Changed my mind about digital art prints after visiting a gallery in Portland

I walked into this small gallery downtown last weekend and saw a piece I recognized from Instagram up close. The texture and color depth in the physical print blew my mind compared to how it looked on my phone screen. Has anyone else had that moment where seeing it in person completely shifted how you think about selling prints?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.ben5d ago

Right? That "texture and color depth" thing is REAL. I had the same wake-up call when I saw a cheap print of a photo I liked at a friend's house. It was totally flat and lifeless compared to the file on my screen. That's when I realized selling a good quality print is WAY more about the paper and ink than the image itself.

wyatt1355d ago

I read this article last week about how some museums actually use specific paper types for their archival prints, and they said you can lose up to 40% of the color range if you use the wrong paper... It blew my mind because I never thought about it that way. @price.ben you're totally right though, I see it now with every cheap poster compared to a fine art print. It's like the difference between listening to music on a car speaker versus a good pair of headphones.

shane_hayes5d ago

Whoa, hold on a sec. I mean, I get what you're saying and paper totally matters, but 40% feels like a wild number. Idk, I've seen some really cheap poster prints that actually look pretty decent to me, like the color still pops. Maybe it's just me but I feel like lighting and how you frame it can make up for a lot. I'd argue the image itself still does 90% of the heavy lifting, you know? Like a bad photo on the best paper is still a bad photo. Paper helps sure, but it's not the whole game.