Print Sizing

Since my recent experience at an Arts & Crafts Show and my first hand viewing of metal prints
that were priced in the $1,000 range for 20x30 prints....I have an itch to finally print some of my stuff.

Will be displaying these at an upcoming show for ego gratification.
As all of my recent work has been photo-merged...large sizes are quite doable.
The question becomes "how big to print" without getting stupid...they will end up in our LR if they don't sell.

Well, if they are going to your living room in the event that they don't sell, then I would want to size them in a way that works well for the space you have.

Personally I much prefer larger prints over smaller. I would rather have a room with just two or three huge images on the wall than a dozen or so smaller ones, and would happily cycle my work out of storage from month to month should I get too much to display at once. I also happen to be horribly picky about my own work, and have only printed a handful of images in the last few years.


What is the largest practical print you can work with in your space? Is the cost of them acceptable and at a point that you can feasible sell them with a reasonable markup?

Size is driven by a) available exhibit space and b) available distance to view the print reasonably (not with your nose in it)

As anal retentive as I am, having the ability for nose length viewing distance is a requirement were I to print anything.
Whether it would be practicable is another question entirely.

I like to mat my images with a 2"-3" space, so I typically print 10 x 14 for a 16 x 20 frame, and more recently 18" x 27" for 24" by 30" frame.

I am wanting to try something for a 30" x 40" but my mat cutter won't do that big and I don't want to have to pay a store to mat it.

A 20"x 30" metalprint is a beautiful thing. That's what I do.

Larger images have more impact...visually
At an art fair that I do every year, in the past 2, I tried and sold a 32x48 canvas. I have it mounted at the back of the tent and they are always show stoppers because of the size. Small prints are for gifts for a lot of folks, my large ones are either bought for themselves, or for their business.