Signed Prints

hkbphoto

How would a photographer go about signing digital prints for sale via either SmugMug labs? How do you sign a digital print? I never understood how this was done on film format. Do you just sign a print and give it to the client? Is it really that simple, or is there more to it?:dunno

Hikin' Mike

hkbphoto wrote:

How would a photographer go about signing digital prints for sale via either SmugMug labs? How do you sign a digital print? I never understood how this was done on film format. Do you just sign a print and give it to the client? Is it really that simple, or is there more to it?

I sign the print using an archival pen on the bottom right....but I don't use Smugmug for my nature stuff.

hkbphoto

signatures

Hikin' Mike wrote:

I sign the print using an archival pen on the bottom right....but I don't use Smugmug for my nature stuff.

Quiet frankly, my signature is not the easiest to read. I don't think anyone would appreciate it. I don't.

termina3

Many professionals who work with pro labs will use a foil imprint/emboss process that produces a small, sharp, non-distracting but noticeable logo (usually a script name) in one of the image corners.

Unfortunately, this is not possible through SmugMug--or even Bay Photo directly.

Milers does: http://www.millerslab.com/info/products/printsfinish/foilstamping.aspx

Also, fine art photographers will of course sign their work, usually on the mat, but may adapt their normal signature to be more readable. Or not.

If I'm providing "just a print" for less than $20, I won't sign it.

Reeflections

termina3 wrote:

Also, fine art photographers will of course sign their work, usually on the mat....

This is a point I would love to hear comments on. Some photographers sign the mat and some sign the print. There is an argument to be made for either.

I sell my matted prints from a small gallery and I sign the print because some customers plan on changing the mat to match others or just because they want their "framing guy" to mat it as well. I mat all of my pix with an inexpensive single mat for the same reason. My prints are matted to 11x14 and 16x20. People also buy unmatted prints at 12x18, 16x20, 16x24, 20x30 and 24x36. These of course I have to sign on the print.

If I sell a completely framed work (this happens seldom since most of my customers are traveling), I could sign the mat but since all of my other prints are signed I do the same.

I feel like the value of the signature goes with the print rather than the mat.

Love to hear other thoughts though....

termina3

I prefer the look of sharp, crisp pencil on light mat rather than a marking on the print itself.

Also, I haven't found a marking tool that consistently and permanently marks the prints…

dlplumer

I use Picnik from Smugmug.