Art Articles & Reviews

Square Inch VS Linear Pricing of your artwork. You might be surprised.

Over the years I have been asked what is better, pricing your art by the square inch or by the linear inch. If you have ever done the calculation of varied sizes you will notice the square inch system just doesn’t scale well when comparing smaller pieces to larger ones. Please note the prices used are only for example purposes and are not an indication of the prices you should charge. Here is how it works:

SQUARE INCH

A X B = SQUARE INCHES X $00

4”x5 ”= 20 sq in X $10= $200.                  (if x $10 = $200)

8”x10 ”= 80 sq in X $5= $400                   (if x $10 = $800)

16”x 20”=320 sq in x $2.5 = $800.            (if x $10 = $3200)

32”x 40”= 1280 sq in x 1.25 = $1600.       (if x $10 = $12,800)

( I found with Square inch pricing, every time you double the image dimensions (you are actually quadrupling the image square inch size) you should reduce the dollar factor by half. This does a correction in the math if you don’t want to over price your art. You can see how prices can balloon out of proportion in the chart to the right) It creates a complicated system that needs adjusting with every piece of artwork and your prices may seem like they are all over the board.

LINEAR INCH

A + B = LINEAR INCHES X $00

4”+ 5”= 9 lin in X $22= $198

8”+ 10 ”= 18 lin in X $22= $396

16”+ 20”=36 lin in x $22= $792

32”+ 40”= 72 lin in x $22 = $1584

( I found with Linear inch pricing, it seems pricing and size stay generally in scale. Notice the price factor of $22 stayed the same throughout)

The advantage is that it is easier to explain to your customer when comparing sizes of work. Also, it makes it easier for your art gallery when calculating prices or when you want to raise your prices – you just adjust your dollar per lineal inch and multiply. Being consistant creates clarity with the buyer and shows a professional understanding and justification of the artworks value.