First photo sale - need a little help

[Scuba]

sorry I unintentionally said dpi and I meant ppi. I would be one that sometimes interchanges the two even though I know better. I hadn't looked at the second image for the correct aspect ratio. I knew the one image had been cropped to a 4x5 ratio previously. And yes both images are vertically oriented. KMH it seems you took the horizontal dimension and divided it by the 20" which would be incorrect for this image being a vertical orientation. So the ppi would be higher then that. 300ppi is what I have always heard for a smaller print that will be viewed up close and 200ppi is what is needed for a larger print. Will my files resolution provide a quality enough image to hang in a bedroom at 16x20 or should I just say that the file can't print that large?

 

[lamar]

Absolutely true....in my comment where I said "proper matting" (which is subjective, so ideas will vary) I was thinking about a print size that was such that the matting would be so very skinny or way too wide in a std frame size, that it might make one go to a custom frame to make it look correct to themselves or a customer. If I were framing for me, I'd probably live with a skinny or wide mat...to save the money.

KmH, so glad you got into the aspect ratio subject....SO MANY people do not realize this and how much of a problem it can be when deciding exactly how to crop/what size to print an image. If an existing image can't be cropped or changed to fit a standard frame with proper matting, it requires a custom frame, which really gets expensive!

One of the benefits of matting is that it's easy to create a custom mat yourself or order a custom mat, and it's inexpensive. So there is no need for custom framing, at least because of non-standard dimensions, unless you simply do not want it matted.

 

[Tony S]

If it's for someone out of the area that I cannot hand deliver I will have the print mounted to a single mat board up to 8x10 and double thickness for anything larger. Then I have the lab I use, Millers Labs, drop ship deliver to the customer. I have used them enough that I am comfidant the color and quality will be high and it is a huge savings on shipping from sending it back out myself. Since this is your first one, I would base the price on the cost ofthe print and shipping. Something in the area of 2 to 4 timesyour costs. After this, if you do more, then it will be time to figure your costs of doing business and all the other things that wouldbe figured into setting pricing.

 

[KmH]

Regular mount board will warp in a relatively short period of time if a print is not framed immediately. Gator board is not as bad, but is thicker which can be problimatic when tring to fit everything into the rabbet of the frame.

Gluing a print to a piece of mount board is not an archival mounting method, and can seriously shorten the life of a print. The mount board absorbs contaminants from the air. Those contaninants eventually degrade the print from the back.

Even acid free, archival mount board becomes acidic over time. Hinge mounting allows the mount board and front mats to be replaced as they become contaninated.

If I am going to put an 11x14 print behind a mat (or 2, or 3) in a 16x20 frame, I have the 11x14 image printed on 16x20 paper.

If I want the mat/mats to have an offset, bottom weighted mat window. I put the 11x14 photo on a 16x20 canvas in Photoshop and offset the image to bottom weight the mat will have.

Printing and framing are another sus-set of knowledge that anyone selling photos will need to become familiar with.

 

[KmH]

300ppi is what I have always heard for a smaller print that will be viewed up close and 200ppi is what is needed for a larger print. Will my files resolution provide a quality enough image to hang in a bedroom at 16x20 or should I just say that the file can't print that large?

It depends on the image quality and image content. 100 ppi may be plenty for a 16x20.