Now that you have your media types set up on your site, it’s time to start looking at your Style Finishes. Style Finishes are things like matting, beveled edges, canvas stretching and other little finishing touches. These are things you need to offer for your customers, even if it’s something as simple as Just the Print, which means they just get the rolled-up paper or canvas print in the mail.
You should keep these things simple in the beginning because you’re new, but as time progresses and you grow more familiar with Art Storefronts you can stray from the basic options we offer and create your own custom style finishes.
Table of Contents
Basic Style Finishes
Make sure you are logged in to your Art Storefronts Control Panel. This is sometimes called the back-end of the site or the Site Manager. All three mean the exact same thing.
Once you’re sure you’re in the right area, find your Art Print Store. Mine is currently named Warehouse and yours should be too, however, if it isn’t, you can look for something named Art Print Store and click on it.
The Art Print Store will load up for you and before you move on, you need to find the tab titled FINISHES and click on it. If you don’t do this, you aren’t going to be able to follow this process or even complete it.
On the styles tab you’re going to be presented with several different options on the page, but the one to start with is called Colours and is has a slider titled Availability and can be set to On or Off. If this is set to On it means customers will be able to choose whether they want the image in its original colour format, in black and white or in sepia. Most artists want their art to be appreciated in its original format, so they tend to keep this turned Off.
Following that, there’s a section titled Just the print with sliders for Availability- Canvas, Availability- Papers, Availability-Print (Generic). Each of these sliders relates to Just the Print. Just the Print means that whatever the person is ordering- Canvas, Paper or something else- will arrive with nothing else. They’ll just receive a piece of paper or a loose canvas. Any of these can be turned On or Off.
Framing is up next. Now, before we get too deep into this section, it’s important for you to know this section is only framing for PAPER and CANVAS. Having said that, there’s a slider here that is also labeled Availability that can be set to On or Off. You should only have this set to on if you ARE offering Frames.
Beneath that, there’s a section titled Inset for Framed Paper. This is the amount of inset from the frame for framed paper. You can choose between 0 to 4 inches.
Now, you can move on to the section labeled Matted where you have a box for Price. The important thing to remember here is that the pricing for matting, based on this finish is in LINEAR FEET. As with anything else, there’s an Availability slider that can be set to On or Off
Warning: Do not put special characters in the Price box. This will break the box and cause it to function improperly on the site.
Then, there’s a section for Canvas Options. Here you can choose different options for your Canvas offering.
Mirrored- this is the most popular effect in canvas wrapping (particularly with photographs), where the last 1-2 inches of the image are mirrored to create a smooth appearance on the sides of the canvas wrap. This way, no portion of the image is lost on the front side of the canvas
Overflowed- this is when the image wraps around the sides of the canvas. This less popular effect causes you to lose a portion of the image on the front side of the canvas, because that portion needs to be wrapped around the sides.
Overflowed (New)- If you're a print studio/photo lab and you don't want to use the original "Overflowed" option because you'd like to allow your professional clients something more precise, you can activate this.
Border Colour- this is when a solid color is applied to the sides of the canvas wrap. This way, no portion of the image is lost on the front side of the canvas. Border colour can be set to Locked which means the customer will not be able to choose the border colour. Then you can select the Default Colour if you like.
The next finishing option is Canvas Wrap. Here you’ll see many wrap sizes that you can set the price in LINEAR FEET Each also has an availability slider that can be set to On or Off.
The final option on the page that is SPECIFICALLY for beginners is Ready to Hang which can be set to On or Off. Ready to Hang implies that the print will be ready to hang on the wall when the customer receives it. This is a popular option for metal prints that may, by default, come with a backing that allows the customer to hang it on the wall.
The last two options on the page are Custom Finishes and Print Options which should not be used by beginners, so you can ignore them at this point. If you MUST create custom finished or print options, check for appropriate link on the Related Articles.
After you’ve completed everything on this page and you’re happy with your work, click on the Save DO NOT click the back button because you’ll lose the work you just completed.
Troubleshooting
My page won’t save.
You likely need to use an approved browser. If you’re using anything other than Firefox or Chrome, you should stop and use either Chrome or Firefox.
If you’re using an approved browser, you may need to clear your cache. Check out how to clear the cache by using the article on How To: Clear your Cache.
These basic Style Finishes don’t fit my needs.
If the default style finishes don’t work for you, you need to go ahead and use the Custom Style Finish option. To learn more, check out How To: Create Custom Style Finishes.
What do I do next?
Now, you may be thinking that you are going to need Frames. Honestly, because you’re new, you don’t really need any frames. Most people don’t order them so starting out, you don’t need them. Instead you need to make a choice here. Are you going to sell Originals or are you going to forgo selling Originals?
If you’re going to sell Originals, you need to learn how to create a Standard Store. Standard stores allow people to upload things like Originals, Limited Editions, etc. To learn more, check out How To: Create a Standard Store for Originals, Limited Editions, Etc.
If you’re aren’t going to be selling Originals just yet, you can instead move on to setting up your Home Page. The home page should be set up as a gallery of subject matter categories, and you can learn more by checking out How To: Make your Home Page a Gallery of Subject Matter Categories.
(ADVANCED USERS ONLY) How To: Create a Custom Style Finish in an Art Print Store
(ADVANCED USERS ONLY) How To: Create a Print Option in an Art Print Store