subject: Create Digital Images from Your Art [print this page] One solution for selling art online is to sell prints of your fine art rather than selling the original artwork. Whether you are creating the prints yourself or uploading the images to be sold through a Print-On-Demand (POD) hosting site, you will need to create high-resolution scans or digital photos of your art. If your work is small you can simply scan it in on a flat bed photo scanner or photograph it yourself with a high resolution camera and then import those photos into your computer. Of course, if you are a digital artist, then you're already there.Scanning large format artwork can be outsourced to a printing or graphics company. Keep in mind that some printing companies use a roller type scanner that is not suitable for all artwork. For example, if your original painting is created in pastel, putting it though a roll or drum scanner will probably damage it. You would need to find someone who has a large flat-bed scanner or scanning camera. Companies that specialize in creating Gicle or Iris prints can handle this for you. It requires that you send them the original painting and then they will create very high resolution images of your artwork. Consider asking them for a smaller jpeg image as well since the file size produced for high quality Gicle prints can be massive.Another option is to locate a fine art photographer that specializes in photographing artwork. If you can find one in your area, you will save a lot of money in shipping and packing expenses.If you prefer to take the do-it-yourself approach and want to photograph your own artwork, there is plenty of free advice at your fingertips. Just enter "How to Photograph Fine Art" in your internet search engine and select the instructions that best fits your needs and equipment.Once you have your artwork in digital format, consider adding a watermark to the image that will be displayed on the website. This will help protect your artwork from piracy, but it's not fail safe. Anyone proficient in Photoshop can probably remove the watermark image. Be sure to add the watermark to a copy of your digital image and save the original image for creating prints.Some of the art hosting sites provide an option of automatically watermarking your art image which saves you the trouble of doing it yourself. The watermark is only present on the web image and will not be reproduced on the printed image.Make sure you backup your images to an external storage device. It's also a good idea to copy them to CDs, DVDs, or thumb drives and store them offsite as well. Anything can happen so it's better to be on the safe side and have multiple copies of your work.After you have produced digital images of your artwork there is a variety of ways that you can sell those images. Screensavers, for example, are easy and fun to make and can be sold on CDs or as digital downloads. Consider expanding your product base by creating art merchandise such as calendars, coffee mugs, mouse pads, Tee shirts, tote bags, hats, etc. You can either create these products yourself with a dye sublimation system or make Print-On-Demand products through sites such as Zazzle or Caf Press.Now that your artwork is in the digital realm, the opportunities are endless. Just use your imagination and create something unique.
