Create Art Online

As an artist of any nature, you’ve probably created a number of artworks that you just adore and fancied being able to sling up on your wall or locker. But what if that art is digital, or a photo or scan of the original? Yes, there are laser printers and most people have them, but a home printer just cannot turn out very good or very high quality. This is why these color home printers are affordable…lack of quality. And depending on where you live, there may be hardly any or no print shops around where you can have your work printed (non-chain print shops are best, by the way). In this article, I’ll instruct you on where you can obtain high-quality prints of your artwork right on the internet.

These are just a few of the scores of sites available at the moment where you can go for your printing needs.

• IPrintFromHome.com: This site comes highly recommended from several Etsy sellers, and I can see why. There’s a large variety of print sizes to choose from (3.5”x5” all the way up to 20”x80”), and they print on actual paper (not weird crap like ‘double-stitched buffalo hide’) with the options of matte, glossy, and metallic. Plus, there’s no price difference between the matte and glossy. An 8.5” by 11” non-metallic print is only $3.00. That’s a pretty good deal and by far the cheapest I’ve found.

• Deviantart: Countless artists here showcase their artwork and have the option of selling prints (of original works – can’t sell prints of copyrighted things). The base prices on DA are quite decent too – an 8” by 12” glossy print is only three dollars. They also have the choice of printing on more than paper…you can publish on jigsaw puzzles, magnets, calendars and coasters. And not only will they print your art, but you can get a little acclaim for your work at the same time.

• FineArtAmerica.com: Seems pretty self-explanatory. You upload your image, choose the print size and medium (various kinds of paper and canvas), framing, and off it goes to the printer. You can print as small as 6” by 6” or as large as 40” by 36”. Prices are fairly bearable, but not the cheapest; a 10” by 10” on regular matte paper is about seven dollars and some odd change.

• Zazzle.com: This place also features paper and canvas prints, and has some interesting paper choices (like satin and watercolor). Discounts are also applied for bulk orders. You can also customize just about anything on Zazzle, from mouse pads to buttons to coffee mugs. But as far as printing, it seems there are no normal small-scale options available – it has to either be poster-sized or greeting card-sized. Sure, you could just print on the larger paper and trim the art down, but that’d be a waste.

• CP-Digital.com: One of many Giclee-print websites available. For the lay people reading this, Giclee (pronounced “zee-CLAY”) prints are high-quality inkjet prints. I guess it needed a fancy name to make it feel special or something. Services here include printing on just about anything except normal, affordable paper – you can choose between photo-satin, cotton-watercolor, or canvas. An 8.5” by 11” of anything from here will cost you at least nine dollars and some change, not including the fifteen-dollar shipping costs. So, if you want to print on something kind of fancy, this is a good place to go.

• FinerWorks.com: Why’s it so hard to find places that print on something resembling actual paper? Anyway, this place is one of those few sites that will print on matte/gloss paper, canvas, or photo-satin paper. It’s a bit pricey for what it is, though – seven dollars for an 8” by 10” archival matte print. Yikes.

These are just some of the more affordable places where you can create art online…or prints of art anyway. But having a print source like one of these at your disposal can come in mighty handy if you need to make prints for various graphic design jobs that call for samples of the finished piece (like ad designs, brochure designs or CD booklets).