Review - Printful for Artists

As an artist running a business with just one employee (aka. myself) and not a lot of storage space, I'm always looking for time-saving and space-saving measures so that I can focus more on art and less on other tasks that take time away from creating.  I'm at a unique position in my business' growth where I don't have a huge amount of print sales, but the few that I do get are enough to take up a good chunk of the morning to prep, package, and send out on my own.

This made Printful a good choice for me to look into until I feel comfortable expanding to printing art on my own professional printer at home and hiring more employees.  I have been using it for a little over a year and wanted to share my experience with it for those who may find themselves in a similar position as myself!

What is Printful?

Printful is a print on demand service that will drop ship directly to your customers on your behalf. This service seamlessly integrates with Etsy, WooCommerce, Shopify, and most major shop options. They take a cut of the profits and handle the printing and shipping.

They will also process returns on your behalf with you acting as an intermediary for your customers. Printful fulfills orders mainly to the US, but they have been slowly adding fulfillment centers in Europe so that they can quickly deliver items overseas.

Printful is a completely white label service, which means they will never include any of their branding within your orders. If for some reason you do not want them to integrate with your shop, you can also place orders with them to drop ship manually for you without requiring shop integration.

What Does it Cost?

Like most print on demand companies, there is no monthly fee, rather they only make money when you sell a product.  There is a base price for the cost of the item and labor, and a percentage on top of this base price which the company takes a share of.

You can set your own list price per item in your shop to suit the profit margin you want to see with each item.  Printful has a handy estimation tool so you can see exactly how much you'll make per item when you set your list price.

How is the Quality?

I have used Printful primarily to purchase luster prints, so I cannot speak to the quality of their many other products.  As far as print surfaces, they offer matte, luster, and canvas prints.

I chose their luster prints because I prefer a semi-gloss finish for my art.  Their luster prints are gorgeous and provide excellent color reproduction for some of my most difficult prints, such as dark digital pieces with subtle color like the one pictured below.

My Kushiel's Dart print arrived rolled in tissue paper inside of a mailing tube.

An example of the branding included on the outside of the package and the tightly wrapped print.

An example of the branded pack-in slip that's included for free with orders.

ART SUPPLIER REVIEW - Canvas Champ

Convention season is in the air and that means many artists are looking for quality canvas printers to print their wares so that they have a nice premium option on offer for their customers that prefer something more substantial than a photo print.

Ordering Canvas Prints - A Brief History

However, printing can be tricky and it's difficult to know which online place to trust considering the massive amount of canvas printers out there!  One must also consider whether to buy unstretched rolled canvas prints (which is usually the cheaper option) that will need to be stretched over frames requiring you to buy the frame pieces separately OR pay the same printing service to stretch the print around a frame for you, which is usually the priciest option.

Personally, I do not like the tedium of having to stretch canvas across frames myself. That's time I'd rather spend painting, which is why I wanted to find a good source for stretched prints.  If you're into the rolled option, however, definitely check out this video tutorial that will teach you how to measure and stretch the canvas.  The source I use for stretcher bars was dickblick.com.

REVIEW: CanvasChamp.com

The Ordering Experience

I decided to take a chance on canvaschamp.com.  Their Amazon reviews were very positive and while I did not require the help of customer support, their reviewers talk highly of how fast they respond to inquiries.

Their interface for uploading work is top notch!  Their preview system allows you to easily add mirrored or solid edges for gallery wraps.  Lamination and multiple hanging options are offered at an additional cost, with the default option of metal hangers provided for free.  I recommend getting lamination wherever you order from since the corners of canvas wear away easily if they are not sealed.

The only red flag is that they accept refunds on a case by case basis and state in their Terms that they do not usually offer refunds if colors come out incorrectly because they have faith in their high quality equipment to produce the right colors.

UPDATE 6-22-2015 - The Refund Experience

There was a print with a damaged corner in my second batch of canvas prints.  I sent photos of the damage to customer service and they had replied and shipped out my replacement print within 24 hours!  They were courteous and fast and it was very easy to open a refund case by going to my order history and clicking a link on my order.

Also, I got to keep the damaged print instead of having to pay to send it back,which was a relief!  I was very impressed by the speed and effectiveness of their customer service.

The Product

I ordered an 18x24 inch pre-stretched canvas print of my Kushiel's Dart piece.  It arrived in a well packed box which I intend to re-use to send this looks like it will stand up to reuse.  The print is tidily stretched with a masonite board backing in addition to the standard wood frame.  They included screws and a guard to cover the hanging materials so as not to damage your walls.

Printing Quality

The printing quality is top notch!  I lightened my art in Photoshop using Levels as prints usually come out darker when printed and laminated.  My only complaint is the print seems less saturated than I would like, but I believe I can fix this by also upping the color saturation on my art the next time I order.  All in all, the printing is high quality and clear!

The Verdict = Highly Recommended!

Canvas Champ provides an affordable price with good quality printing and fast shipping.  My print was shipped from overseas via Next Day airmail and it was on my doorstep within 4 days.  Other services I have used include BestofMaineCorp, which was cheaper by comparison, but it doesn't measure up to the fast shipping, fast turnaround, responsive customer support, and intuitive interface of CanvasChamp.

Don't forget to sign up to the CanvasChamp newsletter as well where they frequently send out coupon codes. EDIT: Looks like Groupon has a promotion going on with Canvas Champ as well here! https://www.groupon.com/deals/canvas-champ

Referral Link

They've added the ability for users to refer others!  You can now try this service and get 85% off plus free shipping on your first order by using my referral link.  Happy printing, everyone!