Wow! This came at just the right time, I just started selling prints on my Etsy store and a lot f these tips are really going to help me out! Thanks so much for this!
Oh definitely! Love all the care you put into shipping your art and how you add the little things to your packages. Glad to see you're doing well with your Etsy shop! All the best!
Thank you for this video! I use tissue paper when wrapping my other non-print products too! Although, mine is orange and I add a sticker with my logo on it... :) Anyway, I enjoyed your enthusiasm with this video and I really like the idea of adding reinforced corners. I will have to do a test run and see how that will work for my prints. I had investigated a never-bend mailer from Uline and the sample one they sent me arrived bent, lol. Thank you again for sharing this!
You're welcome. There's a company called Gemini that make special mailers for shipping comics it would be nice if there was something similar for prints. www.geminicomicsupply.com/
Do you have any tips on how to make shipping not as expensive, for example on a 12x18 flat or on a tub. They wanted to charge me about $7 for shipping on the post office. How do you do it, do you print your stamps or labels at home? Or how much do you usually pay for shipping? Help please and thank you!
That's the difficult thing about shipping, You pretty much have to deal with the costs the post office sets for shipping, Unless you're a large company it's hard to get discounts on shipping. If you sell through a larger company like Etsy or if you have a Ship Station account (which costs a monthly fee) sometimes you can get a discounted rate. I have to just add pass the cost of shipping along to the customer, but what I try to do is to add a lot of extras that don't weigh a lot and won't increase the shipping cost. That way when the customer receives a bunch of extras they don't feel so bad about the extra money they had to pay for shipping.
Nice tip on the reinforced corners. Handily, I've got an Iris case full of cardboard backing from stocking open stock paper at Michaels. Probably just going to switch to cardboard envelopes once those run out, but what I've got will probably last a while. Convenient for doing Christmas crackers, too. :P I do feel about the shipping costs, though. It racks up fast, and even faster once you're shipping overseas. Canada Post charges extra on round tubes, too. And every time I have something to send to the US, I have to double check since ya'll don't give directionals, man. It's weird.
Yeah. If you keep an eye out for cardboard you can stock up, because most people just recycle it anyway. It's good that you have a stock pile. Tubes cost a bit more to ship here in the states as well. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of shipping options with United States Postal Service being the cheapest, but still pretty pricy. I'm sure you have a similar problem in Canada, maybe worse.
Serkworks Art Labs Pricey would be bad enough, but CPS also manages to make it as confusing and difficult an ordeal as possible. I can more effectively tell you how to ship livestock through them than about some of their standard flat rate options. It's beyond me how they managed that arrangement. On a bright side, though, my grandmother moved in recently and has a printer, so now I print labels instead of sadly attempting computer-friendly printing by hand. She thought the big open space on my desk could be where we set it up. *cough*
I've heard the same sentiments from other Canadians, It sounds like a nightmare. I feel for you. I guess I should be thankful and not complain too much about USPS.
Nah, man. Remember: It could always be BETTER, too. Certainly, CPS needs to overhaul some of their resources, if nothing else. And with national and international distribution becoming more important for a lot of businesses, post and freight services need to make sure they're doing what they can to keep up and be accessible.
Have you found that the buttons have ever indented into your print while shipping? Also, do you have suggestions for minimum diameter size of tubes for print sizes so there is no crimping or too tight of a roll? Like, a 16x20 needs a blah blah blah inch tube. I have just seen that it's not good to roll up something too tight just to save money on your tube. Plus makes it hard to get out of tube. No one likes to crimp the edges of the print when trying to grab the edge and yank it out and it gets stuck. Just seeking your experienced wisdom! Thanks!!!
Hey Marci, I have never received any feedback about prints being damaged due to the buttons, however now when I ship buttons I surround them with a little bubble wrap in order to protect the prints. I'm not sure about exact tube sizes or how they might vary depending on the size of the print. The tubes I use are 2.5 " in diameter so they are plenty wide and I don't have to roll them too tight. Hope that helps.
Oh Scott, I am -loving- this video. As soon as you uploaded, I had to put it in my 'watch later' playlist to really dive into it when I had time. And man, am I impressed! I love those boxes that you place your bowties in! That's something I want to use when I design my magnet set! Thanks so much for sharing
It's hard because the rates are constantly changing. I use a postage scale to weigh all my packages and I measure to boxes so I know the dimensions. Then I'll check the USPS website for the price. I usually ad a handling fee because shipping always seems to be more than the data says.
Im guessing the size of the bag isn't 12x18? It must be 13 7/16" x 19 1/4" right? Because I assum that the printed part is 12x18 and then you have the white borders that make it even larger correct?
You're half right, the artwork is 12" x 18" but that that includes the white borders so the bags are slightly larger and large enough to hold the print comfortably. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions of the bags offhand.
WHEN I USE TUBES, i cant make prints in heavy weight paper because it became curly/wavy.... what height of paper u use? or its better to just make a prints on a lighter paper?
Some people prefer to use heavy card stock for their prints. I use card stock for my 8"x10" prints but for larger prints I use heavy paper but not card stock. its about as thick as a traditional photograph and can be rolled up into a tube.
Another type of packaging you may consider, albeit a bit heavy, is triple wall cardboard. It can be purchased in very large sheets. Literally 5 x 8 ft. Cut the size you need from one sheet, then cut a second piece, reversing the corrugation. It's literally as as strong as a sheet of plywood, yet lightweight considering the almost (yeah, I know...almost... sometimes UPS, USPS, etc find a way) to bend. Kudos for some great tutorials.
Do you recommend getting bags one size up from the prints you are trying to ship? I'm thinking of getting clear bags in the size of my 12 x 16 prints but I hear it can be a lot easier to slide the paper in using slightly larger bags. Any advice on this?
It's not a bad idea if the next size that isn't too much larger but most bags for say 11" x 17" are actually sized large enough that they can fix the 11" x 17" artwork pretty comfortably. Clear Bags usually has the measurements listed and they are lager than standard art sizes.
I have my posters printed at Cat Print bit.ly/2lZnxT4 they can do small print runs and do quality work. I have a Canon IP8720 that I mostly just use for personal printing.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking specifically. If you are asking how much the tubes weigh before I fill them they are about 4 oz. When filled with product it can vary but they average around 11 to 12 oz. as far as what company if you mean what company do I ship with I use USPS if you mean what company do I purchase the tubes from I don't know the specific company but I ordered them through Amazon.
Yeah it would be so interesting to write as well, I enjoy it. In other news I just got a request to come to Hong Kong to paint a bunch of windows in a mall for the holidays. I would love to go, and videotape it of course. Plus so great to sketch on the flight all the way there and back, maybe I could flesh out the mini-comic? ha!
There are people who prefer tubes and a tube probably is better protected going through the mail, but a lot of people just don't want their art rolled up.
I'm not exactly sure what your are asking, could you be more specific? If you want to know where to get the Do Not Bend tags I made them myself and printed them on label paper. Then I just peel them off and stick them on the package.
You’re welcome and thanks for looking in the description for the link. Most people don’t other to look there first before asking where to get a particular supply.
Great and informative video! I was wondering, Maybe for your next video you can go over the best site to get freelancing jobs for comic artist. There are so many out there and I want to be a full time freelance artist but I don't even know where to begin. any advice helps :D
That a good question. I don't know how qualified I am to answer it though as it's been a while since I've sought out freelance work especially for comics. My plan it to try to build an audience who will hopefully be interested in my own self published comics. I should do a video with some tips for those like you who want to make a living doing comics. It's just hard because no two people working in comics have the same story when it comes to how they broke in.
Sorry I definitely focused more on the flat shipping because they are the ones most likely to get damaged. Tubes are usually pretty protected, but basically it's just a matter of rolling them up tighter than the circumference of the tube so they easily fit inside.
Wow! This came at just the right time, I just started selling prints on my Etsy store and a lot f these tips are really going to help me out! Thanks so much for this!
Thanks Joe! Glad it was of use. Good luck with your Etsy shop!
Oh definitely! Love all the care you put into shipping your art and how you add the little things to your packages. Glad to see you're doing well with your Etsy shop! All the best!
Thank you for the tips! I randomly found this video and it helped a lot :)
Glad it was helpful!
Nice work. Thanks for the advice 😊❤
My pleasure 😊
thank you! I just wanted to ship something I made for my friend who moved away last year...really helpful :D
Always happy to help!
Thank you for this video! I use tissue paper when wrapping my other non-print products too! Although, mine is orange and I add a sticker with my logo on it... :) Anyway, I enjoyed your enthusiasm with this video and I really like the idea of adding reinforced corners. I will have to do a test run and see how that will work for my prints. I had investigated a never-bend mailer from Uline and the sample one they sent me arrived bent, lol. Thank you again for sharing this!
You're welcome. There's a company called Gemini that make special mailers for shipping comics it would be nice if there was something similar for prints. www.geminicomicsupply.com/
Big help! New to the art print game (haven't launched even) and your style is contagious! New supporter of your channel and headed to the store! 👍
Awesome! It feels good to know I’ve helped inspire someone to do more art.
Where do you get you stickers made and printed?
Currently, I print my own on an Epson Eco-Tank ET-8550 printer.
Do you have any tips on how to make shipping not as expensive, for example on a 12x18 flat or on a tub. They wanted to charge me about $7 for shipping on the post office. How do you do it, do you print your stamps or labels at home? Or how much do you usually pay for shipping? Help please and thank you!
That's the difficult thing about shipping, You pretty much have to deal with the costs the post office sets for shipping, Unless you're a large company it's hard to get discounts on shipping. If you sell through a larger company like Etsy or if you have a Ship Station account (which costs a monthly fee) sometimes you can get a discounted rate.
I have to just add pass the cost of shipping along to the customer, but what I try to do is to add a lot of extras that don't weigh a lot and won't increase the shipping cost. That way when the customer receives a bunch of extras they don't feel so bad about the extra money they had to pay for shipping.
Serkworks Art Labs yeah that kinda sucks, thanks anyways man!
Nice tip on the reinforced corners. Handily, I've got an Iris case full of cardboard backing from stocking open stock paper at Michaels. Probably just going to switch to cardboard envelopes once those run out, but what I've got will probably last a while. Convenient for doing Christmas crackers, too. :P
I do feel about the shipping costs, though. It racks up fast, and even faster once you're shipping overseas. Canada Post charges extra on round tubes, too. And every time I have something to send to the US, I have to double check since ya'll don't give directionals, man. It's weird.
Yeah. If you keep an eye out for cardboard you can stock up, because most people just recycle it anyway. It's good that you have a stock pile. Tubes cost a bit more to ship here in the states as well. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of shipping options with United States Postal Service being the cheapest, but still pretty pricy. I'm sure you have a similar problem in Canada, maybe worse.
Serkworks Art Labs Pricey would be bad enough, but CPS also manages to make it as confusing and difficult an ordeal as possible. I can more effectively tell you how to ship livestock through them than about some of their standard flat rate options. It's beyond me how they managed that arrangement.
On a bright side, though, my grandmother moved in recently and has a printer, so now I print labels instead of sadly attempting computer-friendly printing by hand. She thought the big open space on my desk could be where we set it up. *cough*
I've heard the same sentiments from other Canadians, It sounds like a nightmare. I feel for you. I guess I should be thankful and not complain too much about USPS.
Nah, man. Remember: It could always be BETTER, too. Certainly, CPS needs to overhaul some of their resources, if nothing else. And with national and international distribution becoming more important for a lot of businesses, post and freight services need to make sure they're doing what they can to keep up and be accessible.
Have you found that the buttons have ever indented into your print while shipping? Also, do you have suggestions for minimum diameter size of tubes for print sizes so there is no crimping or too tight of a roll? Like, a 16x20 needs a blah blah blah inch tube. I have just seen that it's not good to roll up something too tight just to save money on your tube. Plus makes it hard to get out of tube. No one likes to crimp the edges of the print when trying to grab the edge and yank it out and it gets stuck. Just seeking your experienced wisdom! Thanks!!!
Hey Marci, I have never received any feedback about prints being damaged due to the buttons, however now when I ship buttons I surround them with a little bubble wrap in order to protect the prints. I'm not sure about exact tube sizes or how they might vary depending on the size of the print. The tubes I use are 2.5 " in diameter so they are plenty wide and I don't have to roll them too tight. Hope that helps.
Oh Scott, I am -loving- this video. As soon as you uploaded, I had to put it in my 'watch later' playlist to really dive into it when I had time. And man, am I impressed!
I love those boxes that you place your bowties in! That's something I want to use when I design my magnet set!
Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you so much, I'm happy the video was so helpful to you.
Nice package.
Thanks!
Great Video.. Thanks for sharing!
How do work out your shipping costs?
IE: Sending Abroad or within same country...
Cheers!!!
It's hard because the rates are constantly changing. I use a postage scale to weigh all my packages and I measure to boxes so I know the dimensions. Then I'll check the USPS website for the price. I usually ad a handling fee because shipping always seems to be more than the data says.
Really helpful, thank you!
Happy to help!
Im guessing the size of the bag isn't 12x18? It must be 13 7/16" x 19 1/4" right? Because I assum that the printed part is 12x18 and then you have the white borders that make it even larger correct?
You're half right, the artwork is 12" x 18" but that that includes the white borders so the bags are slightly larger and large enough to hold the print comfortably. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions of the bags offhand.
WHEN I USE TUBES, i cant make prints in heavy weight paper because it became curly/wavy.... what height of paper u use? or its better to just make a prints on a lighter paper?
Some people prefer to use heavy card stock for their prints. I use card stock for my 8"x10" prints but for larger prints I use heavy paper but not card stock. its about as thick as a traditional photograph and can be rolled up into a tube.
Another type of packaging you may consider, albeit a bit heavy, is triple wall cardboard. It can be purchased in very large sheets. Literally 5 x 8 ft. Cut the size you need from one sheet, then cut a second piece, reversing the corrugation. It's literally as as strong as a sheet of plywood, yet lightweight considering the almost (yeah, I know...almost... sometimes UPS, USPS, etc find a way) to bend. Kudos for some great tutorials.
That sound awesome, I'm going to have to look into this stuff. Thanks for the tip!
Do you recommend getting bags one size up from the prints you are trying to ship? I'm thinking of getting clear bags in the size of my 12 x 16 prints but I hear it can be a lot easier to slide the paper in using slightly larger bags. Any advice on this?
It's not a bad idea if the next size that isn't too much larger but most bags for say 11" x 17" are actually sized large enough that they can fix the 11" x 17" artwork pretty comfortably. Clear Bags usually has the measurements listed and they are lager than standard art sizes.
thank you. The plastic mailer envelope is a great idea, I am taking away from you. Plus, the reinforcement of the corners. Thank you.
Thanks for watching, I glad the video was helpful.
This was so helpful!
Always happy to help!
You just earned yourself a new sub buddy boy
Awesome! I do appreciate it!
Great Video!!!
Thanks!
this is super helpful thanks for making this vid
Thanks! Glad it was useful to you!
Which printer you use for printing poster (size 12x18 inch)
I have Canon iR C3020
I have my posters printed at Cat Print bit.ly/2lZnxT4 they can do small print runs and do quality work. I have a Canon IP8720 that I mostly just use for personal printing.
where did you buy the tube?
I don't remember the actual seller, but I just did a search on Amazon.
What weight are your tubes and what company??? TY
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking specifically. If you are asking how much the tubes weigh before I fill them they are about 4 oz. When filled with product it can vary but they average around 11 to 12 oz. as far as what company if you mean what company do I ship with I use USPS if you mean what company do I purchase the tubes from I don't know the specific company but I ordered them through Amazon.
Great info!
Thanks!
Interesting. This inktober challenge has inspired me to maybe do a small comic at some point.
That would be awesome and something I would like to see.
Yeah it would be so interesting to write as well, I enjoy it. In other news I just got a request to come to Hong Kong to paint a bunch of windows in a mall for the holidays. I would love to go, and videotape it of course. Plus so great to sketch on the flight all the way there and back, maybe I could flesh out the mini-comic? ha!
You should check out my "filthy" upload, I used an effect that turned me into an ink drawing while I am doing the drawing.
I saw that video, That was a cool effect!
I feel like a tube would be better than flat but it might all come down to personal preference
There are people who prefer tubes and a tube probably is better protected going through the mail, but a lot of people just don't want their art rolled up.
where can i tag do not bend tag
I'm not exactly sure what your are asking, could you be more specific? If you want to know where to get the Do Not Bend tags I made them myself and printed them on label paper. Then I just peel them off and stick them on the package.
Finally someone who post all the links for supplies, thankyuu! 👌👌👌👌
You’re welcome and thanks for looking in the description for the link. Most people don’t other to look there first before asking where to get a particular supply.
Great and informative video! I was wondering, Maybe for your next video you can go over the best site to get freelancing jobs for comic artist. There are so many out there and I want to be a full time freelance artist but I don't even know where to begin. any advice helps :D
That a good question. I don't know how qualified I am to answer it though as it's been a while since I've sought out freelance work especially for comics. My plan it to try to build an audience who will hopefully be interested in my own self published comics. I should do a video with some tips for those like you who want to make a living doing comics. It's just hard because no two people working in comics have the same story when it comes to how they broke in.
Shipping PVC pipes in the mail? FBI wants to know your locaton
Ha ha, no doubt.
If you get packaging get it off Uline or you'll be paying a huge premium.
That's one option, I've found many items cheaper or the same price and in smaller quantities elsewhere, It depends on how much you are shipping.
Did I miss something? How do you pack tubes?
Sorry I definitely focused more on the flat shipping because they are the ones most likely to get damaged. Tubes are usually pretty protected, but basically it's just a matter of rolling them up tighter than the circumference of the tube so they easily fit inside.
Definitely not for fine art.
Probably not, I'm not a fine artist. For that maybe a sheet of maisonette would add more protection for higher end art prints.