Selling and Marketing Your Giclee Prints

How do you choose which paintings or artwork to reproduce as a limited edition Giclee print run? There is a cost involved in scanning any original artwork, which means you may have to be selective about which of your artwork to choose. After all the hard work you have put in to your work, it is not easy to be subjective about the choice. One way is to ask the opinion of the people who view your work at galleries and exhibitions, which artwork did they like the best?

Now how do you work out what to charge for each Giclee print? This can easily be determined by the cost of production - work out what the set up charge will be, this normally includes the scanning and proofing and then add the cost of each print in the edition and the cost of delivery to your customer. The minimum you might want to charge is double the base cost, some artists choose to set a price based on three times or even four times the base cost. Factors to consider are the number of prints in the run, set a higher price for a smaller edition and generally what you think the market will bear.

 

Open or Limited Edition Printing?

Once the scan or digital file from the original artwork has been proofed on the chosen media, the self-publishing artist or photographer can choose between open or limited edition print reproduction. An open edition print can be produced in any quantity and the image may also be printed on other media and used in other ways, such as a greeting card. Open editions tend to cost less than limited editions and are much less likely to increase in value.

Limited edition prints are produced in limited numbers, which makes the image more exclusive and therefore more valuable. The market price can even rise over time, if demand outstrips supply. Limited edition sizes vary, but can be any number from as few as 10 up to 500 and are usually signed and numbered in pencil by the artist with a commitment that no other reproduction of the image will be made. The Fine Art Trade Guild print standard sets a maximum edition size of 850 and when prints are registered with the Fine Art Trade Guild the publisher signs a legally binding declaration stating the extent of the limited edition print run, and confirms that the image will not be seen in any other form (e.g. open edition, greeting card etc).

Remember that a limited edition Giclee print run does not have to be printed all in one go; you are not committed to the high quantities or costs of traditional printing methods like offset litho. You can cut down your costs by only printing what you sell and you benefit from not having unsold prints that have cost you money to produce and may never sell at all.

Once the scan or digital file is made, you can print on demand - order as many copies or as few as you wish. You are not committed to the high quantities or costs of offset litho printing and therefore cut down your costs by only printing what you sell. You don't have unsold prints to store, and you also have the option to print your work on different paper types and at different sizes.

 

Marketing Your Giclee Prints

What's the best way to market my Giclee prints? Many artists use traditional means like art shows, art exhibitions, local art galleries, markets and street stalls. The key to success with art shows and exhibitions is choosing the right venues and being in the right location to be seen. Self-publishing artists and photographers generally do well selling smaller, low cost prints at venues that attract the general public who are looking for affordable art. The Artist's Guide to Selling Work - this is a guide to important points that any artist should know when trying to sell work, like selecting the right gallery, approaching galleries, pricing, terms and conditions, other options, artists' agents, working with publishers and public art commissioners.

Increasingly artists are turning to the web to sell their work, these days setting up a website is not that expensive but does require some skill to make it visible on Google. Don't under estimate the effort required to build and market your own on line web site to showcase your work. Make sure your web site is professionally designed if you want to inspire confidence in potential buyers, as nothing looks worse than a tacky art site, poorly put together. Contact Redcliffe if you would like a quote or just need advice on producing a fully e-commerce enabled web site to showcase your portfolio of work, we can also help you with choosing and registering a domain name and marketing your web site.

There is now a profusion of online web galleries to help artists increase their exposure and sell more work, most of these web galleries charge an upfront fee to appear on their pages or they make a commission on any sales made. If you look around you can still find some web galleries who make no charge, like Redcliffe's e-Gallery pages.

 

Your Local Art Gallery

Local art galleries are very effective venues for selling your work, despite their commission charges. Of course, not every art gallery will consider your work and you need to be prepared for some disappointments. The first step is to gather a portfolio of your best work; it needs to be an extensive body of work to convince any gallery owner that you are a committed and credible artist. Your local picture framers will sometimes showcase local artists; it never hurts to ask if they will also consider your work, particularly if you are one of their customers.

So you have chosen one of your original paintings to reproduce as a limited edition Giclee print, perhaps it's a piece you have just sold and you want to continue making some income from it. First decide how large to make the edition, remember that you can charge a higher price for a smaller edition. Now establish some way of keeping a record of all the sales made from this edition, it doesn't have to be complicated, just a simple notebook will do. Then as your stock of the edition runs low you can order a few more prints, this is the real benefit of Giclee printing - keeping your costs down by only printing what you sell.

For more information or advice on Giclee Printing call Tim Sale or Adrian Chambers on 0117 952 0105 or use the contact form to tell us your requirements, we can suggest the most appropriate solution for your fine art printing needs.