By David Saffir
If you already own a professional-quality camera and know how to use a pigment-ink inkjet printer to reproduce your own images, fine-art reproduction can be a viable and profitable business opportunity for you.
In this three-part series, I’ll discuss the fine-art reproduction business in more detail. In this post, I’ll describe why it can be such a profitable business opportunity. In Part 2, I’ll go into more detail about what type of equipment is required to get started and in Part 3, I’ll discuss how to attract customers.
Until recently, fine-art printing and art reproduction was expensive, technically demanding, and time consuming. Now, we can digitally reproduce nearly any type of flat art created with paints, watercolors, charcoals, pastels, or other art medium. We can print long-lasting reproductions in a variety of sizes and on a variety of art papers, canvases, or other materials. We can achieve great color fidelity, extremely good color rendering, and good control over the appearance of the final print. Best of all, we can do this at a reasonable cost in time and money.
Artists’ editions typically range from 20 to more than 1,000 prints. The great thing about digital fine art reproduction is that you can print an edition one piece at a time, or in multiples. If you choose to print one-offs (and use the same printer/ink/paper/profile combinations), you can be quite confident that the image colors and quality of each print will be extremely close, or identical, even if a few months elapse between one print and the next. Most artists don’t yet know this is possible. Many still believe they must print an entire edition at one time, which can be very expensive. Most artists I work with hire me to make two prints: one to show, and one to ship. When they sell a print, they order a replacement.
Start-up Costs
The cost of entering the fine-art reproduction business ranges between $10,000 and $45,000 for equipment and software. You’ll also have to factor in training and marketing costs. The cost of your initial investment in technology will depend on how much gear you already have in your studio. For example, you will need:
- a pro-model, pigment-ink inkjet printer (at least 24 or 44-in. wide);
- a medium-format camera;
- a good computer with Photoshop and other workflow software;
- a good monitor, and monitor-calibration tools;
- a method of creating custom profiles;
- specialized training in the art-reproduction workflow;
You don’t have to acquire all this at once. You can start by renting some of the camera or printing equipment, then buy equipment as the demand for your services grows. You may also choose to provide finishing and mounting services, or refer customers to a reliable framer.
In my first year of offering fine-art reproduction services, the wide-format printer, dedicated computer,and software such as Adobe Photoshop CS3. paid for themselves in about six months.
Plus, I have been able to use some of the equipment I acquired for fine-art reproduction for other types of general photography and wide-format printing jobs.
Pricing
Pricing for fine-art reproduction varies from region to region. Services for which you can bill clients include image capture, image editing, printing prep work, and the print itself. Here are few examples of typical charges:
- Image Capture: $150
- Image Edit: $50
- Print 20x30: $120
- Proof, 8x10: $45
The price per print should never be your main driver, either in quoting jobs to clients or promoting your services. Artists will pay higher rates if you can provide better print quality, are prepared to print extra copies whenever they need them, or have a rapport with you as a fellow connoisseur of fine images.Return on Investment
The ROI will be determined by your specific circumstances. In the scenario I outline on my own ROI spreadsheet, the printer is used for fine-art reproduction only, and the breakeven point arrives between month 6 and month 7. Your payback results will depend on how much equipment you need to buy initially and how quickly you can attract customers that want either multiple prints or will come to you for repeat business.
A Key Benefit: Repeat Business
The majority of revenue from the fine-art reproduction business comes from repeat customers. Once artwork is digitized and is kept on disk, the artist will want to be able to continue to order subsequent prints from you as needed. This ability to make one or two prints at a time can be a strong selling point, because it frees the artist from having to keep multiple prints safely stored and protected from damage until they’re all sold.
To summarize, the fine-art reproduction business is within reach of an ever-increasing number of photographers and artists. With proper training and a modest investment in tools that you can use for other purposes, you can be up and running relatively quickly.
In my next two posts,I’ll examine the technology requirements in more detail and talk about how to find and attract customers.
Posted
07-18-2008 12:14 AM
by
Eileen Fritsch