Prints Overview
This section gives a broad overview of the options available to you in earning revenue from selling printed versions of your images.
Fine art
Look up the definition of 'fine art' in a range of dictionaries, and you will find just as wide a range of meanings. What they have in common is the understanding that fine art is created for 'aesthetic' purposes - chiefly concerned with the mind and imagination, and judged by the theories of art and not of practical or commercial application.
Many photographers, however, who are interested in producing fine art prints, are primarily motivated to do so by the idea that they will earn more money from their images this way. In other words, many photographers are primarily interested in fine art for commercial sake. If this is you, you might want to think about the other commercial avenues open to you as well.
Fine art prints derive their value by qualitative and quantitative aspects: as a Majority World photographer, you would be looking for a gallerist or curator who deems your work to be of high quality in both the subject and the actual print, and then you would limit the quantity by limiting the number of editions that are ever produced.
Decorative or commercial prints
While the high prices achieved by a small number of fine art prints is what makes art world headlines, selling your prints at lower prices to a wider audience can potentially earn you more money and satisfaction. In this middle ground of printing, you will be selling your work to somebody who finds it pleasing - quite potentially they want to live with it day in and day out by having it on their wall. This is satisfying for you as a photographer, and it potentially earns you better revenue, as there are many more decor buyers than art buyers in the world today.
Printed products
Modern printing technologies mean your photograph can be printed on almost anything. This opens up an even wider range of buyers for your images: you can sell your photograph to a product producer (for example businesses that make anything from wallpaper to clothing to crockery), or you can choose to sell the actual printed product yourself.
