Turning canvas prints into profit

With the reduced costs and increased accessibility to high quality digital camera equipment, photography is a rapidly growing market and becoming a favourite pastime for many people. The ability to be able to process and edit images without the use of a photo lab or darkroom means that people can now instantly take, view and print photographs.  Computer image editing software is constantly evolving and now the standard home user can have the same capabilities as professional image editors.  Amateur photographers can take photographs with no special lighting or studio equipment and use image editing software to turn what appear to be average looking photographs into images that represent the type found in magazines or photography studios.

These techniques are relatively  low cost, so setting up a profitable photography business can be done on a much smaller budget than with traditional film based camera and equipment. Once successful photographs have been taken, money can be made by selling the digital prints. Photo quality A4 printers are available for low costs, so initially prints on photo paper can be sold. The relatively small size of these home printers limits the types of digital prints that can be produced.

Commercial printers like ESJ Designs offer photographers the capabilities of selling their photographs as large format canvas prints. The technology used by these printers means that canvas prints can be sold to photographers at low enough costs for the photographer to add their mark up and so make a profit. ESJ Designs sell their stretched canvas prints at trade prices and most of their customers are photographers who sell the canvas prints for a profit. Digital canvas printing is ideal for producing photographic prints for photographers as there are no cost implications in ordering just one canvas print. As plates or films are not required to print the image, there is no change in cost for the number of prints ordered. Discounts can be given when large numbers are ordered, but a major benefit of digital canvas printing is that the cost of producing twenty images, all of the same image is no different to the cost of producing twenty different canvas prints.

Types of canvas prints that you can sell

There are many different areas of photography that can be tailored for canvas printing. These include studio photography, commonly where portraits and family photos are taken. Clean images with photographs taken on white backgrounds are fashionable at the moment. Even if the photograph doesn’t have a white background when taken, image editing software can be used to add a white background.  These types of images make great canvas prints and people can justify spending money on them.

Landscape photography and nature photographs also make great canvas prints that are very sellable. Offices, pubs and restaurants are often willing to buy canvas prints showing local landmarks and if your details are printed on the canvas, this can be a very effective way to market and sell more photo canvas prints.

Exhibitions are a good way to promote and sell canvas prints. Most towns and cities regularly hold exhibitions where canvas prints can be displayed and sold.  Art fairs can be used to sell photos on canvas, especially landscape and nature images.