Illustrators: Do you sell PNG files?

[Snap VectorsParticipant]

Hello. I’m thinking about offering some of my illustrations as PNG files. A lot of my illustrations would work a lot better as PNG files instead of JPG’s because the background can be transparent.

Have any of you fellow illustrators had an success selling PNG files instead of JPG’s? Or do you offer both?

It makes sense to offer PNG files, but I’m worried that many buyers won’t know what a PNG file is.

Thanks,
Nate

[LeoParticipant]

I sell PNG files, but your right – only a few of them know the significance of that file type. Also there’s a concern with image meta too — the .jpg version contains copyright and contact info. PNG doesn’t carry that, so its easier to steal things. Generally though everything should be ok.

[Snap VectorsParticipant]

Thanks for the reply Leo.

Here’s the important question… Do your PNG files sell any better than the JPG’s? 🙂

If the PNG’s don’t sell dramatically better, I think I’ll just keep it simple, and stay with JPG’s.

Thanks,
Nate

[LeoParticipant]

For a while I had heavily banked on selling files with the idea that transparency is included. I found it didn’t matter a great deal. Only a few customers make requests for transparency. It doesn’t hurt though.

[ChristineParticipant]

I am offering a few png’s, no sales yet, and display them like this
http://kerioakimaging.com/image/indigo-flames-smoke-effect-swirls/?r=http://kerioakimaging.com

EDIT:
BUG
just noticed that there is still a bug with this as the jpg option has disappeared again on some of these images

http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail Art

[EcoStockImagesParticipant]

I was planning to sell png alongside jpgs, but there are couple of drawbacks:

– stripped out copyright info
– for unknown reason, my files aren’t processed when png is larger than approx. 22MB – which is almost always.
– sometimes, the jpg versions won’t appear on the page, thus can’t be purchased
– when png appear alongside jpgs, the selection might be a bit too confusing fro average customer – 4 jpg sizes + 4 png sizes.

I settled down to uploading zipped TIFF and offering full size TIFF with transparency in “zipped” format. That makes 4 jpgs + 1 zip (full size tiff) to choose from.

I’m not selling yet, so can’t say if it works or not, but it is an option that I’ chosen to go for 🙂

[dp69_2001Participant]

I don’t think many customers understand the versatility of the .png. In fact just the other day at work we were talking about a specific issue and someone said, “But, I didn’t think png’s supported transparency”.

I don’t know if you’ll get more sales from making a version with transparency, I’d like to think that most of our customer base can quite easily get rid of the background, or grab the eps. All speculation I suppose.

[ChristineParticipant]

I have tried to explain what png’s can be used for and show what they are like – not sure if I make myself clear though

http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail Art

[JoRodriguesParticipant]

You can actually embed meta tags in just about any file. PNG’s can have Meta Tags the issue is that not many platforms and software support it. They are still there though, right in the file.

You can also insert your copyright into a PNG with ExifTool.

http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

Takes some getting used to using ExifTool but I now have a batch file I run on my images. It will remove parts I don’t want in the Meta Tags and adds all the copyright and urls etc. I need. Took me about a day or two to figure it out.

Jo

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