For Artists, By Artists

A Quick Note

New Equipment and New Products.

We have been searching the market for used industrial equipment to better serve our clients. So far we have added the ability to chop some of our own frame mouldings, and to dry-mount up to just over 40×60 inches. This means that we can offer lower prices for stocked mouldings as we are buying them in bulk and cutting and joining them here. We are also stocking new ready-made frames built from better materials and priced better than our previous inventory.

Our new vacuum mount hot press will permit us to mount larger materials in a safer way than previously possible. This machine will also allow larger dry-mounted canvases to be made, which then can be framed using our stock materials for a truly beautiful piece of wall art.

We are continuing to invest in ourselves so that we can improve our services to you. If you would like to know more feel free to ask the next time you stop in to visit.

Print Varnishing Beta.

We will now be offering a beta print varnishing service for prints on matte paper and fine art matte paper. Varnishing your prints will not only protect them, but will also allow them to be covered under the Blue Wool Archival Certification (select papers only). Varnishing will protect your art from UV exposure, curious children, and according the manufacturer, confused surfers who are using art to catch the waves (we are using a similar product by Breathing Color, and will likely switch to that particular product soon, but they did a torture test link here). This is a service we have examined previously and based on use will either include or remove from our general offerings.

Varnish will be available in a matte, satin, and gloss finish. We do have some samples at The Studio to take a look at if you would like. The additional values of varnish permit you to obtain the richness and depth of photo papers while still using a fine art paper as your substrate. This means richer blacks, more saturated colors, and photos which will truly pop.

Varnishing options are also now available on our ROES ordering system accessible through our website.

In-stock Ready Made Frames

We touched on this a little bit earlier. But we are offering Ready Made frames as an inventory item now. We are starting with some basic styles and will likely be adding additional ones. All Ready Mades include the frame, acid-free foam-core backers, wire hanging hardware, felt bumpers, are pre-drilled for the hanging hardware, and standard 2mm glass.

At this time the white frames are on hold until a new batch of material arrives.

Some Pricing Updates

Unfortunately we have had to make some pricing adjustments. The primary reason for these adjustments are due to some products and services we offer have been operating on such slim margins that we either have to discontinue offering it or increase the pricing. We want to do everything we can to be fair to our customers, but unfortunately with inflation and labor costs we must make some changes.

Metal Prints
Metal prints are the only product we outsource to another lab. We now have a 20% handling fee assessed to the base price. This shows up as a mandatory option in ROES. This is necessary for us to have a profit margin on the product and will help compensate us for our time in ordering and receiving the items. When you select “ship to lab” we will receive the item here and examine it for quality control before repacking it and notifying you of pickup. We will handle relations with the printing lab in the event that the metal print is not up to either of our expectations. This is a great way to ensure that your art is welcomed by someone and not left on a doorstep.

Shipping and Handling
For the entire existence of our business we have always billed shipping at cost. Being rather pricey for larger items we do everything we can to keep that price low. Shipping is one of the things which is costly and can consume many hours of our day to build boxes and securely package items. To assist with material and expanses we will now be assessing a handling fee to shipments originating from our facility. The handling fee will closely resemble the graph below. This may seem overly technical but produces a fair pricing for time and labor involved in box making and packaging. As you can see below as the cost of shipping goes up the handling charge will start to flatten out. Items which are simpler to ship such as tubes or flat rate envelopes will have discounted handling charges. This will be subject to change as we tweak it to better fit the needs of our clients and our own costs.

General Pricing
We are in the process of evaluating our general pricing comparative to the market and costs. We have not increased pricing for or products or services in a few years. The costs of materials and supplies has increased over this time and we have to evaluate those changes and how they will effect our pricing. At this time there have been no changes and will not be for a while. You may see pricing increases between 10 and 25 percent in the future, or in some cases none at all based on the outcome of our research.

In short, now is a good time to put your orders in if you have any projects in mind.

Framing
Pricing for our framing service has changed effective immediately, our primary vendor has updated some of their material costs and our system has been updated to reflect it. Some glass has gotten cheaper, gator-board has gotten more expensive. Just the normal day of the roller coaster of our market.

Your feedback matters to us. Please call or email us with questions or comments on these changes.

Return of the Kiosk!

In-store services are by appointment only. 

To protect our staff and to limit the number of persons in the store, all in-store services remain to be by appointment only. This permits the proper cleaning between clients and the ability to maintain social distancing. We also ask that all services which we can offer without your physical presence in the store be accomplished on-line. Please make use of our online ordering system at PetoskeyPrintStudio.com and for image file consultation that you call us to receive instructions on the use of our file transfer system. 

Clients who need additional assistance with online tools can still be scheduled for an in-store appointment. 

All persons entering our store are required by law to wear a fabric mask which covers both the nose and mouth, and which does not have a vent. Please arrive 5 minutes early for your appointment for our screening process which includes exposure questions and non-contact temperature screening. For those who are unable to tolerate a mask we will make alternative arrangements for our appointment. 

You are welcome and encouraged to contact us with any questions at 231 487 2102.

Pandemic Delays. 

So Covid has been impacting the global market in many ways, one of which is the shipping system. Importers have ships sitting waiting to unload. Exporters have no containers because they are waiting on these ships to be unloaded. Labor shortages and work backlogs have been created and will not be resolved soon. The entire industry is in distress from a shortage of materials. Sadly this effects us and our customers because the mat or frame they have ordered is just not available for months. We appreciate your patience in this matter and will do everything we can to get you your project as fast as possible.

We will gladly send you samples of printed products.
Interested? Just call us at 231-487-2102.