TurningArt Logo Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions



How do Artists get compensated for use of their work?

We want to be sure that artists are fairly compensated every time someone has a chance to experience their work. Artists receive 10% of the trial revenue whenever a customer tries one of their prints at home. If a print is sold the artist receives up to 40%, and if an original is sold the artist gets 60%.



How do ArtCredits affect the Artists cut of print and original sales?

In the case of original artwork, customers can use ArtCredits to subsidize their purchase, but only up to 40%. That comes out of TurningArt's cut, so the artist's 60% commission is never affected. In the case of print sales artists always receive 40% from the sale of a TurningArt-produced print, however the distribution of that 40% will be effected by the amount of royalties already paid out to the artists whose work was rented prior to the print purchase.



Why do I sometimes make more from a print sale, and sometimes less?

The amount of money the artists makes from a print sale depends on how many ArtCredits the customer uses to buy the print. If no ArtCredits are used the artist makes 40%, if ArtCredits are used to purchase the print the artist will make up to 40%, depending on the amount of royalties set aside for artists whose work was rented while the customer was accruing ArtCredits. The artists will never receive less than 30% of the proceeds from a print sale. For more information on this and the Artist Dashboard please go here.

How does TurningArt calculate Artist Royalties?

Artist royalties are calculated by looking at the amount of money TurningArt took in from print rentals in a given month, and then dividing that amount by the number of prints that were out in customers’ homes. We then distribute 10% of the rental revenue to artists according to how many of their prints were out, and for how long.

How and when are artists paid?

Artists will be paid via bill.com on the 15th of every month. We distribute your earnings as soon as you've accrued $50 or more.

Who maintains copyright of the work while it's on TurningArt?

The artist always maintains copyright of the work they create. We ask for permission to use your images on our web site, to create high quality prints, and in press and marketing materials. The images will always be credited to the artist.



What are the prints made of and how are they printed?

The prints we send out to our customers are printed on a high quality durable material that produces a high-quality image and holds up to the wear-and-tear of repeated in-home trials. We’ve opted against using an offset print technology, as we've found that the prints that come from offset printers are much more fragile. The machine used to create the TurningArt print of your work doesn't have an exportable color profile, so we can’t color match work by individual artists, however we find that the most accurate color matching comes from images with an RGB color profile and recommend submitting those when possible.



What's to prevent someone from just stealing my image off TurningArt and printing it out on their own?

The visible images on TurningArt have been sized down to thumbnail proportions, so a resulting printed image would be of very poor quality. Also the image will have a TurningArt watermark on the lower right hand corner. No image which appears on the website, or on any other online sources will contain a high resolution image of your work. Your high resolution images are stored in a file storage location which is only accessible to member of the TurningArt staff.



Why would someone buy my original if they can just have a print?

The prints we rent and sell are not meant to replace your original artwork, rather they’re a way for customers, who may not be ready to buy an original, to own and experience a version of your work.



I’m a photographer so my work is essentially a print itself.

Why would anyone buy my much more expensive original over your reproduction?

The prints we send out are great and our customers love them, but they’re not unique originals. Whatever material you work with, whether it be canvas, wood or paper, has been specially selected by you to best highlight the intrinsic qualities of your work. The materials we use are meant to make us uniquely able to market and distribute excellent quality reproductions of your work to as wide of an audience as possible. At the end of the day our customers understand that there’s a real piece of art behind the print they have in their home and if it’s within their means, they just might buy it.



My work is square, but the prints you send out are not. How does that work?

We know how important composition is to a successful piece of art and it’s our primary goal to show your work in the best way we possibly can.

Many artists are okay with their work being cropped to fit our print specifications because they understand that we crop the images with the utmost sensitivity.



Who selects the work that goes up on the site?

We trust artists to decide which pieces they would like to show but we reserve the right to make the call about whether or not a particular piece is right for the site. Some artists find it helpful to receive input about which of their pieces would be best for the type of customers we attract and we're definitely here to help if you need us. We ask that artists submit bodies of work that demonstrate a consistency in technical skill and a cohesion of style or content. We find this is what our customer base is looking for and what works best for your artist portfolio page and browse page display.



Who sets pricing for prints?

TurningArt does. We sell reproductions in two sizes, each with a standardized price, framed or unframed.



Who sets pricing for original pieces?

The price for originals shown on the site falls between $300 and $5000, and the artist is responsible for pricing his or her own work. You should keep in mind that TurningArt takes a 40% commission from the sale of an original. We don't ask for exclusivity on the pieces shown on TurningArt, but we do require that the prices listed on TurningArt and the prices listed elsewhere be the same.



In the event of the sale of an original, who pays for shipping?

In most cases shipping will be covered by the customer and negotiated during the sales process. In all other instances TurningArt will cover up to $75 in shipping costs. If you have very large, or heavy work, of if you’re particular about how it’s packed and shipped, we strongly recommend that you factor the cost of shipping into the prices you have listed on TurningArt.



Can I show my work in gallery shows or on my own website while it’s on TurningArt?

Sure, if the gallery is cool with that. We just ask a few things in this case. We ask that you let us know as soon as you sell one of the pieces you have listed with so that we don't keep trying to sell a piece that's no longer available. We'll also want to know if you'd like to continue rotating prints of that piece or if you'd like it removed from the site entirely. Lastly, we would appreciate it if you kept the price listed on TurningArt consistent with the price of the piece through other venues.



Do the original pieces I show on TurningArt have to be available for sale?

No, not necessarily. The end goal of the TurningArt rotation service is to get our customers comfortable with buying original art, but in the meantime they can get to know your work by renting and buying prints of your originals. If the piece is no longer available or if you don't want to sell it just let us know so we can pass that info on to interested parties.



I submitted some work but it's not showing up on the browse page.

To give our customers a better browsing experience we ask that artists have a minimum of 5 published piece. Any artist with less than 5 pieces is searchable on TurningArt but won't show up on the main browse page. As an artist, there are lots of ways to take advantage of TurningArt and the first is having a portfolio with a minimum of five pieces. The site is geared toward recent activity and portfolios with newly published pieces pop to the top of the homepage. We publish pieces daily to keep the view fresh for new and returning customers but make sure that artists portfolios stay in the top ten view for at least 24 hours.



What type of images do you need from me?

In order to create fine art quality enlarged prints of your images/artwork, we need files (Tiff, jpeg, or png) with a total pixel count of around 3000 x 4000 pixels - at a 250 pixels per inch resolution which usually translates to a 12 x 16 inch print size. The best way for us to determine what the print looks like is to zoom into actual pixel size, 100%, a tool available in most basic image software (iphoto, preview, adobe, etc). A camera with upwards of 12-14 megapixels (the more the better) and natural light should do the trick. High res scans work too! Remember sizing up in photo editing software (adding computer generated pixels) will not work for print.



Okay, cool! What do you need from me?

It's easy. You can go here to submit an application. Within a couple of days, we’ll get back to you with instructions on how to submit the content we need to get you up on the site. Most importantly, at least 5 high resolution images of your work. We're excited to see your work!



What are your requirements for the images I submit?

The raw image files should be at least 3000 x 4000 pixels, which is 250 ppi at a 12 x 16” print size. The higher the pixel count, the more information stored in the image and the more information the better. With a lower resolution picture, you risk having a print that appears to be very pixelated and blurry.



My question isn't answered here. Where can I send my question?

If your question isn't answered above, you can contact us here.