11/21/2005: "Showing your art work to scale"

Over the weekend I did some work on my website to incorporate some new “ecommerce” features. It’s only a start, but in my Blue Grasses gallery I’ve added PayPal “buy now” buttons, which was surprisingly easy to set up. Also, if you click on either of the two top images (Sleeping with Fiddle or Bass Player Sandy Beach) a new window will pop up that shows the painting to scale.

I got the idea from a very cool online gallery called PicassoMio.com. They use some kind of software to generate images to scale, I couldn’t figure out how to do it that way so I just made a similar looking room in PhotoShop using free clip art. Then, I resized each image according to the height increments on the wall to give a close approximation of what each painting would look like if it were hanging on a prospective buyer's wall.

I'd also like to have links to large versions and close up details as well.

Anyway, I’ve only just begun, I’m not going hog wild on the shopping cart set-up until I’ve had a chance to test it a bit more. I may add some super cheap items (like a dollar) up there just so I can actually practice checking out and make sure it works ok.

Any feedback, critical or otherwise, would be appreciated.

falling-leaves (27k image)

Replies: 6 Comments

on Monday, November 21st, ann said

Interesting. And a great idea. Would it be possible to add a ruler on the bottom to show the horizontal dimensions? Couches can vary in size, and I think that's throwing me off.

on Monday, November 21st, Elise said

Great idea Ann, I'll try adding that tonight, or tomorrow if I get lazy.
:P

on Tuesday, November 22nd, Howard said

Looks great. I've been meaning to set up paypal on my own site for some time now. I really need to eget on that.

on Tuesday, November 22nd, Elise said

Hey Howard,
it's been awhile eh? I think you should really take an hour or so and set it up. It's really easy and as in the case of your site, you don't even have your work priced and it's true that most people don't want to ask how much someone's work costs because it puts them in the uncomfortable position of having to say "nevermind" if it's out of their price range.

Also, have you shipped your pieces? The only piece of the PayPal puzzle I need to figure out is how to limit the country selection button.

Right now a person could select just about every country in the world listed as a potential shipping destination.

Anyway, I hope you're getting lots of interesting new pieces finished (post photos soon please)
:P

on Tuesday, November 22nd, subi said

Wow! Great page! Too bad paypal doesn't accept 400 words for dollars, etc... :P have you really already sold 3 just since putting it up? either way, people gotta realize these paintings are hot! way to go! they really look fab!

on Tuesday, November 22nd, Elise said

You're sweet Subi! I haven't sold 3 just since posting them, they sold before, I just never put down the information about price and availability etc. in the gallery section before.

I think that being able to purchase a painting easily with a credit card, and being able to see the price and what a piece would look like on the wall etc. might shift the scales for someone on the fence about buying a piece but I guess we'll see if it helps or not.

How are the words coming along btw?