[CrisMitchell]

Hoping someone here who has had some experience printing their 645D images can lend a hand.

I'm trying to put together a few galleries of images available for purchase by print and am scratching my head on what size prints to offer since the images come out of the camera at an odd size and don't fit the normal 4x6, 8x10 convention.

Wondering if i should float the image inside the standard size paper as to include a white border or crop the image (which i'd rather not do) to a standard printable size.

Anyone who wants to weigh it i'd be greatly appreciative. Also looking for the standard list of sizes to make available if anyone has any opinions on that as well.

Thanks in advance.
Cris...

[adelorenzo]

You might want to consider a border on larger prints to leave space for matting if people decide to have it framed.

Where are you printing? Are you using a printer that ships direct to the customer? Or getting prints shipped to you? Or doing it yourself?

If you are doing them yourself or having them shipped to you, you could always choose the best fit paper and then trim. I just got some 16:9 prints back from Adoramapix, I printed them full size on 10x20 and then trimmed the small amount of paper on the sides.

If you are thinking about doing your own prints, I just bought this eBook and thought it was $5 very well spent, it covers a lot sort of these questions:
Craft & Vision | Making the Print

[Yamanobori]

I frame and mat to the image size.

[CrisMitchell]

Originally i was looking at having printing and fulfillment done through Millers Professional Lab via my Zenfolio account, but am now looking at the option of printing smaller size jobs myself and only using them for large prints. Verdict is still up in the air.

I personally don't mind leaving some white around the image, I think it looks nice and i guess framing isn't that big of an issue. If someone is buying these prints chances are they are going to custom frame them and not try to find a prefab frame.

Funny you should mention that ebook, i purchased it the other day and am about half way through it.

If either of you have websites with your prints and sizes available i'd love to see how you are setting them up.

Thanks again for the response.

Cris...

[Sixpm]

It will very much depend which country you are referring to when size comes into mind. In the good old days, people use 'photographic' sizes, country dependent of course, this would go from the standard 10"x8" to 30"x40" or beyond. But in the digital era, they come in office paper sizes, no longer working in photographic sizes any longer, I suggest you offer two to three sizes to suit different size wall (quality dependent), so people can chose according to their wall size, always allow white border for framing with or without matting.

I'm selling my prints via a local gallery, I have three sizes and they are A3+ (329mm x 483mm), A2 (420mm x 594mm) and A1 (594mm x 840mm), and occasionally some ask for larger print sizes so as long the quality can stretch that far.

[demp10]

Print them as big as you can afford. With the 645D that will not be an issue. Few people are willing to buy "letter-sized" prints that they can print themselves on their printers from their phones.

As a starting point think of 16" x 20" and up. It is a standard photographic size with many mats and frames are available commercially at that size to make framing easy and reasonably priced. It also put you outsize the sizes used by amateurs and enthusiasts, so collectors see added value in your work.

I print all my images for the gallery, and although I do some small sizes for special occasions, typically at 24" x 24", 24" x 30" or 24" x 40"+. My printer is 24" wide so I am limited to that. For a few special images I outsource the printing for 44" x 72" prints.

[FrankC]

Demp10, have you done a cost analysis between printing w/ your printer (printer+ink+paper) vs a pro lab like Bay Photo? I've seen one of the Canon ($999) printers that has 14 cartriges which would be abot $400 to replace all of them. It seems that printing at home may be the more expensive option.

[demp10]

Demp10, have you done a cost analysis between printing w/ your printer (printer+ink+paper) vs a pro lab like Bay Photo? I've seen one of the Canon ($999) printers that has 14 cartridges which would be abot $400 to replace all of them. It seems that printing at home may be the more expensive option.

Yes I did. Several years ago I was preparing a show for the gallery and needed 30 to 40 prints at sizes between 24x30 and 24x40, some on paper but most on canvas. At about $100 per print at the time and allowing for some testing and failed printing, it was obvious that getting an Epson 7600 at about $3,000 was the cheaper option. It does cost about $400 for a set of inks but using roll paper helps a bit on the cost and lets you use whatever size you want.

It all depends on the volume you are planning to print. For me it was obvious at the time, and I sold many prints from that show to pay for the printer many times over. Now, after the initial investment, it is just the cost of ink and paper which is much lower that any lab. After all they have to buy the same paper and inks and make a profit on top.

An added bonus making your own prints, it that you control the process and collectors appreciate the the print was made by the artist and not from a commercial lab, so your chances for selling it are higher.

[CDW]

I also create my own prints. The cost of large format printers has dropped to the point that when combined with promotional pricing on the part of the manufacturer and the distributor, they can be purchased at veritable bargains. After all discounts plus an incentive of an iPad2 from the distributor (which I sold), my Canon ipf8300 cost me $2300 including prepaid shipping. I sold my old ipf8000 for $1300, making the net cost $1000. A couple of large canvas print sales literally paid for it. The cost of ink per ML is also much cheaper in the larger 700 ML cartridges which, fortunately, don't all require replacement at the same time.

As someone else posted, it also is a selling point to be able to tell a potential customer that you control the entire artistic process from capture to print.

[Shuttershane]

As someone else posted, it also is a selling point to be able to tell a potential customer that you control the entire artistic process from capture to print.

+1 to this. I do my own printing at home.....but I do a lot of it. My Epson 7900 has paid for itself multiple times the past 2 years. I do portrait work mostly, so 80% of my prints are 16x20 and larger. Believe it or not the majority of those prints are canvas. 16x20 and 20x30's

I also own a r2000 that I use only for proofs and 4x6 and 5x7's. I was getting tired of printing out 100 5x7's and having to cut them.

[demp10]

I also own a r2000 that I use only for proofs and 4x6 and 5x7's. I was getting tired of printing out 100 5x7's and having to cut them.

I know the feeling. Few years ago I got an EPSON 4800 because of its tray feature. I had to print 360 13"x13" photos for a hotel project and I was tired feeding sheets one-by-one on the 7600.

Canvas works very well for large prints even with low MPixel count. The texture allows to print even with less that 100 dpi resolution with great results.