Printing & Framing Digital Prints on a Budget
Digital artwork. It seems like every blogger (at least the ones I follow!) have them now. Whether you want to use them as your phone wallpaper, TV background, or for their original intended purpose — as framed art in your home, they’re a great item that I’ve seen come to market from a couple of my favourite bloggers. Not only does it give your home a touch of your favourite bloggers style, they usually sell for a very reasonable price, ranging from $10-$40, usually. Now, here comes the pricey part - getting them printed, and framed… at least, so you think.
I like to think of myself as a self-proclaimed master-of-framed-art-on-a-budget, of sorts. When, you guessed it, Jillian Harris launched her digital prints last year, I jumped at buying them and instantly went on get them printed & “framed”, and I got it done for under $25. You might be wondering how; so I’m going to share how I get all of my digital downloads printed, and where I go to find frames.
Affordable Printing
A lot of people instantly seem to think that getting these prints done needs to be expensive, but it really doesn’t! I’m not sure if it’s from 3 years of getting prints done for school projects, or what, but one place I’ve come to love for quick, affordable prints is actually, Staples*! I feel like just about everyone more than likely has a Staples where they live, so this makes it accessible to lots of people too.
* This mainly applies to smaller sized prints, 8” x 10” or smaller, due to the instructions I’ll be giving.
If you go to Print A Document, and select Same Day Pick-Up, you’ll get your print that evening (if you order by 12pm). If you want to wait, you can select the Complete Solution option, but there’s really not much in those options that would make this print “better” (it’s usually options like lamination, hole punching, etc.), so I’d recommend just going with the Same Day Pick-Up option.
Once you’ve selected your printing service, you upload whatever files you’re wanting to have printed, and continue onto the next step. This is where you want to pay close attention to what you’re selecting:
Finish Size: Leave this as 8.5” x 11” — this is why I said you’ll want your prints to be 8” x 10” or smaller — it’ll allow for some extra room to secure your print in your frame, which I’ll get into detail a bit more later. If you’re printing something smaller than an 8” x 10”, just know you’re going to need to trim this down later, but I promise it’s not too hard.
Reduced/Enlarged Pages: Select None. I cannot emphasize this enough, if you don’t select this, they will scale it automatically to stretch the print to fit on the sheet of paper, and it will be warped.
Paper Stock: In the drop down menu, select White, 100 lb. Cardstock. This is what I always use as it’s heavier than paper but isn’t ridiculously thick.
Once you pay, and place your order, your prints will be done within 24 hours most times, and you can go pick them up (and yes they do curb-side pick-up right now if your province is in lockdown like mine is!). The pricing may depend on where you live, but where I live, it costs me .89 cents per sheet, so getting multiple prints done is extremely affordable.
Frames That Don’t Break The Bank
While printing can be pricey, what really can break the bank on getting prints done is the frames, especially custom framing. Since the prints are all usually in a standard size, you can get away with buying frames that are definitely not custom, and very affordable. Some great places to check out are Winner, Marshalls, HomeSense or even your local thrift stores. Another great place to check out is Michaels! I’ve linked some of my favourites that are under $50 for you to check out.
My personal favourite for any 8” x 10” prints that I get done are 11” x 14” frames with an 8” x 10” opening in the mat, such as this frame, so you have a little bit of room with your 8.5” x 11” paper to secure your print to the mat, and you don’t have to make any measurements, or cut the print to fit in an 8” x 10” frame.
If you’re looking for these prints featured in the photos above, check out Jillian Harris’ Jilly Prints & Fraiche Living Digital Prints.
I hope this blog post is helpful to everyone who’s looking to get these digital prints in their home on a budget! Anytime I do these prints, I usually end up being able to get the print & the frame for less than $25 per piece, which is a great price if ya ask me. See you again on Friday for a new post!
* Note: Some links above are commissionable links.
