Printing your art for Artists Alleys

[Teira]

To those of you who've ever sold their art in and Artists Alley at a con or even online, I was wondering how you went about doing it? What sizes and dimensions did you go by, and did you go to places like Cat Print to print your stuff? (Prints, stickers, etc.) I'm asking because I've been put on a wait-list for an artist table. I've never had my work printed out before, except for a zine I participated in, so this will be new to me. Any tips, or anything to share about printing merch?

[hakei]

This tumblr blog has many great resources and answers: https://howtobeaconartist.tumblr.com/resources

I myself have only sold online and for me, people like to buy mini prints (6x4 or 7x5 inch) more than big prints, probably due to the cost of shipping. I've heard this is different than physical artist alleys where people are more likely to buy bigger prints (8.5x11, 11x17, etc.) but that may also change if, for example, you sell mostly mainstream fanart vs. niche original art.

Be sure to check each printer's specifications because some will require you to use different bleed sizes, file types, etc. Most will have a template you can download on their websites.

Companies I've tried that offer low minimum-quantity-to-order:

Cat Print was great for larger prints but I was very disappointed with the quality of their smaller cardboard prints (6x4 inch or 7x5 inch).

Vograce is another popular manufacturer that offers keychains, prints, stickers, standees, washi tapes, charms, etc. They're located in China so you'll have to account for international shipping fees and time. I only made PVC keychains with them but my friends who've used their prints/sticker/acrylic charm services have been happy so far. BUT sometimes they are very slow to respond or manufacture, especially during convention season.

Stickerapp does stickers only and I think their gloss option is nice -- the matte wasn't to my liking.

Zap Creatives is based in the UK and offers keychains, stickers, pins, etc. I printed an acrylic standee with them once and the quality was great.

Mixam does books and prints. I was happy with the quality of my prints but a friend was told by a Mixam rep to increase their order count to meet their - I guess - invisible MOQ so that's something to be wary of. Books didn't have the requirement. Shipping even within the US can be expensive.

[Shanny8]

I've only done 11" x 17" sized prints; I think about doing smaller sized stuff and then I just totally go away from that idea...I think it has to do with pricing more so than convenience.

In the past with stickers I used 2 sites- Make Stickers & Stickers That Stick. I thought about St**ker Mule early on, but when I found out they were funding the orange oompa loompa, I pumped the brakes on that. Make Stickers did a REALLY good job on my die cut stickers; they look really super nice...I used Stickers That Stick to print my sticker sheets- once again they look really nice.

Been thinking about investing in a Cricut or Silhouette machine, a new printer with super duper resolution and that can print on sticker paper and printing my own stuff- so that way I can not have to do 100 stickers and print smaller increments/series.

Not sure where you live, but as far as books go I only invest in 2 companies- Greko Printing(Comixwellspring) and Ka-Blam...both do POD(print on demand- digital printing) where you can print as little as you want(1-5 books) or as many as you'll think you'll need. the pricing is pretty affordable compared to offset printing(the type of printing that most mainstream comic companies use- which cost thousands of dollars). Greko is a little cheaper than Ka-Blam; their interior stock is okay, but I LOVE their cover stock.

Word of advice: do not wait til the week before the show to order- order at least about 3 weeks before. Save yourself the stress- also things could go side ways(your print format pages are off, ot out of order, or missing a page) and you'll need that time to fix things.

[DarkSena]

So you probably do a research of the cheaper studio prints who do a decent quality on digital print. Check online around you if there are some, it's always better if you go there yourself to check the quality of the print. I do rely on my prints being as accurate to the originals as possible so I do check it myself and adjust the saturation to get the best possible results.

Most artists go by three sizes of prints and these are A5, A4 and A3 as the largest. You better always print on A3+ format and I mean a ll sizes. If you cut these yourself at home you actually do save A LOT of money. If you let the printer do everything by themselves, they're going to charge you an insane amount of money for the manwork. CTP, pre-press, cutting, packing and delivery and it gets more and more expensive.

I print always for the one season, if you are starting is prob wise to make a bulk of 20 - 50 max. prints each motive. The largest prints usually sell the least (because many customers over here claim not to have a lot of space so they tend to buy very little of the largest prints) so prob A3 prints 15 - 20 max.

Stickers are tricky to do if you have no access to your own plotter machine. I do cut my stickers on a big Kongsberg plotter because I have access to it, but if you can't, then prob start with cutting it by hand or find local prints who can do this job for you for affordable many (I saw many other others cutting their stickers with scissors )

Good luck