How To Get Gallery Quality Art For Less Than £10 In Under 10 Minutes

We need to talk about printable art. Buying art for your home can be an expensive business, but it doesn’t have to be. For the second in my series of blogposts about buying, styling and displaying art I wanted to look at printable art. Basically, if you’re looking for a way of getting high quality art, at budget prices, then you need to be exploring printables, also known as digital downloads. The beauty of printables is that they are instant, easy and affordable and can be on your wall within minutes of purchasing. Etsy has a huge range of sellers offering printable art across a wide range of styles including abstract, modern, minimalist etc. I chose these pretty painterly style pieces this time, as I liked the fact that they look like paintings, even though they are actually just print-outs that cost less than £10 each from this seller.

Once you’ve found something you like the look of, here’s what you need to do….

Buy it

You purchase the image file, usually in a JPG, PNG or PDF format, the file will then be sent to your email address for you to download it to your computer. Most files cost less than £10 to purchase.

Choose a size

Many Etsy sellers send the purchased file in two or three different size options (eg A4 and A3) so you can choose the size that suits your needs best.

Print it

You can then choose to either print it yourself and pop it straight in in a frame so its ready to go on your wall. OR if you’re after a more professional finish you can email it to your local print shop and ask them to print it for you on fine art paper. This will cost a little more but it’s worth it for a better quality finish.

Why printables are the way forward…

1) Instant satisfaction

Buy it, print it, hang it. All in under ten minutes. Simples.

2) No astronomical shipping costs

We’ve all done it. You find the perfect dress, chair, print, only to find that it is currently residing several thousand miles away and it’s going to take you several thousand pennies to get it to you (slight exaggeration) But with printables you don’t need to worry about postage which means you can broaden your net to the US and beyond, safe in the knowledge that shipping does not have to be factored into the final bill.

3) It’s environmentally friendly

No shipping means you are cutting out the middle man aka the planes, trains and automobiles which would otherwise be required to get your artwork.

4) You can choose your size

You can decide what size you want your print to be. And you don’t get that option in any fancy gallery.

5) You can choose your finish

Likewise if you decide to get your file professionally printed you will be able to select whether you want a matte or gloss effect and what paper you want to use. I’d recommend giclee where possible for the highest quality finish.

6) It’s cheap

You can do it for less than a tenner. It will cost more to get it printed professionally but even if you decide to go down this route, it is still going to cost you significantly less than any other means of buying art.

AND FINALLY, remember…

The file is for personal use only. The artist owns the copyright, which means you can’t share, copy or reproduce their work without their written consent.

All that’s left for me to say on the subject is get searching. I bought this and this for this piece. I also really recommend this seller, who has a fantastic selection of printables to choose from.

J x

This is the second of three paid for blogposts in collaboration with Etsy, about buying, styling and displaying art. I selected the edit of pieces I wanted to use and as always all opinions are my own.