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#photogs - when selling a print, how do u sign it? If on the print itself, do u do it digitally or manually? Any tips/tricks to share?

May 19 - Comment - Like - Share

Alfredo, Grant Bierman, Carlos Ayala and 7 other people liked this

I physically signed on the print with a silver pen Brian Auer had. - Bryan Villarin

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Thanks Bryan! I'm really curious to see if anyone does this digitally and how they accomplish it. - Justin Korn

You could create a handwritten watermark if you have a Wacom tablet and some kind of inking program. I've used my Wacom tablet and Skitch (Mac app) to ink out captions for Polaroid scans I posted on Flickr: 1. http://www.flickr.com/photos... 2. http://www.flickr.com/photos... - Cheryl Jones

I've never sold a print. I gave one to Scoble. Donated one for a Flickr Katrina Relief Auction and am about to put one in another charity auction for school arts programs. I signed the one I gave to Scoble on the mat I think, the one from the Flickr auction on the back of the print and the one for the school charity auction on the back of the mat. - Thomas Hawk

I leave about a 1/2" to 1" border on all sides, maybe a bit extra at the bottom. Then I sign below the print with an archival paint pen found at most art stores (black or silver depending on the print). Name of print, year taken, and print number on the left -- signature on the right. The intent is to have the print matted outside of the actual print area, leaving the signature visible. For my square aspect photos, I'll sometimes sign right on the print so that the 1:1 ratio can be maintained. - Brian Auer

ooh! good topic. I just framed my first print on the weekend and was thinking of signing it but wasn't sure what the "standard" was. or if one even existed. I think I like adding the Name of print, year taken along with a signature! - Nathalie, Dreamer of FF

I'm curious why you'd want to sign digitally. A signature is like your seal of approval stating that you made the print or at least oversaw it's creation and that the print is up to your standards. It's also the one thing that makes the print special and unique. - Brian Auer

I've signed on the mat but I really like Brian Auer's method! - Rachel Lea Fox

I've signed the mat around the photo, along with the printed title of the shot. I would not sign digitally -- to me that seems to detract from the originality of the piece. I like Brian's method as well. I think I will try that next time I print. - Jeremy Brooks

Manually. I have only ever given away prints so there's always a message. But if I ever did sell I would still sign manually, each and every print. It's a simple way to say "I made this image that you like, and I appreciate that you want a print of it." - Andy Bold

Signing the mat is just fine too, I've seen plenty of people do it that way. But I'd only sign the mat if it were permanently adhered to the photo. - Brian Auer

Back of the print. Don't trust signing the mat, and I see no advantage in signing the front of the print. And signing digitally makes no sense, at least to me. Like Brian mentioned, a signature is a "seal of approval". Non-signed prints I consider reproductions whose printing process may or may not have been overseen by me. - Antonio Marques

I think I'd rather sign on the photo vs the mat as well. and not digitally. as far as leaving a border on all sides, I'm trying to picture in my head how this looks once framed and matted. wouldn't it take attention away from the shot to have a border on the photo, then the the mat then the frame? do you have an example so I can see what it looks like. I love the idea of putting the title but without this border, I also worry that it would cover up a key part of the image. (yes. I over analyse a lot) - Nathalie, Dreamer of FF

I love stepping away to do work and seeing the conversation bloom! Great conversation going. @Brian - I'd love to see an example of how you do your border as well if possible. I think that's a great idea and actually one I had thought of, but wasn't sure how to do it. For example, if you have an 8x10 print and add a 1" border to all sides, your aspect ratio is off. Also, like Nathalie... more... - Justin Korn

Nathalie, here's a shot of 3 prints hanging on my wall right now (from other photographers). -- http://www.flickr.com/photos... -- The one on the left is signed and matted the way I typically do it with the border. The one in the middle is signed right on the print and is matted with no border. The one on the right is matted with no border and signed on the mat. - Brian Auer

Oh, and when I say "border" I just mean white space around the edge of the photo. I don't print an actual border on my photos. @Justin, as for the standard aspect ratio thing... I go under the assumption that the print will be custom matted -- it's not terribly expensive, even from a professional framer. - Brian Auer

ooooh! that looks good! maybe I have to shop around because when I looked into custom mats - they'd run me about 15$ a piece. or more. I'm cheap. 15$ is a lot of money if you're framing lots. - Nathalie, Dreamer of FF

@Nathalie: If you're framing a lot of pieces, look into a mat cutter. Then you can purchase the full size pieces of mat material and cut your own. It's very easy to cut them, and you end up with exactly the mat you want. - Jeremy Brooks

Brian - I figured you meant white space. I'm trying to streamline my process as much as possible and by doing so, I will be allowing clients to purchase frames and mats right from my storefront. This means the final product needs to be in one of the generally accepted aspect ratios. That said, I could easily add a 1in border to the sides and 2in to the top and bottom on an 8x10 to make... more... - Justin Korn from IM

Side question, but when you're cutting mats is there a lot of waste? Been thinking about going the mat cutter route, but worried that I'm going to end up with a lot of image sized pieces of mat card lying around that I am never going to use... - Andy Bold

Justin - Offering multiple sizes with mat and frame can be a daunting task indeed. This is why I usually offer just the print and allow the buyer to mat and frame as they see fit. If somebody wants me to mat the print, I'll usually have it mounted on gatorboard and matted with the external dimensions being a standard size. So a 14" or 16" print will be mounted to a 16x20 board with a custom mat window -- that way it can be dropped into a standard frame. - Brian Auer

I think a blog post series is in order... I'll see if I can post the intro tonight and get some feedback on which topics people want to learn more about. Between myself and the knowledgeable readers of Epic Edits, I think we can put together a good solid guide for printing, signing, mounting, matting, framing, and shipping these things. - Brian Auer

Andy: You will end up with some waste, but many of the smaller pieces can be used again, for smaller prints. I have found that cutting mats myself saves me money over custom cut sizes, even with the waste. - Jeremy Brooks

I like your thinking Brian. Looking forward to the post(s)... - Justin Korn from IM

That will be a good series, Brian! I have an example of a square format photo that I mounted in an oversized mat and framed in a 16x20 frame that gets really good feedback. Maybe a post on doing mounting/framing outside of the box would be interesting. - Jeremy Brooks

Really looking forward to the square format info!! - Nathalie, Dreamer of FF

Jeremy - for sure! I recently did an 11x11 print mounted to a 16x20 board in the vertical orientation with the window slightly above center. Square formats definitely give you the extra options. - Brian Auer

Feverishly working on an intro for this blog series... I'm really excited to get this discussion off the ground!!! Thanks for the inspiration, guys! - Brian Auer

Ok gang... here's the start of the blog series. Looking for some feedback and direction in this introductory post: http://blog.epicedits.com/2009... - Brian Auer

Awesome! I'm really looking forward to this series Brian! - Justin Korn from IM

Brian - I was going to write this to you directly, but thought maybe the community would benefit from it as well. I noticed you use ImageKind (or at least have a link on your website to it). How do you like their offerings? Would you recommend it? If you had a customer order something from there, how would you place your "seal of approval" then? - Justin Korn

Justin - I like the quality from ImageKind and I would recommend their products. I've ordered several prints from them just to test the quality. But... I wouldn't sign a print from ImageKind. The prints I sell from IK are unsigned only. I prefer to have complete control over the quality of my signed prints, so I utilize a professional printer in my local area (and I watch over the print as it's produced). - Brian Auer

Brain - Thanks! That makes sense. - Justin Korn from IM

Hey Justin, I know you started this topic because you probably need immediate answers, so email me directly if you want some 1 on 1 conversation. The blog series will probably take a few weeks to wrap up. - Brian Auer

Thanks Brian! I'm going to let this information sync in for a day or two and I'll get to you directly if anything comes up. I really appreciate your input so far! - Justin Korn from IM

I tend to take a practical approach. I always sign the print itself on the lower white border of the print with an archival pen. Most of the time I'm using a pre-cut mat at a standard size and printing the image to the same size (8x10 mat opening with an 8x10 image size) to keep my costs down. This means the mat will cover the signature and number. If I'm showing and not sure of sale, I... more... - Greg Lato

Here is a better question: limited edition or not? If limited edition, what does that mean and how do you enforce and track it? - Greg Lato

Ah yes... a touchy subject! The term "limited edition" has legal implications for each country and state. I prefer to offer my prints as "limited signed prints" rather than limited editions. In the digital age, limited editions are far more complicated than most photographer would think. http://blog.epicedits.com/2008... - Brian Auer

Rich Legg

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If we install everything proposed by Internet Explorer... [PIC] - http://url.im/at162v

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Probably takes 1.2 hours to boot the damn thing with all that crapware. - cmiper

Benedikt Koehler

SnapShot of twitter.com (rank #1,426), pownce.com (#17,157), friendfeed.com (#12,721) - Compete - http://siteanalytics.compete.com/twitter...

May 25, 2008 from Mento - Comment - Like - Share

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So many tech bloggers writing about the death of twitter: just a sign that it has become mainstream? - Benedikt Koehler from Mento

Isn't hitting excessive downtime a sign of hitting mainstream? slightly reminds me of StudiVZ hitting the crowds. - Martin Spindler

massive downtime + the avant-garde discussing the end of twitter = welcome to the mainstream, twitter. - Benedikt Koehler

cmiper

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Jennifer Leggio

Step 1: Step on FriendFeed bandwagon. Step 2: Make unfounded declarations about future of FriendFeed. Step 3: Congratulate yourself. Step 4: Hope like hell your unfounded declaration is true.

May 24, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Dani Radu, Klaus Eck, Robert Sanzalone and 27 other people liked this

FriendFeed's Bookmarklet kick's Twitter's Bookmarklets a$$! Oh wait, that's not an unfounded declaration...nevermind. - Robert Seidman

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Haha. :) - Jennifer Leggio

Does anyone realize that the same people that are claiming today that Friendfeed is going to kill Twitter, are the same people that earlier this month were claiming that BrightKite was the 'next big thing'? - Mack Collier

I figure since my unfounded declarations have been made solely with Photoshop twitter is down parodies I can chalk up anything that happens as comedic license. - Kevin Bondelli

I think that FF has the ability to kill Twitter (if they evolve it some more) but I never talked up bkite. As for unfounded, if you're having a go at me Jennifer, YOU NEVER READ THE POST. What I said was that FF has the ability to move into Twitter's space and kill it (which they do), I never once said FF as it stands today will kill Twitter. No hoping in that, informed call made on the great skill set the FF team has - Duncan Riley

what's a brightkite? - Thomas Hawk

hahahahaha...via feedalizr - drew olanoff

Thomas: http://brightkite.com/ - Want an invite? - Vincent X

Duncan - Until you commented here I had no idea who you were. So, uh, no, wasn't "having a go" at you. It's a no brainer that FF is capturing more Twitter users and could, eventually, knock Twitter down. My annoyance is with people who a week ago were indifferent about FriendFeed and now are rushing to post blogs about it. Where were they a few months ago? Too much bandwagon BS for my taste. - Jennifer Leggio

haha, no thanks Vincent, I'm good. I'll join as soon as they are one of the FF social networks, I've now signed up for 100% of the social networks that FF supports. - Thomas Hawk

Thomas - I burnt out on Brightkite after about a week. Plus I had my old boss threaten to show up at a dinner just to teach me a lesson about broadcasting my location. Ha. - Jennifer Leggio

Jennifer, I'm partly to blame because I started this weeks bitchmeme with the kill word. I take your point on board, but I'm suggest you're attitude towards others having a say isn't a positive for the conversation. So what they jumped on board last week, I got converted 3-4 weeks ago after not getting it for months (and even saying so publicly). Every service has an infliction point, let them come in and talk about it, don't have to agree with it but that doesn't mean they don't have the right to say it - Duncan Riley

Step 5: Profit ?!?!?! - Tim Moore

Jennifer, unless you were the founder of a service, there will always be someone who was there before, and usually, many more after. To close the doors on new users is silly, and it's very early in FriendFeed's growth phase. These go in waves. there was a wave in October of '07, another wave in February/March, and one now. It'll happen again. And we should welcome the new users and blog posts. - Louis Gray

"Never ask a man for his opinion on a business plan. Ask a woman. A man will love any plan that focuses on killing something else, no matter how ineffective the plan" - Guy Kawasaki (sorta) - Matt Harwood

If I may step in..@Sozo Sazesh I think the fac that the facebook community thrives on various updates on others is an example of how FriendFeed is relevant. - Jacob Nahin

I'm going to do step 4 differently: Hope like hell that nobody else's unfounded declarations are true :) - Eric Florenzano

Duncan, of course they have the right to say it. My initial comment was absolutely tongue-in-cheek. It's just... I'm not sure how if I can articulate this well... everyone should have an opinion and, of course, when people find a new "thing" they are going to get excited about it and write about it. GREAT. My eye rolling ensues when its clear that people are trying to "position" themselves rather than communication passion. It's transparent. - Jennifer Leggio

Soso, each person you know probably has a Facebook profile, a Linkedin profile, maybe a Twitter account, possibly a handful of other social sites like Last.fm, Youtube, etc. Wouldn't it be far more convenient to catch up on what they're doing from one site, rather than going to 5 or 10? - Mark Trapp

Duncan, perhaps you're right that my criticism is not constructive, but I spent all last week pushing Twitter Love Day to help make conversations around the Twit-Out constructive. Everyone has a weak moment. ;-) - Jennifer Leggio

Soso, you are here having a conversation now. Is that not relevant? The beauty of FF is that you can jump in for 10 minutes or 10 hours. Me, I've only been in for 15 min or so. I just finished watching Charlie Wilson's War with mrsth. I just pick up where i left off. It like a bar where there is always a conversation going on. What's not to love? - Thomas Hawk

meh... I stepped on the bandwagon in Beta, I never make unfounded declarations about the future of anything - but I congratulate myself nonetheless... what was #4 again? - Lucretia Pruitt

Sigh. Step 5: Do not use dry humor on FriendFeed as people may misunderstand. - Jennifer Leggio

@Sozo Sazesh That's a good point. I can concede to that. - Jacob Nahin

Louis, not at all what I was implying. Please see my last responses to Duncan. - Jennifer Leggio

Soso, what's the importance criteria in Facebook? Maybe more importantly, if you only have time or want to spend the time to observe, what does it matter how important you are? - Mark Trapp

And for the record, I dig FriendFeed. Been on a while but just started getting active. I want both FF and Twitter to flourish.... if possible. - Jennifer Leggio

@Kevin Bondelli for you ;) http://www.lalafufu.com/twitter... - Tim Moore

Jennifer, fair enough. - Duncan Riley

@Thomas Hawk I do say, referring to what Scoble mentioned recently, FF does have an awesome half-life - Jacob Nahin

Soso, the beauty of Friendfeed is that the buy-in for most users is very small: link up the content you are already producing to Friendfeed and you're good to go. Your friends and followers can keep up to date with what you're doing without you having to constantly remind them to "check my facebook profile" or "check my blog" (ironically, like you just did here). The likes/comments feature of Friendfeed is the poweruser level: I doubt if FF went mainstream most of the population would utilize it. - Mark Trapp

Soso, Friendfeed is heavy on the social media kool aid because early adopters are using it. Early adopters are power users. If/when it goes mainstream, the practices that we're using now (heavy commenting with people outside our core relationships) are not going to be seen in the mainstream audience. For example, Robert Scoble uses Facebook in a vastly different way than college or high school kids use it. You'll see the same thing happen with Friendfeed. - Mark Trapp

Soso, discussion threads like this (and all the others) don't seem to wind up happening on Facebook. These kinds of conversations are made much easier on FriendFeed. - Robert Seidman

Soso, Facebook is boring. - Thomas Hawk

@Soso I think you might be putting too much emphasis on the amount of services. I personally don't gauge my interest in another FF user by the amount of his or her services. I gauge it on his or her conversations, responses to others, sense of humor, passion, etc. If we're going to break it down to FriendFeed vs Twitter, FF at least lets you quickly see BOTH sides of a conversation versus having to click back and forth to see disparate tweets to get a full picture. That's just ONE benefit of the service. - Jennifer Leggio

@Soso If someone walks into *any* social media environment and bases his or her judgment of the effectiveness of said service solely on how popular or important his or her own presence is, then the experience will never be successful. It will always be built on a shaky foundation. And those trying to determine who to read will see through it and may not be as interested as they would be if the person just shared and expressed without worry about such things. - Jennifer Leggio

so this guy named Sosa walks into a bar, and the bartender says..... - Thomas Hawk

lol @ Thomas - Jennifer Leggio

Jennifer - Most of the people that I see talking about FF now really have been all along. Sure, there are a few 'well-known' sites that are now joining in but that's all part of 'the buzz'. If there was no value, most of them are smart enough to not be doing it. Regardless. Great Dialog. Thanks! - Charlie Anzman

@Charlie, sure thing. Who knew I would spark such a discussion, but I think it's wonderful that people are talking. :) - Jennifer Leggio

I think the main point here is, can we please tone down the almost obsessive over-hyping of these tools? Last year it was Facebook, then it was Twitter, then BrightKite, and now FriendFeed. - Mack Collier

Glad to see the early adopters hammering those terrible newcomers - I've been on FriendFeed for a whole six hours now and standards certainly started to decline in the early afternoon (AEST)! (for the benefit of the thick - I am joking, you know that, right? :) ) - Andrew Boyd

@Andrew - *cries* Seriously, I am going to cry. I am not even an early adopter. I signed up all of a month ago. I was making a joke about hypocrisy. I, erm, sigh. I'm gonna go over -----> here - Jennifer Leggio

@Jennifer I know, mine was more a comment on the emotional maturity of some of your respondents - still any publicity is good publicity (most of the time, unless people don't know when to stop). Thanks for brightening my first day on FF :) - Andrew Boyd

@Andrew Heh, I appreciate the support. I think I learned a lesson in that while on Twitter, most everyone who follows me knows me or knows my style already. Here, it's much more open which is GREAT. But easier to misconstrue. But I am who I am and I have a stupid sense of humor. So I'll brace myself. ;-) - Jennifer Leggio

Sorry Soso, didn't mean to call you Sosa. No more wine for me tonight. - Thomas Hawk

@Jennifer - good heavens! You did start something! Pot stirrer! ;) Seriously, I thought you were being funny. But you know - it *IS* the internet still, even if it's FF :) - Lucretia Pruitt

Ah, okay. I was wondering when we started talking about that baseball player. - Morton Fox

@Lucretia - It's actually kind of funny. Ok very funny. lol - Jennifer Leggio

4. Forget what future makes of your declarations, wait on the next big thing then go to step 1-3. And so on, until someone gets lucky with the future and then he/she gets to name the next big thing :) We're all game and there's no limit to how many ways we find to interact. - Dani Radu

Thomas Hawk

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