All artists need money and a number of ways to earn income online. When the quality of my work improved I started exploring ways how to sell art printables online as an artist.
Print-on-demand sites are a convenient way for artists to sell their artwork online. These sites allow artists to upload their designs and have them printed on a variety of products, such as t-shirts, mugs, and even phone cases. The artist sets the price for their designs and the print-on-demand site handles the production, fulfilment, and shipping of the orders. This eliminates the need for the artist to hold inventory or manage the logistics of fulfilling orders themselves.
Selling art printables online can additionally also create a platform for you as an artist to reach a wider audience and grow your fanbase. Let us look at the steps you need to take to start selling printables on the internet.
Choosing A Suitable Online Printable Platform
You will need to consider some key factors when you choose a print-on-demand (POD) site. The first thing I personally check is whether they offer the products I want to sell. Some may offer only wall art, decor and furniture, some will have gift items like mugs, pens, calendars, and more while others might have apparel like t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps etc.
When you have selected the site that offers the item you want, then carry out your own research to ensure the POD site offers high-quality printing and production. You can check out customer reviews and compare samples from online reviews, social media sites, forums, and even the POD sites themselves to get a feel for public opinion on their product quality and service delivery and overall reputation.
Product prices might also be an indicator of the quality of the item(s) POD stores offer. A shirt that can be customised and shipped for $15 might be very different from one that costs $35 after customisation and shipping. You as an artist will need to decide the best price point at which you would want to enter the market i.e. whether you want to sell luxury or affordability.
Creating Artwork When Selling Printables Online
If you want to sell printables online, you will need to create good quality artwork that appeals to people who want to buy your art. Do you work in traditional or digital mediums? Depending on which one you work in, there are certain steps you may need to follow to create professional-quality artwork for your printables.
First, take a look at the size/ dimension of the print-on-demand site you are using will require artwork should be uploaded in. It is important that you create art within these dimensions. If you already have some existing art, do they fit within these dimensions? And if they don’t, can they be somewhat cropped to size without losing parts and making them unappealing? You would also want to take note of the format you would need to save your design. The most common format is usually PNG however, many sites do offer additional file formats like jpeg, ai, PSD or even pdf.
Another thing to keep in mind is the resolution of the file you will upload. Many sites will require a resolution of not less than 300 dpi and higher. You as the artist would also want to ensure that you upload the best quality images possible so that the finished printable appears sharp after printing.
If you are a traditional artist, you scan and upload your artwork, fill in the description and other information and your product will be online. However, if you are a digital artist, you will need to choose design software and there are many free and paid options available. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate and ClipStudio Pro are some paid ones. The most important thing is that you choose software that you feel comfortable using and that offers the features you need. Use your chosen design software to create your design digitally. When you are happy with your design, save it and export it in the appropriate size and format.
You are an artist. Do not compromise quality. Produce exceptional designs at every given point. Selling art printables is competitive but rewarding so you have to put your best foot forward every single time you are creating a design for printable.
Creating Your Product Listing
Once you are done with the artwork, you need to create a product listing for each of your art printables on the platform you have chosen. This is where you stop thinking like an artist and hone into the left side of your brain to think more logically.
You will need some knowledge about keywords and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). More importantly, you need to carefully read and understand the guides about filling in the product description on the platform you are uploading your artwork to. On a general note, you need clear and detailed descriptions plus relevant details about the product and artwork. I sometimes take a look at the descriptions of the bestsellers in that product line to have a sense of how to create my own product description. I never copy and paste and I advise you never to do so. Put a spin on your own unique description.
After crossing your i’s and dotting your t’s, you can publish your product and it will go live. This means it will be available for sale on the internet. It is important to know that some platforms will first have to approve your listing so there might be a slight waiting period of about 24-72 hours after which they will tell you whether your product listing has been approved. If you get a rejection, it is not a death sentence. They will usually state the reason why and if you work around it and improve your listing, they will approve it. If they do not state a reason, just pop in a mail to support and politely ask them what went wrong and what you can do better.
Promote Your Products
Publishing your printable product is only a guarantee that they are online but not a guarantee that they will be found by people who love them. You have to spread the word about your art printables through social media, email marketing, and other online channels. Also, consider offering discounts or promotions to encourage people to try your products.
Getting the word out is what get’s people interested and eventually puts money in your pocket. However, truth be told, most artists find content creation and promotion tedious and would rather focus on creativity. In the world we live in, embracing it as much as you can is inescapable.
I will suggest two methods to achieve this. One way is by setting time aside every week to fully concentrate on promoting your printables online across your social media platforms and your website (if you have one). Another way is to outsource your promotions to a virtual assistant or social media manager. You can find such people on freelancing sites like Upwork, Freelancer.com or even LinkedIn and negotiate a budget for weekly or monthly work. I set aside time weekly for promoting my work but I will be outsourcing to an affordable social media manager very soon to enable me to focus on my creative project deliverables.
Continuity And Persistence
I’ll let you in on one final secret. When your printable has been uploaded, it is not a time to fold your hands and wait for that printable to bring in millions. Getting success selling art printables does not usually happen like that.
Have you ever gone to an online store to buy an item like a mug or even a notebook? Can you see the hundreds and even thousands of products you see? There is one thing that most of the top sellers unconsciously do to get their products within the reach of several customers; they create loads of designs and keep clients coming back for more.
Variety is the name of the game. Aim to create at least a hundred designs. Yes, 100 designs. You are an artist after all, wing it! Even people with design skills to write only texts do this so as an artist, you possess the superpowers to do more.
Sometimes, when artists grumble about not making any money online, a closer look will reveal they only created probably two or three products and expected a miracle. This is a game of numbers. Go overboard and give it all you’ve got if you want to make a decent income from selling your art printables.
Rounding Up
If earlier on, you did not understand how an artist could sell their art printables online, you probably do so now. Brick-and-mortar stores are no longer the only option for commerce in the real world and the same is true for artists.
Gone are the days you needed to get a physical studio space or gallery representation to showcase your art and attain any success as an artist. In the age we live in, from the comfort of a space or corner in your home, you open up your artwork to people and invite them to take a piece by offering them printables.
It is an income-earning option that will be here to stay for a very long time given the advancements in internet technology. Here is a non-exhaustive list of several printable shops below to help you get your feet wet and hopefully start selling your own printables online.
List Of Print-On-Demand Shops
- RedBubble
- Society 6
- Zazzle
- Printful
- Redbubble
- Society6
- Teespring
- SPOD
- Printify
- Apliiq Dropship
- Teelaunch
- CustomCat
- Lulu Xpress
- TPop
- JetPrint: Print On Demand
- AOP+ Easy Print on Demand
- Gooten
- Merch By Amazon
- OGO
- Inkthreadable
- Aapliiq
- JetPrint
- CustomCat
- Teechip
- HeatPressFun
- Threadless
- PrintAura
- Printy6
- LuluDirect
- AOP+
- Sellfy
- FineArtAmerica
- Displate
- DesignByHumans
- Printivo (Nigeria)