Behind the Scenes: Creating High Quality Art Prints From Home

Here’s how I turn an inkjet print into a long-lasting, high quality work of art to gift or sell!

I always take a lot of care to make sure that my products are long lasting and durable before I sell them. With art prints, the biggest concern is fading, yellowing, and any other kind of damage that they can get from the elements. For my inkjet prints, I looked into spray sealants as a protectant.

I am a self-taught artist, so this is all information that I’ve gleaned from poring over Google searches, YouTube videos, and social media posts from other artists and companies. My best advice for any new artist who’s looking for the same information (i.e, how to create long-lasting inkjet art prints): start with good paper.

But seriously, start with a paper company that specializes in art papers. They know their stuff. They’ll have resources to help you with printers, best papers to use for different print products you want to create, and they should have staff that can help you when you have questions. My preferred paper company is local: Red River Paper in Dallas. I love their page on the best printers to use for art prints, and their specific instructions on printer settings to get the most out of your printer and their paper. I also get my spray sealant through them because I figured they know their paper best.

(PS, I’m not sponsored by anyone here. I’m just sharing what I’ve learned to help others)

Without making you scroll any further, here’s my process for creating art prints from home!

Materials

• Printer: Canon Pixma Pro-200
• Paper: Aurora Art White 250 from Red River Paper
• Spray Sealant: Premier Print Shield from Red River Paper
• Setup for vertical spraying: I made one by repurposing a large cardboard box and attaching two strings with binder clips–two binder clips at the top to hold the strings, and one binder clip dangling from each string to hold the art print (see the Moab video to see what I modeled it after)
• Respirator mask + Eye Protection

Procedure

1. Print using the printer option specifications from Red River paper for this particular paper. Wait a while for the print to completely dry.
2. Clip my art print to the cardboard box setup (be sure to be in a well-ventilated area with a mask on. I also avoid spraying on days that are especially humid.)
3. Use the following technique to spray the print with sealant. I wait 4 minutes before handling the print to rotate and apply another layer. You can see the written form of these instructions on the Red River Paper website, too (see the tab that says “Suggested Uses” for the Premier Print Shield spray).

And that’s it! I let it dry for a while, and then pack it up for an order or store it in a dry, dark place. I use the tips from Red River Paper on proper storage, including packing in biaxially oriented polypropylene bags, and storing in a box away from direct light.

This is the process I use for my custom art prints, or newer designs. Once a print gets some momentum in sales, I do switch to outsourcing my printing to a professional printer, though. It saves me time and resources, and gives me peace of mind to know that my prints will be high quality. My preferred printer is CatPrint! (Again, not sponsored. I’m just sharing in case it helps!)

As a self-taught artist, I do have a bit of impostor syndrome about sharing this. But I do hope I’ve done my research right here, and I’m hoping to bring together all that research to make it easier for others. I had to dig through a lot of art business folks who are sealing with Mod Podge, which I’m a bit skeptical about… I think I’ll trust the artsy paper companies with this one.

I’m so grateful for all the creators who have shared their processes online so that I can learn! If you’re an experienced artist and know ways that I can improve, I would appreciate any (friendly, please please, be friendly) comments or messages! Thank you!