Carol Neff
Grumbler
Hey everyone, I have a customer that is interested in having his original paintings made into prints to sell. Does anyone out there know what he needs to do?
Having prints made from an original?
- Thread starter Carol Neff
- Start date
Bill Henry-
Brussel Sprout Connoisseur
I think it depends on what your artist/customer really wants; is he/she looking for a small edition or large one?
Giclèes tend to be very good quality, but are quite expensive per print. Generally speaking, you will not get too much of a quantity price break no matter how many prints you order.
Four or six color offset printing will, in the long run, be much less expensive per print if the run is large enough.
The trick is to find a printer who not only knows what they are doing but is good at it. One needs to work fairly closely with the printer to insure fidelity color reproduction.
I would suggest you contact a local art school and see who(m) they use as a printer. (Cap’n English, help me out here.)
Giclèes tend to be very good quality, but are quite expensive per print. Generally speaking, you will not get too much of a quantity price break no matter how many prints you order.
Four or six color offset printing will, in the long run, be much less expensive per print if the run is large enough.
The trick is to find a printer who not only knows what they are doing but is good at it. One needs to work fairly closely with the printer to insure fidelity color reproduction.
I would suggest you contact a local art school and see who(m) they use as a printer. (Cap’n English, help me out here.)
framah
SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
The other thing to think about is that when an offset run is done, you pay for all 250 or 500 or whatever in one shot.
When you have a giclee made, you can have 1, 10, or 100 made at a time allowing the artist to test the waters, so-to-speak.
Yes, each print will be more than the cost of each offset but the quality is considerably better and thus can be sold for more than the offset one would. I do this for artists along with my framing business.
I have a 4x5 transparency made of the original art and then I scan the transy into my computer. You can't make a really good scan with the average desktop scanner. You will not get the quality you need.
I have a Creo scanner that costs more than alot of the cars on the road in Maine. ( Of course, looking at most of the cars up here, that wouldn't take much!!)
I then print the art on my Epson 9600.
The best part of this is that while the printer is working, I can go back and continue framing. I don't have to sit and wait.
The last pieces I printed were 9@ 28x42 and took just over an hour for each to print.
So far, I'm only working with artists in my area as I like to have the original here with me so I can compare it to my print.
When you have a giclee made, you can have 1, 10, or 100 made at a time allowing the artist to test the waters, so-to-speak.
Yes, each print will be more than the cost of each offset but the quality is considerably better and thus can be sold for more than the offset one would. I do this for artists along with my framing business.
I have a 4x5 transparency made of the original art and then I scan the transy into my computer. You can't make a really good scan with the average desktop scanner. You will not get the quality you need.
I have a Creo scanner that costs more than alot of the cars on the road in Maine. ( Of course, looking at most of the cars up here, that wouldn't take much!!)
I then print the art on my Epson 9600.
The best part of this is that while the printer is working, I can go back and continue framing. I don't have to sit and wait.
The last pieces I printed were 9@ 28x42 and took just over an hour for each to print.
So far, I'm only working with artists in my area as I like to have the original here with me so I can compare it to my print.
Whom is correct, Bill. Use whom for the object, and who for the subject.
Framah hits the nail on the head with regard to the fundamental cost difference between offset printing and giclee. Inventory cost is much higher with offset, even though the per piece cost is less, because you are getting the price discount by having a whole bunch done at once. And you have to pay for them all at once, leading to what Harald Johnson describes as the "what do I do with this stack of prints in my garage?" syndrome.
Unless your client has a ready market for a significant number of prints AND finds the lower quality of offset printing to be sufficient, giclee is probably a better way to go. That you have a plethora of choices for papers and inks is a bonus.
Framah hits the nail on the head with regard to the fundamental cost difference between offset printing and giclee. Inventory cost is much higher with offset, even though the per piece cost is less, because you are getting the price discount by having a whole bunch done at once. And you have to pay for them all at once, leading to what Harald Johnson describes as the "what do I do with this stack of prints in my garage?" syndrome.
Unless your client has a ready market for a significant number of prints AND finds the lower quality of offset printing to be sufficient, giclee is probably a better way to go. That you have a plethora of choices for papers and inks is a bonus.
Warren Tucker
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Carol, we make Reproductions from originals. To give you some idea of the process, we first scan the original on our Cruse Synchron Light Art scanner (it's a wide format scanner- we can easily scan 40 x 60" and have scanned a canvas 45 x 72 for a client). Next we color correct the scan by making proofs on an Epson 9600 with an Ultrachrome matt black ink set. The artist approves a proof and then we're able to print reproductions. The scan for anything up to 30 x 40 is $50.00 and we charge another $50 for the color correction. Our charge for printing on canvas is $15/sq.ft. (multiply inches x inches and divide by 144 and multiply by 15). The printing charge includes coating the canvas with Clear Star which makes the reproduction very flexible and waterproof, the coating also has uv inhibitors. Currently we prient on either an Epson 9600 or 10000 depending on the color gamat needed. Soon, next month, the 9600 will be replaced with the new generation Epson printer, the 9800. We'll have a 9800 with Epson's new K3 ink set with matt black and a 7800 with the K3 inks and a gloss black for photographs.
Reproductions printed with our methods are commonly refered to as giclees whether printed on canvas or paper (we do either). See our web site. Warren
Reproductions printed with our methods are commonly refered to as giclees whether printed on canvas or paper (we do either). See our web site. Warren
Bill Henry-
Brussel Sprout Connoisseur
Now, I’m really confused! If “whom” is objective, shouldn’t it be “Who is correct, Bill”?
I’m gonna have to rethink my whole CD collection … since my favorite group is now, apparently, “The Whom”.
Thanks, Mark, bad grammar is something up with which I cannot put.
AWG
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Let me shill for Warren - I've used his scan and print to reproduce an antique print that hangs in a client's office (no copyright issues)
The work is first rate - after retouching and filling in missing parts the scans are better than the origianl. He does LOTS of this work for artists in the area -- first rate.
The work is first rate - after retouching and filling in missing parts the scans are better than the origianl. He does LOTS of this work for artists in the area -- first rate.