Question for the pros ( again )

[Blue_In_AK]

Does this sound fair? Too much? Too little?

5x7 $30
8x10 $50
11x14 $100

How does SmugMug deal with odd-sized prints? I'm always cropping my photos to what appeals to me esthetically, but sometimes they aren't the standard print sizes. Can that be accommodated or do I need to train myself to go to presets on the crop button?

[F.Gordon]

1. Not a pro... hope you will except a hack reply

I can't comment on the pricing. Seems oky-doky to me but others may bave a different take on this.

Smugmug crops pixies that don't fit a particular size so you have to be mindful of this. I'm trying to remember.. I think I only sell prints that fit the full frame format of the camera.... 8 x 12, 10 x 15, etc. If you leave it up to the buyer to do their own cropping they might get frustrated.

If you only want to say .... offer 8 x 10's then you might want to do your own crop so the print automatically fits the 8 x 10 format.

If YOU crop you'll need to look at all the print size options and figure out which ones would work best with your crop. I could be wrong but I think you have to keep the same prints in a particular gallery. You might want to move pano pixies to a different gallery so you can offer the same print size options. Or, put a little caption on the photos indicating which size prints would work best with that particular photo and give a link or instructions on cropping for your buyers.

Does that make sense? It's late. I'm not sure it makes sense to me.


Night'

[Blue_In_AK]

4. It kind of makes sense

and I did see that SmugMug offered some more unusual dimensions in their specialty catalog. I'm not sure how that works...I guess I should just deal with them directly and see what the deal is. You would know, as a SmugMug officianado, are they pretty responsive to inquiries from their users?

[F.Gordon]

6. Will respond almost immediately

To inquiries.

[wakeme2008]

2. I just did some non serious pictures at Walgreens

and one I wanted a 5X7 of and it was 1.99. 8X10s is 3.99. You can upload from your computer and order from there. One nice thing about Walgreens is you can direct the pictures to whatever store you want, and prepay if you want. That way you can send Grandma a set

http://photo.walgreens.com/

[Touchdown]

3. I wish I can help with PC users.

Apple's Aperture has a pre-formed cropping feature that gives a perfect aspect ratio for standard printing. I've never seen that on Photoshop or the other programs I used.

Another option is to get a trimming board (I got a nice, sturdy metal and tough plastic one at Costco for like 20-30 bucks, with a cutting wheel), the ones at Michael's are cheap crap though. Cut them, and measure the dimensions, then post the size on Smugmug, and sell it that way. If they want it mounted and framed, most framing places can do it custom for them. cutting mounts and mounting photos is also a money maker...make you a one stop shop. Charge $100 more for mounting and framing, and you'll make a slight profit. It's your artistic vision. Don't compromise if you don't have to.

I'm real bad at prices. I don't have enough confidence in my work to charge a lot yet. I'm charging $10 a sheet (8 1/2 x 11), because people usually buy a lot of wallets with portraits, and I can fit 9 on a sheet, or 2 5X7s, etc. I would suggest that you keep your prices that way for 2 months, then drop them is you don't get any bites. I don't have a big printer yet (I'm looking at the Epsons), but I have to pay off my new iMac first. Soeaking of big printers, would the 18"ers be worth it? I can get a 13" for $550.

[insane_cratic_gal]

5. I'm not sure

and I am not a pro, but you might have better success if you go around to other photographers sites on smugmug and evaluate your prices compared to theirs in the same genre.

Most seem to go for 8x10 is 30

11x14 is 50


5x7 20

http://www.smugmug.com/community/NaturePhotographers browse around their galleries and see if you can find comparable items and quality and price your stuff accordingly

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Thanks.

I guess it's probably better to start low and then raise the prices later if it looks like people are buying. I appreciate the link because I'm still finding my way around the SmugMug site.

[insane_cratic_gal]

8. I only looked at 3 galleries

so don't thank me.. I could be completely wrong about the price list, I'm only reporting what I saw in the first 3 galleries I looked at.


It's your art so your have to value that as an extension of yourself too, so you still have guessing work to be done