JPEG or a print? 

My Business:

For my preschool shoots I only sell JPEGS - there are many reasons for this but mainly due to keeping the cost down to parents as there are so many printing shops around that can create beautiful printed products (prints, key rings, mousemats, xmas cards etc) for way cheaper than I can offer.   The printing lab i used to use to create similar products has put their prices up too much in the last couple of years meaning the parents are ending up paying more and more.  This is not very good in the current financial climate so I had to make a choice.   I decided to give parents 100% control over what they buy and for how much.   I have also reduced the cost of the school photo jpeg to only £12.   This is due to the fact that the very nature of school photos is that they are not edited.  Thus the time I take to create the images is reduced and I can afford to reduce the cost of the jpeg accordingly.   The pricing model used for preschool photography shoots is totally different to all my other photoshoots. 

For my other shoots including families, headshots, commercial business etc, 99% of customers do not want a print - they want the digital JPEG download file so they can have the flexibility of the JPEG file opposed to owning a physical print.   I can recommend a printing shop local to me who creates stunning photos, canvases etc should any customer wish to order a print.   

I often get asked:  

Why are JPEGS £23 each as some people feel this is expensive and they should be cheaper than a print.  In the photography world, £23 is really cheap - I know studio's who sell 15 jpegs for over £600.   I hand edit every image and based on the cost of my time & business expenses, I only make a small profit on £23.  

Let's take a look at JPEGS.  What are they, what are the benefits etc... 

What is a JPEG ?

JPEG is the name given to a digital photo file.  If you create a word document and save it onto your computer, the file is called a 'doc'.   Similarly if you save an excel spreadsheet, this file is called a .xls.   Jpeg is simply the file name of a photo.   Photos can be saved as lots of different file types depending on what the photos will be used for but once the image has been edited and sold to a customer, I save them as JPEGS.   

What can you do with a JPEG? 

Once you own the digital JPEG file, you can share that file (image) with family and friends via email by attaching the file to the email.  You can attach photos to lots of different online communications including whatsapp and onto social media accounts and share as you would any photos you take with your mobile phone.  The JPEG is very flexible and useful in this regard.  

You can also get prints made from the file.  I only charge you a one-off fee for the JPEG file but the photo products you can create from your JPEG are endless and there is no limit to the amount of prints you can get from that jpeg, forever.  So you could create a canvas, a gift card, a cushion cover even..  There are physical and online shops that create these products for you from as little as 10p for prints.  

What can I do with a Print compared to a JPEG? 

If I sold you print, then you own that print.  You can pop it into a frame and display on your wall or gift it to a relative.  You own that one copy only.  It is against copyright law to make copies of that print so can you cannot photo it and share it online.  You cannot take to a shop and get them to make copies from it.  So you only have x1 photo.   

That is why JPEGs are so valuable. 

Still not sure?