How can I get quality prints made of my digital artwork?

Does anyone know of a reasonably inexpensive way to create quality prints of digital artwork?

In addition to using an inkjet printer, I have made photographic prints of my digital artwork. Neither method gave me the quality I wanted.

The inkjet prints looked cheap and the photo prints looked 'contrasty.'

If you know of a way to get good prints, please let me know.

Thanks!

Gus

My art site is here:

Are you asking about 'do it yourself' or are you asking for the names of printers who do this kind of thing??? If you live in the USA and have hi-resolution digital images, you might inquire at KINKO's or one of the other 'quick print' outlets that do this sort of reproduction.

Thank you!

I called Kinkos a week ago, but the customer service person did not know what type of printer they used for high resolution graphics (i.e., 3 color or 4 color), so I gave up on them.

Maybe I should drop in on a local Kinkos and see first hand what they have.

Thanks again.

Gus

If your going to be picky on a budget maybe the art work does not warrent

You bring up a good question: How much should it cost to produce a print?

At All Posters, posters sell for around $9.95. With this in mind, I am hoping to produce prints for about half that price.

Thanks.

Gus

Your at a point now where you need to talk to a print production specialist. Then run the numbers and consider if it's worth your while? And of course the practicle side 'will it sell?'

If the prints don't sell, I'll drive to the local PBS affiliate station and set half of them on fire in the lobby.

As flames tickle the ceiling, I'll leap into the fire, achieving the apex of artistic pretension!

Following the show, unscorched prints might fetch a buck or two. Perhaps I'll sell them from my hospital bed in the burn unit.

If this doesn't work, I'll ship the remaining prints to Forth World countries where they can be used as toilet paper.

My art will be appreciated at last!

Gus

Your at a point now where you need some serious help. Please look in your phone book social services section for your nearest mental health clinic. In the USA ,for most localities, it should be in the blue pages.

Thank you!

Your message was a lifesaver.

Looking in the phone book under 'social services,' as you recommended, helped more than you could ever know.

I feel a whole lot better now.

It helped not only to look up 'mental health clinics,' but looking up 'plumbing' and 'accounting' helped, too.

I recommend this form of therapy to everyone.

Gus

+> > +> +> If your going to be picky on a budget maybe the art work does not warrent +> reproduction. + +You bring up a good question: How much should it cost to produce a +print? + +At All Posters, posters sell for around $9.95. With this in mind, I am +hoping to produce prints for about half that price.

They are most likely 'offset' prints produced in the thousands, if not tens of thousands, and probably have an initial unit print cost of less than a dollar. You won't match the cost of traditional offset printing by any digital means - yet - but the quality of a digital print can be far superior and you can do them in small quantities.

Andy.

'I'm a great speller - but a hopless tpyist!'

Thank you.

My budget is extremely limited.

Are any of the current lower-cost printers on the market capable of producing superior quality prints?

Today I read about the Epson Stylus Color C60. It sells for only $100, but the prints are said to be fantastic.

Do you have any experience with good photo quality ink cartridge printers?

Thanks again.

Gus

Depends on how large you want them, but most good inkjet printers do a great job as long as you use good paper. I use epson ultra premium matte paper on an epson r1800 and the results are great. It can print 13x19 full bleed, and cost me $300. Ink is really expensive, so I purchased refillable ink cartridges on ebay. The make larger printers, but they can get expensive. Red river also makes good inkjet paper relatively cheap.

The R1800 is a great model, and so far we've had great experiences with epson service too. It does have an adapter for roll paper - which I could never get to work though...
For small prints the r340 or 380 it is now is good too, not quite the same quality, but still amazing. Use a good paper, say hahnemühle or a printable fine art paper (canson is pretty cheap) and the results turn out stunning...
the c series i think it is with the ultra chrome inks produces brilliant images, but it uses WAY too much ink so it gets very costly very soon...

Refillable ink is way cheaper, but it is hard to get the color balance just right, plus, in my experience it loses density over just a few weeks...

Fact is, unless you go into larger productions, it is hard to get the cost down.

If there is an artist community where everybody needs prints, you could look into leasing an epson wide format printer as a group...
(Cost: Lease is about $100 a month, ink is $100 per cartridge (it has 8 i think), but it lasts forever, canvas $3 a square foot of print, watercolor is about 2, mat paper a bit less. Paper by the roll is way cheaper, so it might even be worth getting and cutting it down to sheets if you are doing a large enough quantity...(example epson heavy fine art paper is $ 80 a box of 13x19 sheets, premierart watercolor 360gsm roll paper is $60 for a roll of 24" which has a lot more paper on it...))

Someone in a print shop near you will probably do canvas for around $6 a square foot, other media won't be much cheaper...

Kinkos does prints even on canvas pretty cheap, but nothing compared to Epson giclées.

As for selling your posters for $10 - sorry but respect your work and put up the price to $30 at least. Sign them by hand if you need an excuse for higher prices...
If you sell yourself too cheaply, people won't buy at all...

Little story to illustrate: I know this illustrator who had thousands of postcards of 1 image done, which he was selling for christmas at a market in Toronto. He was selling them for a dollar each. Next year he was back with the exact same postcards, and the next... He finally gave up... THe message he was sending out was, that his work was "cheap" and he didn't do anything new all year...
And trust me, just to save a buck per piece on production, it is not worth it ending up with extra stock...

Plus, if you pay cheap, you get cheap.