Craig Ramsay Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Hey guys, I'm being asked on quite a regular basis from clients for prints of my work, this is something I used to do for free but now I'm wanting to charge for it. How do you guys work out how to charge for prints? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 When I was freelancing I just used a local print shop for the large stuff. If a client requested a print, I'd call up the shop give them the specs for size, mounting, and if it was UV coated, then just through 10% on top of their fee for facilitating and that's what I'd charge the client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Yeah I could do that but I'd rather print in-house as we have a pretty nice printer that is well calibrated. I will however phone round to see how much the printers would charge for the type of prints that I'm doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonRashid Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Don't forget to charge for your time as well as the materials. I still charge printing out at £25/hour not including materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikinman Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I assume that you're talking about final prints and not in-process prints, which I don't charge for. We offer prints to our clients through a service bureau, and charge a 10% overage fee for the time. This is our official policy, as otherwise clients will sometimes want a ton of prints. But if a good client wants a single print of something, I wont charge for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 I assume that you're talking about final prints and not in-process prints, which I don't charge for. We offer prints to our clients through a service bureau, and charge a 10% overage fee for the time. This is our official policy, as otherwise clients will sometimes want a ton of prints. But if a good client wants a single print of something, I wont charge for it. Correct, I'm talking about final prints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 We charge a square foot fee that's comparable to the other printers in our area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markf Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I've always charge for prints. I charge $10 for 8.5 x 11 and $15 for 11 x17, limited quantities. This barely covers the cost of the ink and paper. I use a decent Epson Stylus Photo R1800 and the best quality Epson photo paper. Anything larger I turn over to a a service bureau and add 15% if I have to pay for it and shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Thanks guys, I've now set some prices that myself and my clients seem happy with. I've also invested in a continuous ink system for my Epson photo r2400 which I'm hoping will cut down printing costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt McDonald Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 We charge a square foot fee that's comparable to the other printers in our area. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Thomas Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Those continuous ink systems look great Craig, but there seems to be a lot of companies offering similar systems. Have you heard any info comparing quality of ink/systems from different suppliers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Stef, You really need to be careful with inks you use in your printer as I have heard some nightmare stories about people trying cheap replacement inks. I went for the Lyson continuous ink system (http://www.marrutt.com/r2400-cis.php) for my Epson r2400 after a lot of research. They seem to follow a high standard of quality control with their inks and they make some fantastic paper too. I've only just got it installed an hour ago, my hands are covered in ink that doesn't want to was off! I'll report back once I've done some testing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Thomas Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Stef, You really need to be careful with inks you use in your printer as I have heard some nightmare stories about people trying cheap replacement inks. I went for the Lyson continuous ink system (http://www.marrutt.com/r2400-cis.php) for my Epson r2400 after a lot of research. They seem to follow a high standard of quality control with their inks and they make some fantastic paper too. I've only just got it installed an hour ago, my hands are covered in ink that doesn't want to was off! I'll report back once I've done some testing Cheers Craig, that's exactly the sort of thing I was nervous about. We've got an Epson R1800 that I was thinking about trying it on but I'll happily let you be the guinea pig on this first if you don't mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 90 quid for ink. 40 quid for paper which is better than the repo can produce. Charge - yes. Anything above 2 prints is invoicable. Be up front, it always works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Ramsay Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Cheers Craig, that's exactly the sort of thing I was nervous about. We've got an Epson R1800 that I was thinking about trying it on but I'll happily let you be the guinea pig on this first if you don't mind! Well I'm up and running with the CIS and using a custom made profile from Nazdar. I can honestly say I'm blown away with how close the colour on paper matches my screen! Clients are very happy too... result!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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