TimD

My granddaughter is doing some paintings (one example attached) to sell as a fund raider for a charity. Rather than just selling only an original, she would like to make some copies to sell at a reasonable price. What is. a good source, best media, etc. to do this? Objective is to be able to sell the copies at a reasonable price ($20 +/-) so we're not necessarily looking for high dollar professional giclees, etc. here. Typical sizes would be 11"x14". Thanks for any help!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some links -

http://www.artistsnetwork.com/articles/art-demos-techniques/how-to-photograph-a-painting-step-by-step
https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/how-to/marketing-your-art/708/how-to-photograph-your-artwork
https://canvasgicleeprinting.com/how-to-photograph-your-paintings-for-print-reproduction/

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

You might take some photos of your granddaughter's (excellent!) paintings hanging on a gallery wall, with a portion of the wall included for context. /Ralph

(Download)

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

??

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Not so much of a ??. Actually, it was an example of what I was suggesting. And here is another.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If you are just looking to make copies to be matted and framed and you don't want to spend a fortune in lighting to take the image and even more when you print, I suggest you place the artwork on an easel, near an open garage door where blue sky and no direct sunlight is coming in. Set your camera on a tripod, slightly above the artwork so that you can aim it down towards the work which will be angled slightly back - the goal here is to have the camera sensor parallel to the art. Do a custom white balance using a white or gray card, and use the gray card to determine your exposure. Make sure the work is flat, use an Fstop of F8, a low ISO, like 100, and whatever shutter speed you need to make the exposure correct. You will get very decent reproductions. You can then decide if you are ok with C prints - chromogenic (silver emulsion) prints shot with a laser and deveoped using C41 chemistry - with the paper options (not many but it may be good enough) - or you want a more "artsy" feel and quality using fine art paper. The $20 price seems to indicate you are leaning towards the former. You can get these done at Costco, Mpix, White House Custom Color, Bay Photo etc. You can expect to pay between $7 and $9.50 fro an 11x14. If you use Bay photo and you are ok with doing image corrections yourself, you can get an 11x14 for $4.00. The others will be in that range, more or less.

If you go the inkjet on art paper route, then I highly recommend Millers.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I think the ?? was why you would sell copies of a painting as the framed painting on a wall. And especially if they're not even straightened up like the second one.

BebuLamar

How big is the artwork? If they are only 11x14 I would just scan them.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

Great question! My step-son (a very good artist) wants to reproduce some of his work at the request of those who appreciate it.

Thanks, Gene! Great advice!

TimD

Thank you all for the help and advice! Just the information I was looking for!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You are most welcome, Bruce!

Hsch39 Loc: Northbrook, Illinois

Great information Gene51.

Kissel vonKeister Loc: Georgia

Great suggestions. I would recommend using a polarizer turned carefully to eliminate reflections. They may not look like reflections, but can kill the color richness. And yes, that's a talented young artist!

delkeener Loc: SW Rhode Island, USA

Noted recently that AdoramaPix is having a sale on their excellent printing service. 11 x 14 's between $6.00 and less than $4.00 depending upon finish and quantities. See https://www.adoramapix.com/photo-prints

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

You don't necessarily need a polarizer to copy flat art.
Two lights at 45º angles should do the trick.