Submitting Duplicate Images With Different Crops

If you're happy cropping an image to suit a customer or changing the colour, then fine, do it. If not, don't do it. Everything else is just somebody's opinion.

I crop to produce an image with proportions that please me. If someone wants an image of mine to fit different proportions, I would say buy a bigger print and cut off what you don't want.

As far as multiple color renditions is concerned, I would be loathe to overload my portfolio with endless iterations of the same work - although I understand, for instance in the case of Jane's giraffes, the logic of offering choices. A couple of my own pieces might lend themselves to color variations and, were I to follow through with that thought, I would probably create a separate gallery titled "color variations" so that all the choices could be grouped together.

I applaud all those whose art is a business - meaning they not only plan to but DO sell their work. Ever since long before the internet, I wanted a venue to sell my creations - my Flying Horse being just about the original case in point. When I completed that pastel drawing, I thought wow this is fabulous, if only I could offer it for mass production and sell it to thousands. But I would rather play than work, and I create for the fun of it, and any sales I have made on POD sites were pretty much a happy surprise. Nobody has ever bought a print of my flying horse and that makes me a bit sad. He was originally blue. Maybe I should offer him in other colors. But I won't crop him.

Being an artist (or photographer) and earning a living has always been a bugaboo for the artists sensibilities. I remember seeing the movie about Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chapel - He was a sculptor - not a painter want to be - but money is how you get to do what you want - and while he may have groused about the work and perhaps even the pay and the overwhelming force used to make him paint it - he did it. Every artist may desire paint (or photograph) what they want - but if they want to make a living - they cater to the consumer, the people that pay for their artistry. If you have a day job, or a living income, you can do as you please to please only yourself. If you don't like dogs, but dogs is whats selling, you better learn to take dog pics.

I want to make money. I create images and try to supply for demand. Its not because I want to please myself. Sales please me whatever the crop or color they are. Do I have fun? Loads, photography my biggest passion in life, the whole process from seeing the shot to uploading to the site.

Semmick if you and others are happy displaying your work in that way and it works for you great. I think part of it is how we see the art we create, for me my art is created to please myself foremost, if other like it is a bonus, it's has never been for me about creating decor or as wallpaper. It is cropped and coloured exactly how I want it and I'm not changing it to suit anybody else. I come from the gallery system and have never been in a gallery where there is mutliples of an image varied only by tint, I have been in a furnishing shop that does, which lead me back to how you see your art and what devalues it. Will I lose a sale because it doesn't match the couch, possibly, is that important, not to me. Is my purpose for being on the site to sell, of course, but it's not what drives me to create.

Chuck said: "Jeffery I think a lot of photographers will crop any way that a customer wishes. Not that I agree with that, but I've had to do it a couple of times for calender submissions (they often want 8x10 or worse, 8.5 x 11)."

I think that is a valid point, Chuck, provided the photographer is working on a specialised, commissioned project, i.e., work for hire. However; since my work is already complete and for sale, should someone contact me via the message system and ask for something cropped to suit their desire I would politely decline. I also feel that if a prospective buyer if emotionally attached to any particular artwork of mine, then they will make things work given the array of sizes available.

"Perhaps we are discovering a difference between photographers and those who work in the digital art medium?"

Jeffrey,

I think you've made a very valid point.



"Same image in different color-scheme confuse buyers."

Viktor,

Gotta personally disagree with you there, but as we're all here providing our own view points on this subject, all of us are correct within our own viewpoints.

a href='http://fineartamerica.com/featured/purple-giraffes-jane-schnetlage.html' size='20'>

Just weighing in on the multiple colors issue. As digital artist, I love the ability to render work in more than one color. The images above are the same painting in three colors and I've sold all these images multiple times. In fact I once had one buyer who bought all three colors of the above image at the same time. So go figure. If you think multiple crops, angles or colors look good and compliment the image- go for it!

I think we here to provide customers with diversity of images and unique style not cloning. Same image in different color-scheme confuse buyers.

@ Carl, I dont think it does. Why? Now someone can choose their favorite color. This me providing choice instead of being limited. On this particular subject it works for me. It was just an example for the topic of this thread. Heck, even Andy Warholl did it.

On reflection, I think I will stick to the most common formats: Square, 4x5, and 5x7. More than likely, these are the formats that buyers are most familiar with. Too much negative space just looks funny.

I'm not that concerned with a personal vision. I'm here to sell. For me, it's a business.

Jeffery I think a lot of photographers will crop any way that a customer wishes. Not that I agree with that, but I've had to do it a couple of times for calender submissions (they often want 8x10 or worse, 8.5 x 11).

And this is for JC:

Personally speaking, I create my photographs the way I enjoy them, and if someone wishes to make a purchase because they agree with my vision, all the better. I do not make my photographs to appeal to others.

Perhaps we are discovering a difference between photographers and those who work in the digital art medium?

I see different crops (portrait/landscape), and different treatments (b/w,color. sepia, etc) as a means to offer a potential customer choices, as we all see things differently. I do it (mostly with some of my barn images), because you never know what might appeal to a customer, and what may fit their particular decor/theme they might have going on.

Tint and color CAN work in some situations. Both Andee and Angel have very good examples of when it works well. (Guitars and flowers if I remember correctly.)

More often than not, I do not like it but there are times it works and works well.

There are reasons to crop and provide a different format, offering buyers a choice, even of the same image. I do agree that tinting the same image in 9 different shades and colors doesn't work for me. The thing is, are you as the photographer/artist happy with the end product - the aesthetics of it.?

I am with Chuck in that I LOVE that FAA prints it as I send it but for a slightly different reason. I am a crop happy fool at times and it is SO nice not being confined by "standard" sizes when I do it.....

I also agree with Jeffrey. One of the reasons I signed on with FAA is because they don't force us to fit into the standard mold of sizes (8x10, 5x7, etc). I compose my shots in the format of my camera, and aside from creative decisions in post processing, I rarely crop anything.

I had someone on a different site send me a message requesting crop to the top 1/3 of a vertical image and print a horizontal 18 X 20. It turned out really well (I ordered another copy for myself to see) I had no idea the resolution would be okay? Will FAA do the same with that type of buyer request?

My original response was to check other photos for horizontal, I also sent a very small portion at the lower resolution (I was sure it would look awful...) She insisted I try with the original crop. Who knew? Think it was like 120 dpi?

Repeating the same image 9 times with varied tints does devalue the image. The uniqueness has been killed by the repetition and it merely looks like the artist doesn't know themselve how the image looks best and strongest. Digital art is just another medium to make art, the fact that it is here to stay and it's 2013 is irrelevant. Of course everyone to there own.

But there is art and digital art. Of course Rembrand didnt paint different crops, but that was a different time.

Here your image is printed on different media, from post cards to canvas to metal prints. A painter might not offer different versions, as there is only one painting. A digital artist is completely different, and doesnt make him less of an artist just because he offers a different crop or has more business sense.

I did apply filters to some photos, and put them up. Its just offering a different style of the same image. Its 2013, digital art is here.

Check out my lavalamp images, I shot it in red, but someone might like another color? So why not offer it?

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/semmickphoto.html?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=248688

With my Canon 5D the raw images comes out 24x16. I have to crop the images for 5,7, 8x10, and 11x14's, so I guess it depends on what you want to sell and what sells better in your opinion. I usually just submit the 12x18 because my files are so large and we can only upload 25 megs.

It can be done o course, but I fully agree with Jeffery here.

I do offer color and black and white of the same image if it works both ways and I will shoot a vertical and a horizontal of the same scene if it works for both. So, I am not completely against offering some choice.

Good point.

I understand what you're saying, Danny, but would Pablo Picasso (or any great artist) create two versions of the exact same subject to make people happy?

I see it a lot here - people applying a digital filter, for example, saying: "Well, they might like the blue one better." It cheapens not only their art, but the name, in my opinion. And these types I do not consider Artists.

Pick what you think looks best, you're the Artist. You have very beautiful artwork, I think. Why ruin it?

i think that would just confuse people... but some do sell square better so it's worth a shot.

---Mike Savad

It's not about cropping, so much, as it's about format. A square format on a 5x7 leaves a lot of blank space. If I provide an image in a 5x7 format, it will fill the whole card.

I don't think they should be able to crop our card image....I think we should set the crop ourselves , permanently.....then your suggestion would not be necessary. !