Have a sketchbook full of illustrations you would love to sell? You do not need to buy a printer, order stacks of posters or turn your spare room into a packing station to start a print business.
If you are wondering how to start selling art prints, begin with a small, connected collection, prepare high-quality artwork files and create listings that help buyers picture your work on their walls. With PrintShrimp, you handle the designs, listings and marketing. We print, frame, pack and ship each order straight to your customer.
You do not need to figure everything out alone, either. Our free Skool community has courses, videos and guides to help you learn to sell posters. Start learning while you build your first collection, rather than waiting until every detail feels perfect.
1. Build a small collection buyers can recognise
Your first shop does not need every illustration you have ever made. It needs a clear reason for someone to stop, look and imagine owning a print.
Choose a small group of designs that belong together. That connection could be the subject, colour palette, drawing style or room they would suit.
For example, a hobby illustrator who enjoys drawing food could start with three kitchen prints: a coffee pot, a bowl of lemons and a loaf of bread. A shared palette and consistent lettering would make them feel like a collection, while each design could still work on its own.
Use these questions to narrow your selection:
- Who might buy this? Think about a recognisable interest or taste, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.
- Where would it hang? A kitchen, reading corner or home office gives your presentation a useful starting point.
- Does each design work alone? Buyers should not need the whole collection to enjoy one print.
- Can I create more in this style? Choose a direction you would enjoy developing.
Keep your first launch manageable. We do not require you to upload your whole catalogue upfront, so you can add artwork as your collection develops.
2. Use print on demand to launch without buying stock
Poster print on demand means each product is made after an order is placed. Instead of paying for a batch and hoping it sells, you pay us to fulfil the orders you receive.
That makes it practical to test a collection without committing to boxes of every design and size. Creating a PrintShrimp account is free, and fulfilment has no monthly fees or minimum order quantities. Optional listing software subscriptions are separate.
The division of work is straightforward:
- You: create artwork, build your shop, set retail prices, market your prints and manage customer relationships.
- We: print the artwork, frame it when ordered, pack it and ship it to your buyer.
Our fulfilment is white-label, with no PrintShrimp branding or packing slips. Your customer buys from your shop, while we handle making and delivering the physical product.
3. Prepare files that do your illustrations justice
A beautiful drawing needs a suitable digital file before it becomes a beautiful print. For work on paper, start with a clear scan or high-quality photograph. For digital illustrations, export from your original artwork rather than using a screenshot or social media download.
Check the details at the size you intend to sell. Look for blurry edges, stray marks, spelling mistakes and anything sitting too close to the edge.
Match the file shape to the print size. An A-series illustration can serve sizes such as A4 and A3. A 4:5 version suits 8x10-inch and 16x20-inch prints. Those shapes are not interchangeable, so simply offering more sizes does not mean one file will fit them all.
For your first collection, choose a limited range of sizes that share one shape. PrintShrimp can apply an uploaded image to other sizes of the same shape, helping you avoid uploading the same artwork repeatedly.
- Use suitable formats: JPG and PNG are straightforward options, with a maximum file size of 50MB each.
- Work in sRGB: it gives more predictable results when your artwork is prepared for printing.
- Aim for clear detail: 300 dpi is a useful starting point, especially for smaller prints, but changing the dpi setting will not repair a blurry image.
- Leave a safe edge: keep important text and details around 2–3mm away from the edge to allow for trimming.
- Check your rights: only upload artwork and elements you own or are licensed to use.
Our artwork specifications provide more guidance when you are ready to prepare your files.
4. Choose paper that fits your collection
You do not need to offer every paper option at launch. Choose the product that suits your illustrations and explain it clearly.
| Product | What we offer | When to consider it |
|---|---|---|
| Premium prints | Archival-grade paper, 200gsm minimum and 260gsm in most locations, with matte, satin or gloss finishes. | A starting point for an illustration or poster collection. |
| Fine Art prints | 300gsm, 100% cotton rag paper, cold press with a soft watercolour texture and non-reflective surface. | A higher-end collection where the paper texture is part of the appeal. |
| Framed prints | Matte prints in Black, Oak or White pine frames, with shatter-resistant plexiglass and a hanging kit. | Buyers who want a finished product delivered ready to hang. |
Our Fine Art paper costs more than Premium and is available for deliveries to the UK, USA, Canada and EU. It is worth considering for painted or illustrated work where a textured surface complements the image.
Framed prints are a separate option, not a Fine Art paper upgrade. We print and assemble them for you, so you can offer ready-to-hang artwork without handling frames yourself.
Before launching, consider placing a paid order to your own address. Seeing your illustration on your chosen paper helps you check the result and describe the product confidently. Colours can differ slightly from a backlit screen.
5. Show buyers the product, not just the drawing
Your listing should make three things immediately clear: what the artwork looks like, what physical product arrives and which options the buyer can choose.
Room-scene mockups help people picture your illustrations in a home. For the kitchen collection, that could mean showing the coffee-pot print above a breakfast table, followed by a closer view of the artwork and a clear size guide.
Our Bulk List tool brings that presentation together. You upload your designs, choose a template and generate room-scene mockups alongside AI-written titles, descriptions and tags. You can review and edit everything before listing.
Start with one test listing. Check that the mockups suit your work, the description accurately explains the paper and the size options have matching print files. Then use that template for the rest of your collection.
For Etsy, Bulk List creates draft listings for you to review and publish. For Shopify, it provides a product CSV to import into your shop. You stay in control of what customers see.
6. Set prices with a useful starting point
You do not have to invent every size and frame price from scratch. In Bulk List, Easy Mode pre-fills recommended retail prices for Print Only, Black, White and Oak frame options. The recommendations are converted from GBP to your shop currency for you to review.
Use them as a starting point, then check your chosen prices against your shop fees, marketing costs, taxes and any promotions you plan to offer. Your selling price needs to cover more than the physical print.
Check our current fulfilment pricing for your intended delivery countries. Standard shipping is included for the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and our listed EU regions; Rest of World deliveries have a separate shipping charge.
Before publishing, make sure your delivery information reflects both production and shipping estimates. They are separate stages, and the timing depends on the product and destination.
7. Launch, learn and build on your collection
Once your first listings are ready, show the collection to people who might genuinely enjoy it. Share the story behind the illustrations, show how the designs work together and link directly to the products.
When orders arrive, PrintShrimp connects fulfilment to your artwork through matching product codes, known as SKUs. We offer Etsy and Shopify integrations, and unpaid orders wait for your check before payment unless you have enabled eligible automatic payments.
You can then keep your attention on the work that grows your shop: making new illustrations, improving presentation, promoting your collection and helping customers.
Your next step is to learn the selling side. Join our free Skool community for courses, videos and guidance on selling posters. Then, when you are ready to turn your collection into physical products, create your free PrintShrimp account. You bring the illustrations. We make and deliver the prints.
