Every Picfair photographer can sell images as prints alongside download options, through your own store and simultaneously on our marketplace. This Q&A guide covers everything you need to know in order to get the most out of selling your images as prints on Picfair!

Read on:

I’ve just signed up to Picfair and want to sell my images as prints, how do I get started?

When you upload your images to Picfair and they’ve gone through our moderation process, they automatically become available to purchase both as digital downloads and in a range of printed products, from both your store and the Picfair Central Marketplace.

And that’s it! You don’t need to do anything else to get started with selling your photos as prints, Picfair takes care of everything!

For a customer to buy your photo as a print, no further action from you is required as this is a fully-automated process. During the order process, the customer will select a print product type, finish, size, provide a delivery address and pay via credit or debit card.

The print will then be produced and shipped directly to them by our print partner, and like any other sale on Picfair, you’ll receive an email inviting you to cash out the money and you’ll also be able to see this from the ‘Sales and Orders’ section of your account.

What products can my images be printed on and at what sizes?

The following three types of print products are available for images on Picfair:

The print products are offered in a huge range of sizes and orientations and are designed to fit the most popular print sizes. They start from 18cm x 13cm (7in x 5in) and go up to 60cm x 40cm (24in x 16in) with increments in between. Availability will vary from product to product, depending on the individual images uploaded, and where they are being delivered to.

Images may also be cropped to fit different print sizes and we recommend trying out the print buying process in real time for your images to see the different sizes and products available for your photos.

How are the print products priced on Picfair and how much can I make?

The price of a printed product will consist of the price you have set for your image, and on top of that production and delivery costs (set by our print partner), and Picfair’s commission which is 20% of the image price. Picfair Plus users also have the option to add an additional custom commission to print prices, which you can read about here.

The amount you will receive for the sale of your image as a print will consist of the price you set for your image, regardless of the size or type of product the customer has purchased, as well as any additional commission you have set for prints, which is added on top of the price for the print.

Here’s an example breakdown of the cost of a print:

Can I set different prices for different print sizes and products?

No, whilst the production costs are different depending on the size and product type, photographers cannot set their own prices for their image depending on the size or product. However, we may add this additional functionality for photographers in the future.

Where are the prints made, and how long does it take for products to be delivered to the customer?

Picfair has teamed up with a global print partner who has printing locations in different regions across the world, and the print will be produced in the closest print facility to the delivery address in order to keep the delivery costs as low as possible.

All products are made bespoke to order, are professionally finished, and canvases and framed prints also come ready to hang, with this in mind, ordering a print and having it shipped out is not an instant process. Production and shipping times will vary and are depending on the product, location and whether the customer chooses standard or expedited shipping. 

As a guide, product turnaround times with standard shipping is estimated at 5 to 12 business days with international shipping (where applicable) taking up to 21 days. An estimate of the shipping time for each order will be given during the checkout process.

Is there any reason why some print options might not be available?

We restrict the size of printed products people can order to those where the dpi of the resulting image would be a minimum of 150dpi. Anything with a dpi less than this would result in a pixelated image that we don't feel would be of a high enough quality to show off your images to the best extent.

Do you have any recommendations for the size and dimensions of images I should upload when selling them as prints?

Once you upload an image it will be available at all print sizes we offer as long as the original file has large enough dimensions to meet the minimum 150dpi requirement.

Uploading images with dimensions of 5000-6000px and above along the longest edge will open up all the print sizes we currently offer. And we also recommend sticking to the standard aspect ratios for photos, 3x2, 1x1, 4x3 (most common aspect ratio for images taken on phones).

Can cropping occur on my images when they are bought as a print?

Yes. Images uploaded to Picfair can be printed in a range of different sizes and aspect ratios, which are in line with the most popular print sizes on the market.

This means that some cropping may occur depending on the product/ size the buyer has selected for your image. We know from experience that buyers like to have flexibility when it comes to how the images will look as a printed product, and because of this, buyers have the option to crop and position the image themselves as they would prefer.

As previously mentioned, we always recommend sticking to the most common photographic aspect ratios (i.e. 3x2, 1x1) so there will be some sizes available where no cropping will occur, but as mentioned above there will always be an element where a buyer may choose to crop the image themselves.

Can I order prints of my own images, and can I send these along with a personalised note?

When it comes to ordering your own images as prints, yes you can. But these orders will be made and treated the same as any customer order, so you will also need to pay the licence cost and any additional commission you have set for your image.

In order to buy one of your own prints as close to production cost as possible, we would recommend temporarily changing the price of your image to the lowest possible (£1), so that you can order a print almost at cost, and then reinstate the original price once you've ordered the print. Read more about how you can change the prices for your images here.

At present, it isn’t possible to add a personalised note with a printed product, but we may add this in the future.

I only want to sell my images as prints, can I opt-out of digital downloads and only sell prints?

No. Any image uploaded to Picfair is also available to buy as digital downloads on a licence basis and at present, it is not possible to opt-out of this and only sell your images as prints.

Is there anything else I need to know?

This Q&A guide should cover you for everything you need in order to get started with selling your images as prints on Picfair, but you can also check out our FAQs page for any additional information you need, here.