Turning Canvas Prints Into Your Own Small Business

If you have an eye for art, a way with words or if you’re a dab hand with a camera, then the canvas prints that you purchase with your images on can easily be turned into an additional stream of income for you.

With the economy still struggling to find firmer feet after austerity hit, most families are finding managing their budgets harder now than ever before. Having a way of making a little extra pocket money can certainly come in handy - and with the never ending the popularity of canvas prints, there are plenty of ways you can market your new arty products to collect some extra cash for the coffers.

So what kind of art works well as canvas prints? Well, it depends on your particular skill-set, but the following are some of the most popular ideas that have been tried and tested and are known to sell:

Digital designs - psychedelic, themed by room or topic, or anything you like – if you have some great ideas and the ability to get them down as digital designs, go for it!

Photos – whether you choose some from your archives, or head out to take specific shots for certain target audiences, it’s common knowledge that photos look great when printed onto canvas. You can even use manipulation software to add an extra dimension or special effects to your images.

Text – words can be just as powerful as pictures, so make up some catchy sayings or write a poem that will speak to the masses, then simply choose a fab font and an appropriate size canvas and away you go!

Stock images – you can cheat and use stock images you find online, but you need to exercise some caution here. Make sure they aren’t copyrighted or you could face prosecution! Read our tips on finding copyright free images.

Paintings or drawings – you can paint or draw a picture and have this scanned at high resolution into a digital file; this image can then be reproduced onto canvas as many times as you wish.

Once you’ve worked out what images you want to print onto canvas you’ll have a few more decisions to make. You’ll need to calculate your budget per canvas and then what you need to sell them for in order to make a profit that makes the project worth your time investment.

You’ll also need to select your best option for marketing your products too. There are plenty of ways you can do this; you can try online shops such as eBay or Etsy, or contact local businesses to see if they would be interested in selling your products on a commission basis. Local cafes, restaurants, craft and gift shops are all worth talking to – you can take some samples down and have a chat to see what kind of deal you can work out.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do, talk to us about order volumes and we’ll see how we can help; we can print and deliver on fast turnaround times too, so you’ll never have to leave your canvas customers waiting!