If you’re starting a photography printing business, you’ll need a way to source prints to sell. While a professional printing service will take care of the printing process for you, you’ll still need to know how to prepare your photos for your orders. Here are some tips to improve your photography prints and preparation process to sell better products.
Choose the Right Paper and Sizes
Choosing the correct print type and size is an important part of the photography print-selling process. As you start your photography business, it’s helpful to offer a wide range of print sizes and types in a small supply. A wider range of images, print sizes, and finishes will encourage interested customers who have their own unique preferences to buy from you. Once you establish an audience for your photography prints, you can identify what sizes and types of prints they prefer based on buying trends.
Crop Images To Fit Dimensions
When printing photographs, your images may not always align with the dimensions of the paper you want to use. When you run into this issue, use the cropping or resizing tool in your preferred editing program to adjust the dimensions of your image. This can keep you from ordering prints with unwanted white space along the border of the photograph. Cropping and resizing also help you control which details you want to include in the composition of your photo.
Use the Proper Resolution
The printing standard for image resolution is 300 DPI or dots per inch. Having a high resolution prevents photographs and art prints from looking grainy or fuzzy when you receive them. Various photo editing and art applications allow you to raise the DPI of your image, so always check to make sure this reading is somewhere between 150–300 DPI.
Make Sure Your Color Profile Aligns
The last thing to double-check before sending your photographs for print is the color profile. You can find the color profile in your image settings. Cross-reference this with the color profile settings your printing service recommends for the best results. Choosing the right color profile, such as CMYK, can lead to brighter colors and more detailed images.
Use these tips to improve your photography preparation and ordering process to receive better prints for sale. While the picture-taking process is the most enjoyable part of running a photography business, you should put the same amount of effort into the editing and print preparation process.
