Art Print Business Plan, With a Projection

An art print business plan sells a painting many times. The original takes days and sells once; a print of it costs a few dollars in paper and ink and sells again every weekend. So the plan has to cost each print honestly, frames and booth fees included, decide which prints are open editions and which are limited and numbered, and remember that the profit is what pays for the painting. In the example below, a painter in Delaware sells open-edition prints, signed limited editions, framed prints and sets of mini prints at art fairs and online, and ends the first year about $31,200 ahead on $60,100 of sales. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: the art, the prints, where you sell, the goals.
• Cost a print from the paper and ink up: the sleeve or frame, the minutes of signing and packing, the fees.
• Open editions sell the most; limited editions sell for more because there will only ever be so many.
• Framed prints sell for more and leave less a print, because the frame costs more than the print.
• Art fair booth fees are a big fixed cost; count them.
• TaroStack keeps prints counted by image and size, editions by how many are left, and frames as stock. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Cape Henlopen Studio, a made-up painter's studio in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, I use in these examples, writes:

Cape Henlopen Studio paints the Delaware coast in oils, and sells giclée prints of the paintings, printed in the studio on a pigment printer, at art fairs from spring to fall, at a gallery, and online.

Part 2: what each print costs

The painting isn't in the cost: its days are paid for out of the profit, which is the point of selling prints. A limited edition comes with a certificate and its number, say 12 of 50, and when the 50 are sold, that print is gone for good. How to price the originals themselves is a different sum; how to price anything handmade is in how to price handmade items.

Part 3: customers and prices

At full speed the open-edition prints bring about $2,790 of the month's $6,440 of contribution, the limited editions about $1,460 from 15 sales, the framed prints about $1,130 and the mini sets about $1,060. A framed print sells for more than three open editions but leaves less than three, because the frame, mat and glass cost $22. A gallery that takes half changes all of these; what that leaves is the same question as in how to price handmade items for wholesale.

Part 4: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $1,065 a month: studio rent ($400), art fair booth fees averaged over the year ($400), the website and online shop ($40), marketing ($150), insurance ($40), and software and card fees ($35). Sales start at 15% of full speed and reach it in month 11:

The year's sales are $60,080 and the profit $31,207, which is what pays for the painting. The packing and framing are paid in the variable costs, about 24 hours a month at full speed. Art fairs bunch the sales into spring, summer and fall weekends; the projection grows evenly, so print and frame ahead for each fair.

Part 5: the startup budget

Printing in the studio costs a pigment printer and a good scan of each painting; a print lab costs nothing up front but more a print. At $31,200 a year, the $5,300 spent before working cash is earned back by month 6. How many prints to bring to a fair is in how much inventory for a craft fair.

Get the template

Download the art print business plan workbook. Four sheets: your prints and sets with price, variable cost and a month's volume at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales, profit and cash; your fixed costs; and your startup budget with working cash. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

Thirty images in three sizes, limited editions of 50 with some numbers sold at fairs and some online, frames in four sizes, paper and ink by the roll and cartridge, and a fair next weekend. A notebook can't say how many 8 × 10 prints of the lighthouse are in the bins, how many of edition 3 are left, or what a framed print costs now that frames went up.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps prints counted by image and size, editions by how many are left, and frames as stock.

Prints by image and size. Each image and size is an item with its own SKU, counted on a phone at the studio or the fair, so the lighthouse 8 × 10s in the bins are a number.

Editions as stock. A limited edition is an item that starts at 50 and only goes down; how many are left is a number, not a page in a notebook.

Prints and frames as recipes. A framed print is a recipe of its print, frame, mat and glass, so framing a batch takes them off stock at what they cost, and frames come up on a reorder list in days of cover before a fair.

Counting, recipes and reorder lists are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

Is selling art prints profitable?

It can be. In the example, a painter selling prints at art fairs and online ends the first year about $31,200 ahead on $60,100 of sales, which is what pays for the hours of painting.

How much does it cost to start an art print business?

In the example, $6,800: a pigment printer, scanning the originals, paper and ink, a first order of frames, sleeves and mailers, an art fair setup, a website, and $1,500 of working cash.

How do you price limited-edition prints?

Higher than open editions, because there will only ever be so many. In the example, a signed and numbered 16 × 20 print from an edition of 50 sells for $120 and leaves $97.47.

Should I print my own art prints or use a print lab?

Printing in the studio costs a printer and good scans up front and less for each print; a lab costs nothing up front and more a print. Count the prints you'll sell in a year and compare.