After some bad experiences with a print company I was using for my art prints and greeting cards, I’m now printing my prints and cards at home!
In this post, I will cover how I’m printing my art prints and cards and my experiences and thoughts so far.
I was so nervous about doing this originally, so I outsourced my printing. What I would do was I would bulk buy my prints and cards and then ship them out when I got an order.
It got annoying when I had to constantly reorder or if the print order was messed up (which it often was). So I decided to just pull off the bandaid and try printing at home, and spoiler alert: it’s amazing and I wish I started doing this years ago!
What I was scared of at first was the cost of buying everything I needed to print at home. Being a small business and purchasing a semi-expensive printer, paper, and ink upfront is a bit scary. But honestly, in the long run, I am going to save money this way. I don’t have to pay shipping fees for packs of prints and cards to be shipped to me now, and, I can print whenever I get an order! So that means less inventory I have to store in my tiny little home studio.
What Printer I’m Using
I am using the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 to print my art prints and greeting cards at home. This printer is AMAZING and the prints come out looking exactly how they do on my computer!! It’s seriously crazy. I highly recommend this printer for anyone who wants to print their artwork at home.
Setting up the printer was so easy, and it fits perfectly in my little studio. This printer has 8 inks, so buying the pack of inks is a little expensive but it’s so worth it.
What Paper I’m Using
After literally weeks of searching for the perfect paper, I found it. I’ve learned that the paper you use is SO important. I tried a few different papers and I couldn’t believe the difference when I actually found a great paper to work with.
Red River Paper has excellent paper for artists and photographers and I cannot believe how great my work looks printed on it.
I started off by buying a few of their sample packs, which helped me so much in finding the paper that was perfect for my needs. I highly recommend it!
Along with having super amazing paper, their customer service is also great.
Final Thoughts
Printing art at home is not as easy as clicking file-print. It does take some practice and trial and error to get your perfect print. I figured out what settings are best to perfectly print my art in one night after watching some helpful YouTube videos. It’s really not too hard, you just have to be patient and learn from the process.
You can now shop my newest art prints on my website and my Etsy shop!
I plan on writing many more blogs with actual tutorials for printing art prints and greeting cards at home, so come back again in the future to see what I have posted.
Thanks for reading!
-Amanda
I would like to know more about printing at home. Do you cut and score/fold these yourself? How do you package them? What do you charge for ship? Sooo many questions! I would appreciate any tips you could give me. I have a set of 12 and wonder how to price this out, how to package them, etc…
The paper I buy from Red River is already scored, so I just have to fold my cards after they are printed. As for pricing, packing, and shipping, it’s very broad and depends on many factors that is different for everyone. It has taken me years to figure it out and get a good system going. I ship through USPS First Class, and if over a pound, Priority Mail. I recommend searching on YouTube to see what others do and just trial and error. I always package cards/prints in a cellophane sleeve, then I put them in a rigid mailer. All my shipping supplies are linked here: Shipping Supplies
I hope this helps a little bit!!