Do You Still Print Your Images?

I bought myself a decent printer in December just for that purpose, Robert. My old HP Photosmart (good printer for a cheapie) died last fall, so I got a consumer grade Canon that prints up to 19 x 23. Nice printer.

I've printed some of my vacation photos (some of which are posted for sale here) to put in an album because I still enjoy flipping through physical albums. I get tired of looking at everything on a screen.

It's a nice printer for the $400.00 plus $200 rebate (thus it only cost me 200). I didn't go with a more expensive one because I'm not printing to sell, but it does a nice job.

I don't personally print my images but I send them off to be printed. A good friend and a mutual photographer did print off several of my photos for the most recent showcase. It is one thing to see ones photos on a computer screen and seeing them printed off so one has it in ones hands.

Curious what service have you used for your books?

When an image is sold, I produce heirloom-quality prints personally as an integral part of the artistic process (fully 50%) on all venues except FAA.

Best wishes to all for success

I love to have a picture to look at or frame. I have printed almost every image I have posted on this site. I have a few favorite ones framed and in my house. I have given some pictures of images not on this site that were personal to them and I would not sell. I must be old school but I love to have the image in my hand to look at.

yes, every now and then i will print some pictures for my desktop frame

I eventually print and mat all of my portfolio images. I enjoy physical prints, and it's really the only way I can judge image quality. I have a large format Epson pro printer.

I "selectively" print. There's stuff I have posted here that I know is technically good and someone may like it, but it's not my personal taste. I generally print my personal favorites from a trip and that's all. I can't afford $150.00 every month for ink (and that's what it costs now days).

If I printed everything I post, I would probably go through 2 or 3 thousand dollars worth of ink.......as it is, I've not had to buy any yet but I've only printed about 50 album sized photos and 5 or so big ones.

Not often enough. Usually if I do the ink has dried up.

Not only do I print some of my images, I also shoot in film and develop and enlarge my own work. For me, there is still something about film that digital can't recreate. Plus I love spending time in the darkroom, its so relaxing.

I usually print a 4x6 of my newest artwork that I am going to upload, just to make sure it will print out okay for customers.

I would hate to have a nice sale and then have it returned because the colors were off.

I have an Epson Stylus Photo R3000, and it uses the same inks that are used here.

I also print and sell 13x19 inch prints on canvas on Craigslist.

Also, as Edward says, the ink dries up, so by printing a couple of 4x6s a week, I never have that problem any more.

Yeah, I need to print something pretty soon, it's been over a month now...

I wasn't doing enough printing to keep the jets clear (Arizona is dry) so I've stopped altogether. When needed, it's cheaper to use Staples for comps than to buy ink, and I'm fortunate to have a few high-quality giclee printers in the area.

I wrestled with the jets until about 2 years ago, when I purchased a Kindle Fire HD Tablet. Just as we can now have every song we've ever owned on our smartphones, my entire portfolio is on my Kindle, ready to show art lovers.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

I print my own images. Archival inks and papers only. It blows my mind that poor quality photographers are willing to put up their image for sale as a 30x40" print when they have never seen their own work at even 12x18. It's quite eye opening to print large, and doing so, and shooting for large print out put will drastically improve your photography. IMHO, if the end result is to print, then having control of that print is very much part of the artistic process.

I don't print as much as making products such as calenders, mugs, glass prints, a few framed prints, canvas, Christmas ornaments and so on.

Kevin Annala makes a good point. And I will add to that statement. I had a roll of film that I almost chucked in the trash because I wasnt happy with what I took, but decided to enlarge a couple of them anyway. I was blown away by how wonderful a few of them actually were. Sometimes you just don't know for sure unless you print (or enlarge if you work with film) them.

I print many of my images on an Epson Artisan 1430 at 13x19' size as a means of proofing my own work. That is probably the most important reason to print my own.

I also like having some prints to "have and to hold," as the case may be. :) I give some away as gifts and like to hang others on my walls. In fact, my wife and I are talking about installing a gallery display system in our living room.

I'm also going to have the opportunity to exhibit some of my work locally and plan to do my own printing, matting and framing. That way I can control every step of the process.

~ Bill
~ USPictures.com

My proof prints are all 14" and matted. It gives a good idea how the images will look in physical form.

Here are some of them, nearly 200 14" prints in 16x20 mats:

@ Murray - I'll likely got to 11x14 (matted and framed) for one of the places I plan to exhibit and may have to reduce the size to 8x10 (matted and framed) for the other.

~ Bill
~ USPictures.com

Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by how good some of the images print. I have one with a butterfly on tiny bits of gravel which I remember printing off several years ago. I printed out the picture on gloss photo stock and was shocked to see that the tiny bits of gravel became large polished stones. The colours were more vivid than I had expected too. I have a HP Deskjet 1280 which prints up to A3+ and a couple of Photosmart HPs which both do very well for the odd smaller print. I am just going to have a look through that photo book now to see if the colours are still as strong as when I first printed them.

yes i print my own images and sell them to whoever wants to by them. printing on an epson 3880. very big prints, my fine art printer makes them for me or i encourage people to buy them in faa.

I print custom prints for clients, most are illustrators .
One can not get custom print quality from any pod site/ production print facility- not at their prices.
Presenting work in a poor quality, low res, large print is the biggest counter-productive move any artist can make.
My printer is a Roland VersaArt RE- 640, which paid for itself in 5 months of production.

I do print and frame a few of my own images and rotate them around the house. I usually just print to test quality, though, at 8x10. I don't upload works here if they don't print well at that size. My Epson is developing issues, however, so I need to upgrade. Mary, yours sounds great for my purposes. I'm going to look into a Canon that prints larger. Thanks for the recommendation!

Robert, I have given away smaller prints as gifts. I bought a four-pack of 10" black square frames at Michael's (during one of their many sales), that have the mats included. Square formatted images look great in these, and they are a nifty size to give away. People have noticed these around my house, and were delighted to receive one. Well, so far, anyway!

After using a lab for a couple of years after my Epson 1400 died, I decided to go back to printing my own. Got a new Epson 1430, I use only Epson Ultra Premium Luster (B&H is much cheaper than the stores) and I have total control instead of paying $2.85 per 8x10 only to have them come back too dark.

I still use the lab for the larger prints and posters and for greeting cards, but until this printer dies (I think it's #6 now), I'll keep doing it myself.

Prints are the ultimate way to display your work. A computer screen doesn't hold a candle to a high quality print. I love to see my work hanging on my walls. That said I don't print my own but have them printed. Mostly by MPix but I have used others.

Depending on the monitor and video card.
Many digital galleries here in Manhattan are monitor display.

I have always personally printed and mounted my images for exhibitions as that way I can truly say it is all my own work.