiences, giving you access to thousands of customers who are in the market for art prints like yours.
As Photographer, Luke Gram, explains, this gives you more time to focus on your art?
“I have never owned a printer. I have never had to mail items. I don’t process payments or orders. I simply take photos, upload, and watch my work spread around the world. Society6 really is that simple.”
Photographer Luke Gram
Looking for more options? Here are a few other sites you can look into for selling your art prints online:
And speaking of Etsy…
4. Sell digital downloads that people can print themselves
Now for the simplest option of all.
Sure, you could sell your physical prints on Etsy, just like you would on your own ecommerce site. But if you’re interested in making passive income on the platform, then selling digital downloads is where it’s at.
What you’re really selling here is PDF files, and you can offer different sizes at different prices to suit a range of customers’ needs. Then, once they’ve got their file, they’re free to print it however they like.
You get the money, they deal with the logistics.
Two add-ons you can sell to make extra cash from your art
By this point, you know exactly how to make prints of your art to sell online. But, before we go, let’s look at two add-ons you can sell to make some extra cash while you’re at it.
1. Posh paper stock
When selling art prints online, you should aim for a minimum paper weight of 150gsm. For context, standard printing paper is around 80gsm, so you want your prints to be at least twice the weight.
But once you’ve established your baseline, there’s no harm in offering more premium options for a more premium price point.
Want to double the weight to 300gsm? That’ll be an extra $30. Looking for a matte finish instead of gloss? That’s $20.
By offering a few different options for weight, texture, and finish, you can give a little more to those willing to pay for it.
2. Fancy frames
Another thing you’ll see on every art print site is the option to add a frame. For many customers, this is well worth the extra money as it saves them the hassle of finding one themselves.
And just like paper stock, options are your friend when it comes to framing. Oak or aluminum? Mount or no mount? Glass or acrylic? If you play your cards right, a fancy frame could double your sale amount just like that.
Final thoughts
So there you have it – a quick guide on how to make prints of your art to sell online!
To recap, you’ll need a high-quality scanner or camera to turn your physical art into something digital. Then you can use Adobe Photoshop to give it a clean up and print out a proof to make sure everything looks right.
When it comes to selling, you can print your art yourself and post it from your own home. But most artists prefer a POD service or to sell through an existing platform like Society6. And if none of that takes your fancy, you can always sell digital downloads on Etsy that your customers can print at home.
And don’t forget! If you are going to sell art prints in your own store, be sure to add optional extras like posh paper or fancy frames to make a little extra cash.
Featured image by Brad Starkey
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