Do you cut wallets appart?

[Roys1000]

When you do wallet size prints, do you cut them up or just leave them as a sheet?

Thanks,
--
Roy Stafford
http://www.pbase.com/roys1000

 

[charleyd]

If you are servicing a customer I would cut them apart. I am sure you have a print cutter. The customer will have a hard time cutting them straight with a pair of scissors. Anyway, I always cut them.

 

[vwgn]

I used to have them die cut by the lab, but they still came on a sheet, and inevitably some fell out and were loose etc. The clients still thanked me though for having them cut. Now my lab offers wallets with boutique packaging, so they come in a box like playing cards. Its very elegant and has a window to see the photo in. Its worth EVERY penny they charge and clients LOVE them.

I routinely have seniors order 120 to 200 wallets and I am surely not cutting that many, nor am I going to expect a client to want to do the same.

 

[Ralph Tomaccio]

In my opinion, leaving as a sheet suggests WalMart quality. Die cutting with rounded corners suggests you care a little more about your work and willing to save your clients the trouble of having to cut them apart themselves.

Of course, if you offer a line of lesser expensive prints, this may be one of the things that help differentiate between lower and higher price lines.

 

[Tom Bennett]

Have seen several ads for cutters that round the corners on a square print
Has any one ever used them They are not expensive

 

[Joseph S Wisniewski]

I used to have them die cut by the lab, but they still came on a sheet, and inevitably some fell out and were loose etc. The clients still thanked me though for having them cut. Now my lab offers wallets with boutique packaging, so they come in a box like playing cards. Its very elegant and has a window to see the photo in. Its worth EVERY penny they charge and clients LOVE them.

Exactly.

It's not expensive, it looks professional, and the rounded corners add a touch of class.

I routinely have seniors order 120 to 200 wallets and I am surely not cutting that many, nor am I going to expect a client to want to do the same.

You haven't lived until you've had an important commercial client call and say "Can you do senior pictures? My daughter doesn't like the ones we had done, and there's only two days of school left."

200 wallet size, with a hand corner rounder, one corner at a time.

--
Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.

Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.

Ciao! Joseph

http://www.swissarmyfork.com

 

[Joseph S Wisniewski]

Have seen several ads for cutters that round the corners on a square print
Has any one ever used them They are not expensive

By "not expensive" are you talking a $12 office supply store corner cutter, a $200 one shot at a time die cutter, or a $1200 8 or 12 shot die cutter?

I did wallet size shots once (that was all it took) with the single corner cutter. It was an emergency, not enough time to send them out.

--
Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.

Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.

Ciao! Joseph

http://www.swissarmyfork.com

 

[Tom Bennett]

200 to 400 is what I was looking at

 

[PenguinPhotoCo]

for volume work like little league and and schools, no, they just get the complete sheets.

For portrait customers (seniors, babies, families, etc) i get die cut wallets from my lab.

If you use a pro lab they do the cutting, not you. It's free at some labs or a minimal cost at others.
--
If I knew how to take a good picture I'd do it every time.

 

[RDKirk]

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

 

[RDKirk]

...you don't want to make that a regular part of your workflow.

Use a lab that cuts them for you and, preferrably boxes them nicely as well. Or else order boxes with your logo stamped on them...the boxes are actually quite important.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

 

[Roys1000]

I like the playing card box thing. Who do you use? Small town here so there isn't anything like it here. Is it someone local to you or is it a mail order service?

Thanks,
--
Roy Stafford
http://www.pbase.com/roys1000

 

[AcquiredTaste]

I just use a lab that cuts them for me. The majority of pro labs offer that service for free or very minimal expenditure.

 

[Vegasluvr]

My wallet prints (4) are printed out on 5x7 paper and we let the client cut them. If they request, we will cut them for them but none of our clients ever asked us to do so.

 

[dad_of_four]

Not to hijack this thread, but wallet sizes run the gamut.

 

[Larry Lynch]

I always cut the prints apart.. Its too tedious and "fiddly" for most customers.. (I have found that most of the customers that WANT wallet size in any number are older folks).

At any rate, the level of the customer decides HOW the prints are cut.

If "Budget" is a secondary factor, I have a Lab do the work, and I specify that the prints be separated.

If its a "budget" job and Im printing them myself, I print a full sheet on a wide format printer, then use a gadget I cobbled together to cut them..

A good "do it yourself" Project!:

1. Locate a good heavy duty "office style" paper cutter.

2. Purchase a small "Laser Pointer".

3. Get some 10 minute Epoxy glue

4. Determine the exact spot where to mount the laser pointer on the cutter so it puts the dot exactly where the cutter-bar will cut the paper.

5. Epoxy it in place.

This will take the "tedium" out of cutting apart multiple images of any size. and really speed up the work.

I have seen paper-cutters for sale in Office supply stores with "Laser guides" built-in, but they seemed flimsy and poorly made.
--
Larry

 

[RDKirk]

Not to hijack this thread, but wallet sizes run the gamut.

Not a very wide gamut, though.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

 

[momof6]

I have always had my lab die-cut the wallets- even for my sports league clients. The extra touch of quality sets me apart from other photographers and my clients love it.

Now the problem is- I have starting printing my own work. The jury is out on any cost saving, but the convenience is wonderful. This means I have lost my die-cut service. In the spring I had the lab do just the wallets, but the look of the prints didn't match mine exactly and caused headaches all around. Not going there again. Now the fall sports season is upon us and I need a solution- or lose part of my classy look. I will probably cut them on my regular cutter- without rounded corners. I would not just give sheets.

MaryAnn
--
http://www.pbase.com/maryannphotography

 

[Larry Lynch]

I have always had my lab die-cut the wallets- even for my sports league clients. The extra touch of quality sets me apart from other photographers and my clients love it.

Now the problem is- I have starting printing my own work. The jury is out on any cost saving, but the convenience is wonderful. This means I have lost my die-cut service. In the spring I had the lab do just the wallets, but the look of the prints didn't match mine exactly and caused headaches all around. Not going there again. Now the fall sports season is upon us and I need a solution- or lose part of my classy look. I will probably cut them on my regular cutter- without rounded corners. I would not just give sheets.

MaryAnn
--
http://www.pbase.com/maryannphotography

I highly recommend the Laser guided paper cutter method, whether home made or store bought.. It takes a lot of the "Labor" out of cutting up a sheet of "wallet size" prints.
--
Larry

 

[RedFox88]

School pictures that my nieces and nephews get are always in sheets, wallets are never cut.