Getting Started With Print-on-Demand for Your Art

Print-on-demand (POD) services let you sell physical products — like canvas prints, posters, and merchandise — without handling printing, inventory, or shipping yourself.

How Print-on-Demand Works

1. You upload your artwork to a POD service
2. You create product listings (canvas prints, posters, mugs, t-shirts, etc.)
3. When a customer orders, the POD service prints and ships the product
4. You earn the difference between the sale price and the POD service's base cost

Popular POD Services

• Printful — Integrates with Etsy, Shopify, and other platforms. Good quality, higher base prices.
• Redbubble — Built-in marketplace with its own audience. Lower margins but less marketing effort needed.
• Society6 — Art-focused platform. Good for wall art and home decor products.
• Zazzle — Wide range of customisable products. Good for niche designs.

Using Paint Craft Exports for POD

For print-on-demand, you typically want to use the finished (painted) version of your canvas rather than the numbered version. Export as a high-resolution PNG at the largest size possible for the best print quality.

Important considerations:

• POD services usually require high-resolution images (at least 300 DPI at print size)
• Paint Craft's PNG export resolution depends on the canvas size set during creation
• Vector exports (SVG) can be scaled to any size, but you may need to convert them to high-res PNG using a tool like Inkscape (free) before uploading to POD services

Setting Realistic Expectations

POD margins are typically low per item. It works best as a supplementary income stream rather than a primary one. Order test prints from any POD service before listing products to verify quality.