ARLEYART MOTIVATIONAL PRINTS

 ArleyArt.com offers wall decor with unique presentations at reasonable prices. All artwork is printed to order on heavyweight satin (semi-gloss) photo paper, inserted into a 100% archival safe, acid-free clear sleeve, and a flat mailer or rolled if the poster is larger than 11x14". The prints are carefully packaged to ensure safe delivery. Each print is ready-to-frame, and items are usually shipped within 1-2 business days of payment confirmation. Personalized and custom photo items may take longer. ArleyArt prints are available in sizes 8x10", 11x14", and 13x18", though not all products are available in all sizes. The images used in each product are Arley's own work, in the public domain, licensed, or used with permission. Custom posters can be created from your favorite quote or athlete

 EMA offers the highest quality fine art paper at the most affordable price and therefore allows you to maximise your own profit margins.

 The smooth, matte, natural paper offers a fantastic base for fine art and photographic reproduction. It has excellent durability and contains no optical brightening agent (OBA) that can damage the longevity of the print.

 Our global range of products can easily be located in the manual order form by typing "GLOBAL" into the search. The following shortcut will give you our global fine art prints which are all made from our EMA paper: GLOBAL-FAP.

 At Prodigi, printing is at the heart of everything we do and every product we create. Each substrate is individually profiled for our printers, ensuring fantastically accurate and consistent reproduction.

 While it ultimately comes down to personal preference in terms of texture, size and finish, we’ve pulled together our most popular Art Print products so you can find the perfect match….

 When it comes to luxury paper for Art Prints, Giclèe is where it’s at. These papers were designed especially for high-quality reproductions of art and photography. Not usually used for bulk printing, Giclèe is one of the best choices for short high-quality runs of artwork.

 So what makes Giclèe so special? While products like Flyers and Posters use standard four-colour printing (known as CMYK). Giclée prints use a 12 colour printer so that your artwork colours can be matched exactly. Plus, each paper has been specially selected from the experts at Hahnemühle, so that you don’t have to worry about fading over time.

 Posters are a great choice if you’re looking to print larger designs in bulk or on a budget. For example, if you want to offer cheaper prints of your original artwork or create an affordable collection of large prints. Keep in mind that Poster prints are only available in two paper stocks, Matt and Satin, but both offer great colour vibrancy and a quality finish.

 Posters are also an ideal option if you’re planning on displaying your Art Prints outside thanks to our outdoor and weatherproof options.

 Whether at your home or in a gallery, eye-catching Photographic Prints are perfect as feature or standalone pieces. They can be ordered as flat prints, finished edge to edge or wrap mounted onto your choice of board. Available in two premium papers, Epsom Premium Luster and Kodak Photographic Gloss, your photos are ready to be brought to life!

 If you want to go all out sparkle with your designs, Foil Art Prints are the way to go. Available in seven shiny shades, including gold and silver, your designs are guaranteed to turn heads when they catch the light.

 The humble Postcard is one of the most customisable and flexible prints…so naturally it can be used to create stunning Art Prints too! Besides the obvious choice for turning your art and photography into unique postables, they’re a fast and affordable way to create small decorative art pieces or a mini collection.

 Another thing Postcards include? Special Finishes. Whether you want to add some shiny highlights to your art or highlight features using White Ink, Postcards are a great place to start. Both of these finishes take a couple of extra steps to set up for print, so check out our video tutorials.

 An absolute advertising favourite, Leaflets and Flyers are also great for creating Art Prints on a small budget. One of the main advantages to Leaflet printing your designs is volume. As one of our most affordable prints, they’re ideal for printing designs both quickly and in bulk.

 Not everyone is looking for Poster-sized art, so Leaflets can make perfect pocket-sized Art Prints. You’ve also got a much broader range of papers to choose from compared to Poster printing or traditional Art Printing. Soft Silk? Fine-lined Nettuno? Shimmering Pearl Oyster? The choice is yours!

 Throughout my artistic career, I had to prepare my images for printing probably thousands of times. Preparing photographs before sending them to magazines, for a gallery show, or for a fine-art print sale. But in photography, you rarely face the necessity to upscale an image.

 Or to upscale an image that has indistinct details and a lot of... uncertain spots. :) And most definitely, it is the rarest event to upscale a 1024x1024 pixel image for high-quality printing.

 Yet here we are, with Midjourney's beautiful but elusive results that, in V4, can only go as big as 1024x1536 pixels. What is the best way to upscale them and prepare them for printing?

 There are many ways to upscale an image, and it's not this study's goal to cover all of them. I will, however, try some of the most popular options, both free and paid.

Bremerton Artist

 After considering each option's speed, quality, and user experience, I settled on using Gigapixel AI. Despite a hefty 99,99$ price tag, my time and mental health seemed more valuable. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 Someone with a stronger will, more dedication, time, and a technical mindset could squeeze better results out of some of the methods in this study. For instance, selecting a correct Upscaler model can drastically affect the upscaling outcome. But going through lists of literally hundreds of them, let alone downloading, installing, and waiting between ten to ninety minutes to see each result—that's a task for a dedicated research institute. :) Instead, I went with the most common models and (mostly) default values in most cases.

 All the initial files were sharpened in Lightroom before sending them to upscalers. After LR export (HQ PNG), each file was ~9 Mb and 1024×1536px.

 For printing, keeping files as PNG isn't necessary—JPEG with lowest compression works perfectly fine. But I kept the initial file format to make the experiments more consistent.

 I ran all tests (except for Google Collab that works in the cloud) on 2013 Mac Pro with the following configuration:

 My upscaler of choice for many good reasons—Gigapixel AI—is an all-in-one AI-based upscaler with a buy-once-own-forever license. When you launch the app, it offers to download the most recent upscaler models. Afterward, it will regularly download updates and occasionally add new models.

 Gigapixel AI offers a minimalist and clean interface. Every control is in its place, and the overall experience is straightforward and intuitive.

 Gigapixel AI offers a minimalist and clean interface. Every control is in its place, and the overall experience is straightforward and intuitive.

 You drag and drop your images to Gigapixel AI's window. They appear as a list with parameters for each position (that can be changed individually or for all images simultaneously).

 A handy Auto mode lets Gigapixel AI decide which model best applies to your images and with what parameters. Or you can set everything manually. That includes Suppress noise, Remove blur, Fix compression, Face Recovery, and Gamma Correction.

 To help you with these choices, the central part of the screen is occupied by a before-after comparison preview. You can zoom in and out and drag the loupe across your image. The preview only runs the selected upscaler model on the zoomed part of the image, so it works faster than complete upscale—to show how this particular fragment will look after you launch the upscaler.

 In this comparison, Gigapixel AI upscales are put against original images resized to have the same resolution. In all the following tests, I will be comparing the results from the upscaler in question to those of Gigapixel AI.

 Also, I won't be posting all results for each upscaler. You can download all fragments via the link at the end of this study.

 Gigapixel offers several built-in AI models (see specs below). However, I found the Standard mode the most useful, delivering the best results in each benchmark position. Here is a comparison of Lines vs Art & CG vs Standard models with Line Art test.

 PNG file size: at ~130Mb per image, Gigapixel AI is top of the list at this, too. However, with the use of a fantastic free tool ImageOptim↗︎ I could reduce the file size to 40Mb with 90% lossy optimization and to around 25Mb with 80%.

 Gigapixel AI is capable of upscaling to up to 6 times the original size—and you can set it to an even higher multiplier, but after that, "the quality is not guaranteed."

 After trying alternatives, my choice was clear: I was ready to pay for a clean design, intuitive user experience, almost no waiting time, and overall convenience.

 Arleyart.com is a platform where Arley Clark, the owner, sells his unique motivational art. Arley, born in 1947 and raised in Bremerton, Washington, has always been inspired by words of wisdom. This includes quotes, phrases, song lyrics, and even advertising taglines. Throughout his career, motivational or thought-provoking messages were always on display on his office walls. Frustrated by the limited selection of display-worthy plaques, posters, or art prints available in the market, he decided to create his own. Upon retiring from a management career in the sporting goods industry, Arley decided to check the market for his kind of motivational art, leading to the birth of ArleyArt​1​.

 Your sketchbook should contain a wide range of media and materials, as appropriate for the project and area of specialty. Include photographs of any three-dimensional exploration. A broad list of possible media and materials is listed below:

 Drawing and painting surfaces: colored and textured papers of varying weights, such as tissue paper, watercolor paper, newsprint, or cartridge; cardboard; transparent sheets, plastic overlays, or tracing paper; discarded wallpaper, patterned paper, or printed sheets; photographic paper or other specialized printing papers; painted or prepared grounds; masking tape or other adhesive surfaces; collaged materials; dried textures created with acrylic pastes or compounds; canvas, hessian, or other fabrics; other appropriated items. (See more examples of drawing and painting surfaces in our four-part Creative Use of Media series for high school art students.)

 Drawing and painting media: graphite pencil; colored pencil; ballpoint pen; ink pen; calligraphy pen; marker pen; chalk; charcoal; crayon; pastel; drawing ink; printing ink; natural or manmade dye, such as from commercial pigments, walnut skins, coffee stains, or food dye; gouache; watercolor; acrylic paint; oil paint; spray paint; house paint; shellac/varnish; fixative; wax; painting mediums, such as thinners, gel/gloss, glazes, drying retarders, textural pastes, or modelling compounds.

 Threads and textiles: natural fibers, such as cotton, silk, flax, or raffia; wool and other animal hair, furs, or leather; synthetic threads, such as nylon, acrylic, or polyester; textiles of different weights, weaves, patterns, prints, or colors; upcycled fabric, including from non-traditional sources such as repurposed woven plastic bags; elastic; sewing threads; embroidery threads; string; rope; beads.

 Sculptural materials: glues or adhesives; papier-mâché; salt dough; modelling clays or ceramics; feathers, bone, or other animal materials; food; seeds, leaves, cane, balsa, or other woods; sand, earth, pumice, rocks, or stone; wax; plaster; latex; Styrofoam; plastics; resin; concrete; fiberglass; wire, foil, or other metals; ice; light; other organic and manmade found materials.

 Tools and technology: brushes; airbrushes; sponges; paint rollers; palette knives; craft knives; scissors; stencils; engravers; sandpaper; chisels, pliers, or other woodworking tools; metalworking tools; paper trimmers; pottery wheels; crochet hooks, needles, sewing machines, or overlockers; looms; traditional or digital cameras; darkroom equipment; kilns; printing presses; photocopiers; scanners; computer-aided design (CAD) software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, or SketchUp Pro; computer-aided manufacture (CAM) equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

 The techniques, processes, and practices explored in your sketchbook should be appropriate for the project and area of specialty. Try to use both traditional and contemporary approaches. These should be informed by the study of relevant artists and first-hand practical experimentation. Complex processes can be documented using diagrams, annotated screenshots, or photographs of work in progress (this can help to prove that the finished pieces are your own work). Don’t document every technique at every stage of production. This is a space-filling device that pushes out more relevant content.

 This IB Visual Art sketchbook page is by Allison Ho from Sha Tin College. Note how screenshots of work in Adobe Photoshop (top right) document stages of progress. This helps to verify authenticity of work, so that examiners are clear that the work was produced by the student. Allison received the highest grade (level 7) for her IB Visual Arts course. You can view more of Allison’s excellent sketchbook pages here.

 The sketchbook is an excellent place to document learning from the work of artists. This might include whole or partial copies of relevant artwork accompanied by critical analysis and practical experimentation where appropriate. Artists should be selected purposefully and offer valuable learning opportunities in their approach to subject-matter, composition, technique, or use of media. Aim to study the work of both historical and contemporary artists from a range of different cultures. Avoid bulking up the sketchbook with gallery pamphlets, fliers, brochures, or other printed material from secondary sources.

 These A Level Art artist research sketchbook pages by Nikau Hindin show analysis of paintings by Janet Fish. Nikau has created drawings and acrylic copies of part of Fish’s paintings (there is rarely any need for students to slavishly replicate an entire painting – a small portion is enough for students to gain an understanding of the techniques and processes used). You may wish to view more of Nikau’s A* Cambridge A Level Art project.

 These sketchbook pages are by Pallas Yiu, completed while studying Edexcel GCSE Art and Design at Sha Tin College, Hong Kong. Pallas contrasts and compares the work of Albrecht Dürer with Zhao Fang. Imitations of artist work accompany detailed critical analysis. You can view more of Pallas’s A* GCSE Art sketchbook in our publication: Outstanding High School Sketchbooks.

 A high school sketchbook should be reminiscent of the kind of document that an artist or designer might create. It does not need to be overworked, perfect, or polished. The following tips provide broad guidance in terms of page layout and presentation style.

 Avoid intrusive lettering, elaborate front covers, decorative borders, over-the-top backgrounds, or unnecessary framing or mounting. Fold-out tabs add an interactive element but risk examiners missing work, so are best avoided.

 Use small, legible handwriting—this way, any spelling or grammatical errors are less distracting. Write with graphite pencil or black, grey, or white pen.

 Do not spend weeks dreaming up inventive layouts or researching presentation ideas on the internet. Focus on what matters: producing quality art and design work.

 Your sketchbook can be a straightforward, ordered presentation of your work, research and insights: Let your images do the impressing. Overly designed pages can often take too long and be a distraction to the viewer.

 These sketchbook pages by Leonardo da Vinci provide a great example of what a quality high school art sketchbook page should look like: overlapping, incomplete sketches, surrounding by handwritten notes.

 Some students favor hard-edged, ‘cleaner’ presentation methods; others prefer a messier, gestural style. Neither is better than the other: both can be executed well. Jumping from one presentation style to another, however, may result in a submission that is distracting and disjointed.

 Some sketchbook pages should have many illustrations, others a single artwork, and the remainder something in between. Vary the positioning of images and text on the page. Don’t be afraid of white space.

Acid-Free Art Prints

 Although a sketchbook is an informal, free-flowing document, it is important to remember that an examiner picks it up and ‘reads’ it in a short period of time. Structure the sketchbook in a way that reflects the overall development of your project.

 Weak work sets off alarm bells for an examiner, alerting them to be on the lookout for weaknesses elsewhere. This does not mean that anything ‘less than perfect’ should be discarded. Mistakes provide valuable learning opportunities and cues for how subsequent learning took place. However, you must discriminate. If an image is glaringly worse than others, consider improving or eliminating it. Seek your teacher’s guidance before removing any artwork; improving existing work is often much faster than starting afresh.

 The sketchbook offers an opportunity to remind the examiner that you are a dedicated, hard-working student, and that you care about the subject. This does not mean you must cram your sketchbook with intense, labored work (sometimes an expressive two-minute charcoal drawing is all that is needed), but rather that the sketchbook should speak of your effort, commitment, and passion.

 You may also be interested in reading How to annotate a sketchbook, which contains illustrated examples from high-achieving students around the world.

 For convenience, most students select a sketchbook that is A4 (8.5 x 11 in) or A3 (11 x 17 in) in size. An A4 sketchbook fits in a schoolbag and is thus less likely to be lost or damaged during transit. An A3 sketchbook fits more work per page and provides space for larger artworks. If the sketchbook contains all preparatory material without any additional sheets of developmental work required, an A2 (17 x 22 in) sketchbook may be appropriate. Non-conventional sizes or electronic submissions may also be possible. Remember that format requirements are often set by an examination board, teacher, or school.

 Regardless of the sketchbook size, it is best to work consistently in portrait or landscape orientation, rather than alternating from page to page. Consistent page orientation makes it easier for an examiner to flip through the sketchbook and view your work. Landscape orientation is preferable for electronic submissions, as this displays well on digital screens.

 Pre-bound sketchbooks should contain quality artist paper suitable for both wet and dry media. A minimal appearance is best: choose a sketchbook with a plain cover, without distracting logos or ornamentation. A spiral-bound book allows you to remove pages easily.

 Pre-bound sketchbooks should contain quality artist paper suitable for both wet and dry media. A minimal appearance is best: choose a sketchbook with a plain cover, without distracting logos or ornamentation. A spiral-bound book allows you to remove pages easily.

 The main disadvantage of a pre-bound sketchbook is that it is difficult to work with wet media on several pages at once. (Moving quickly between pages saves time, aids the development of ideas, and facilitates connections between pieces.) Nonetheless, pre-bound sketchbooks are the most popular format due to their convenience and wide availability.

 Two examples of pre-bound sketchbooks are illustrated above. These brands have been thoroughly tested in a classroom situation, by experienced teachers. The left-hand mage is a NAS Workbook available from National Art Supplies in Auckland, New Zealand. This sketchbook has 50 pages of 140gsm wet-strength cartridge, suitable for both wet and dry media. The NAS Workbook is white, plain and minimalist in appearance, with no distracting logos. The heavy, cardboard cover is durable and resilient – able to withstand being dragged around by students – and can be drawn or painted upon if desired. It is spiral bound, allowing pages to be removed easily. The NAS Workbook is available in A4 portrait, A3 landscape and A2 landscape sizes. This product is used year after year by many high schools in New Zealand. The low cost means that this sketchbook is suitable for use with stationery kits and class sets. The example illustrated is an A3 art sketchbook (landscape in format) and was part of an A* International GCSE Art and Design coursework project completed by Manisha Mistry, ACG Strathallan College. A photograph of the final artwork has been laminated and glued to the sketchbook cover to create a simple title page. You may wish to view more of Manisha’s A* IGCSE Art project. The right-hand image shows an A4 Moleskine sketchbook. Moleskine folio sketchbooks are top-of-the-line artist sketchbooks, with 160gsm acid free pages, suitable for painting or drawing. The thickness of the paper means that wet mediums rarely bleed. Moleskine sketchbooks are well-made and beautiful, with a plain black cover. They are a durable, premium line of sketchbooks and are available as both an A4 sketchbook and A3 sketchbook. If you are a senior high school students who is considering pursuing Art and Design at university or college level, you may feel able to justify the expense. There are many other inexpensive options available.

 Another popular presentation method is to store loose sheets of paper in a refillable display book. The plastic sleeves protect the work and reduce smudging from one page to another. This method is less daunting than using a pre-bound sketchbook, as there is no fear that each page must be ‘perfect’—pages can be removed, added, and re-ordered with ease. Creating a sketchbook from individual sheets also allows easy integration of different paper types, encouraging the use of a broad range of media. In addition, you can work on multiple pages at once without waiting for work to dry.

 A disadvantage of this method is that loose sheets are more likely to become lost or damaged. The plastic sleeves also hinder the viewing of surface quality and texture, particularly if the sleeves become crumpled or dirty. For this reason, you may wish to change to a clean, non-reflective display book immediately before assessment.

 Many schools own a manual binding machine. This punches a series of holes along one side of a document so that a spiral binding can be inserted to hold the pages together. A clear plastic cover can be added to protect the work. Binding usually takes place once the submission is complete, with sketchbook pages stored as individual sheets of paper beforehand. Other binding methods are also possible if these allow the sketchbook to lie flat when open.

 As with refillable display books, different paper types can be used, and working on more than one page at once is possible. Pages can also be removed, added, and re-ordered with ease.

 This method is more time-consuming than others and is prone to user error (such as holes punched along the wrong side of an artwork). Nonetheless, it is an inexpensive way to create a high-quality, personalized sketchbook.

 An example of a self-bound student sketchbook: The student name, school, ID number and other information is printed on white paper, along with a photograph of the accompanying final piece, creating a professional title page for the sketchbook. The cover is protected using a clear plastic sheet and bound to the A4 sketchbook. This is part of an A* A Level Coursework project by Nikau Hindin, ACG Parnell College.

 A digital sketchbook typically takes the form of an online portfolio created using a website design platform such as WordPress. A digital sketchbook relies on access to high-speed internet and an appropriate laptop, computer, or other device. Images, videos, and typed annotations are presented on website pages using hyperlinks, menus, and categories to organize content.