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Protocol for selling a print.

mporter012

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Nov 25, 2012
Messages
383
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
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Analog
When selling a print, do you give some type of certificate stating some information about the quality of the print (i.e. silver gelatin, ECT) or some type of authentication?
 
I enjoy knowing a print is Silver Gelatin, and appreciate knowing the paper, developer and toner. I like to know you made the print yourself.

I don't know what ECT is, but will assume you mean Electronic Check Truncation. ECT is not required when selling prints. ECT helps reduce overall banking costs by eliminating paper handling. ECT makes an electronic equivalent of a paper check. Symbolically, ECT is a step in the wrong direction for members of APUG. To completely avoid ECT, I would recommend trading prints.
 
For my prints I put up for sale in a gallery or similar venue, I put a label on the back of the mat with my name and some sort of contact info, the title of the photo and the media it's printed on (i.e. silver gelatin), the print is singed on the back in pencil, and i usually sign and title on the over mat. I don't include technical info.
I have a print on my wall by another photographer, it has a statement on the back describing that it was processed to archival standards in addition to the info I outlined.
Ilford is now including tasteful stickers stating that it's silver gelatin paper that you could also include on the back (assuming you're using Ilford papers).
 
no rule

There is not any such rule that I know of but it would be nice to know what kind of print it is and if there is any hope a print one buys will outlive oneself. I am led to believe there are, in fact, no standards for ink jet prints as to how long they will last.
 
It's usual to describe what type of paper is used, assuming it's a wet print, such as fiber, etc (silver gelatin is a generic term that refers to any non inkjet photographic print w/ any sort of emulsion actually), and I like to give the film type info as well. Absolutely indicate that it's a traditional B&W darkroom print, if that is what you have. You really need to indicate how many prints have been made from that negative, although a lot of people skip right over this step, and how many you intend to print, just as you would w/ any type of multiple (7/25 would indicate that what you have displayed is the 7th print out of an edition of 25), as well as the date it was printed. A signature on the back is nice, but I don't always do that w/ a photographic print.

Not numbering prints has caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. It's one of the reasons people use to indicate that a photographic print is not "art", or at least is used to devalue the image, as a negative can me used to make a LOT of prints.

W/ traditional printmaking, it's normal to display a canceled printing plate (usually has a big X gouged into it) to assure people that that number of prints is all there ever will be from that particular image. I also do that w/ the negatives if it's a print for display/sale. Probably few people do this, but it gives me control over what happens w/ the work after I kick the bucket. A lot of dead photographers probably wish they had done this (Adams and Bresson for example). Well, if they were alive they probably would wish this :} As it is, they probably don't much care one way or the other.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Electro Convulsive Therapy should rarely be used to close the deal when selling prints although, depending on the purchaser, it may be found to be very satisfying for the seller . . .
 
mporter012 said:
(i.e. silver gelatin, ECT)

Meaning ect., etcetera. I don't know why I used caps!
Click to expand...

Haa, I knew. Hope you can forgive my poor substitute for a sense of humor...

When I couldn't immediately figure out what ECT was, I remembered the setup for an old joke regarding a WC... which means something quite different in England than Switzerland...

http://www.brinkmanonline.com/humor/church/wc.html
 
mporter012 said:
When selling a print, do you give some type of certificate stating some information about the quality of the print (i.e. silver gelatin, ECT) or some type of authentication?
Click to expand...

I usually have a label on the back stating that most of my prints are printed by Peruvian virgins underwater. This gives them that added intrinsic value.
 
I title and sign and put the year on the over mat, and put one of my business cards on the back (for all framed prints). I've never had anyone want the type of paper, etc. listed on the package. Generally, we talk about the print and the customer knows what it is, and often don't care. In face, many of my customers don't know what I'm telling them, they just like the print.
 
ETC, ECT - common mistaken abbreviation, I'm sorry I poked fun at your expense, but I really did pause for a moment not knowing what the abbreviation stood for.


I'm dead-set against limited editions. The total number of prints I make on a particular occasion is in fact limited (suppose I made 3 prints).

But I never want to find myself boxed into a corner because I said I'd make 20 prints (for example), then find out the image became famous. I don't want the secondary market to get rich at my expense.

In other words, it would suck to become famous for a particular image, only to find that you can't make any more prints of it... All because you thought it would be a good idea to limit your print editions.

I want to allow myself to benefit in case I ever get struck by lightning.
 
These are typical of the labels on the back of my framed prints:

Printed with an Epson 3800 with Ultrachrome
K3 ink on Epson Ultra Premium Luster Photo paper.
Print life displayed under glass is estimated by
www.wilhelm-research.com to be 85 years
before noticeable fading occurs.

Printed with an Epson 3800 printer using Ultrachrome
K3 ink on Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper. This is Epson’s
premium combination for retaining the appearance of
traditional photographs with digital printing.
 
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