085 - 3.5 Ways to Print and Deliver Photos to Your Clients

This week on the podcast, I’ll get into a question asked on Instagram about selling art prints and how to get into it. Selling prints is one of the most popular ways to make money as a photographer. And a great way to make extra money on the side. You don’t need to shoot full-time to make a little extra money selling beautiful photos.

But, the actual act of selling them and printing them and how that all works can be a bit of a mystery for most folks. So, let’s get into just that and demystify the printing process and all the options you have.

Alright, the basics. Obviously, you need some print-worthy photos. What that means is your call. But you need to be happy with selling them as prints. Next, you need a website or some way for people to find and know that your photos are for sale. There are any number of fabulous website providers, including Squarespace, WordPress (if you know how to build a site), and even Shopify (which would work reasonably well in this case). But look and find one that provides the things you need in a website. There are three things that I think everyone should look for in their site. Firstly, something that you can easily maintain and update yourself. You shouldn’t need to go to a web developer every time you need a spelling error fixed, or you want to update things on your site. Secondly, you need a gallery option that includes a sales cart where people can order your prints. And thirdly, you need some way to drive people to your website (a blog, marketing funnels, just something). You can sell through platforms like Instagram, but don’t put all your eggs into that basket, as it is a company that you don’t control that then has complete control over your sales funnel. Look for something that is under your control.

Alright, so you need some photos and a website to start. Now, let’s get into what this episode is really about, and that’s the options you have for printing your photos.

There are 3.5 main ways people go about this, and there is no right or wrong answer. For me, the right answer will come down to three things: 

• What you are comfortable with

• What you have time for

• What capabilities do you and your website have

So, as you listen to the three main ways, people deliver beautiful wall art to clients and try to decide what to do, keep those three things in mind.

Alright, option one for printing - dropshipping.

This is the least labour-intensive but also the least controlled method of printing fine art. Dropshipping is an e-commerce creation that means you have 0 inventory until someone purchases a product. A product gets created and shipped directly to your customer only once a purchase is made. For a photographer, this means that you will never see the physical art print before it is delivered to your customer. To do this, you need a website that ties directly into a print shop somewhere in the world. An e-commerce site from a company like Shopify makes this a great option - because they have a lot of options. But many other websites offer this integration (SmugMug and Photoshelter come to mind right away).

Alright, let’s take this back to basics and start at the beginning. You, the photographer, upload images to your e-commerce website, choose a print-shop partner, select the sizes and print types available for your work, set your prices, and then your website is ready to go. Your client goes to the website and chooses an image to purchase. They pick a size, print type, material, everything without input from you and pay for the piece. Your print-shop receives the order and the file directly from your website provider through some internet magic (I know it’s not magic, but it is pretty friggin amazing, so let’s call it magic). That print shop then prints your photo and ships it directly to your client. You get a payment in your account for whatever you set your pricing to minus the printer’s cost for their work and shipping. Voila, your client receives an image sent to them, you get paid, and there’s very little backend work on your part.

The good part about doing this is pretty obvious. You do the upfront work of taking the photos, setting up the site, working with the printer to get hooked up, and advertising that you have images for sale. But after that, you don’t have any work to do. The print company deals with everything. And, depending on the drop shipper, if there is something wrong with the print or the delivery never shows, they deal with it as well, and you don’t have to. This is a great way to scale printmaking, as it takes it entirely out of your hands. And if you are selling a lot of prints, this can amount to a ton of time.

The negative is also pretty obvious. You never see that print before it goes to the client. And that could bother some photographers, and others will not care at all. You also lose the chance to personalize your packaging or thank you notes (in most cases anyway, there are some drop shippers that will provide that service for you but at an outrageous markup), which makes it somewhat less likely someone will get a print from you again (as you lose that personalized touchpoint that turns them from a customer into a raving fan). The other negative is that you lose control of your customer chain and are beholden to another company’s customer service and product quality checks. If you choose the right drop shipper, this shouldn’t be a problem. Or if you are not looking to build a more significant business out of this. But, if you want complete control of your customer journey (from their first touchpoint with you through to the after-sales check-ins), you will not like drop shipping. Finally, you are limited to print houses that offer this service. This more than likely means you are getting things printed a long way away from you or your client.

Alright, so the first option is a fully automated printing funnel through drop shipping.

Next, you have the combo option. It provides auto-printing with you doing the shipping. The basics of this method work the same at the start as the drop shipping method. You do the upfront work - uploading images, setting pricing, etc. The client orders and pays, and your print house gets a notification to start printing right away. So all that is the same. It’s at the shipping point where things change. Instead of the print house shipping straight to your client, they ship the artwork to you. You then get the chance to open the artwork up, inspect it, look for damage, and - if you want to - repackage the piece into your boxes with your branding and messaging. You then take the work to get shipped to your client, and you’re done.

There are a few benefits to this process. You don’t need to worry about sending a shot to a printer; that automatically gets done and off to you. You also get the chance to see the work before it goes to your client and brand everything with your packaging, which can be a nice touch. You also get to have complete control over your customer journey - as you will need to deal with refunds, missing packages, and the like.

That’s also a negative, as this can become a tiresome and cumbersome issue if you constantly need to deal with package and shipping issues. You also have the double cost of shipping as you will pay for shipping from the print house and to your client. This is also just a more cumbersome process and thus more time-consuming. One other negative to this process is that you are limited to printers that offer drop shipping work.

Your third option for printing images is the most time-intensive but can also lead to the best costs and work. So it’s up to you if it’s worth it. It’s in-house printing.

The process starts the same - build a website, tell people you sell prints, the client buys something, pays, and this is where it all changes. You need to start dealing with everything from here on out. Once the client purchases an image, you should get a notification that you have an order. From there, you send the image off to the print house of your choosing (as you can work with anyone) and deal with pick-up, packaging, shipping, and anything else. It’s a totally hands-on process. This can be incredibly time-consuming and very rewarding as you provide personal touches to every order.

The benefits to this are pretty straightforward. You get a very hands-on experience with your customer journey - taking care of every step of the way. You get to work with any print house you want. This means you can work with the people just down the street to create more personalized connections, support local businesses folks, and help build up your community. Plus, you’ll likely get better service, and it will be pretty easy to get issues fixed right away. And no extra shipping fees. It’s all in all a huge win to be able to work with whoever you want.

The disadvantages are pretty massive as you will need to take care of a very time-consuming process and deal with any customer issues that arise. Plus, paying for all the packaging materials can get very expensive.

So really, it’s a battle of a better experience for your client (thus more likely to buy again and love your work) vs the time commitment to do so.

There is a fourth option, kind of, more like option 3.5. But I don’t love suggesting this to too many people as you need to be producing a large volume of prints to make it worthwhile. If you work professionally and sell lots of sub-24-inch prints or make lots of in-person sales, then this is a great option. Otherwise, it’s not great. Ok, option 3.5 is to buy a printer for yourself and create art prints. A good photo printer can run you into the $1000s of dollars and can be very costly and time-consuming to get everything set up right, buy the inks and the papers, and get everything calibrated. You’re also really limited to just photos and fine art papers. No metallics, canvases or other materials (typically, some take canvas, but they can be costly). But, as I said initially if you are doing enough work of a certain size or doing in-person sales, this is a great option. If not, I’d steer clear of it until you do this work. If you want to print many pieces for your own home or friends, this could work as well, but again it’s a costly and time-consuming option. So think carefully before investing in this piece. You also need the space for the printer and the paper storage (which may not be a problem if you get a small enough printer). 

So those are your three and a half options. First, Fully automated and drop shipping to your clients. Second, semi-automated with you shipping to your clients. Third, you doing everything but printing. And 3.5, you are doing everything - including the printing.

And that’s it. Those are your three basic options for getting photos from you to your client and the work needed in between. There is no right or wrong answer. Really, the correct answer is the one that suits your time, budget, and needs. And you are not locked into one option and only one option. You can start by doing everything yourself and move into dropshipping or vice versa. It is a fluid situation. You just need to understand how it will affect you and your workflow.