Art Pricing Calculator: What to Charge for Your Work
An art pricing calculator works out what to charge from 3 things: the size of the piece, a rate per square inch, and the costs you have already paid. Everything below is the arithmetic, worked out, so you can price a painting today with the calculator on your phone.
The hard part of pricing rarely turns out to be the sum. It is picking the rate, and then holding it when somebody asks. If that is the part that catches you, the way self-doubt shows up in an art business covers more of it than a formula can.
Free Art Pricing Calculator
Enter the size, your rate, and anything you have already spent. It returns the price to quote and the money that reaches you after a gallery takes its share.
That prices one piece. The Artwork Pricing Calculator is the paid version, built for the next 30.
The Art Pricing Formula
(width × height) × your rate, plus materials and shipping. Square inches scale the price with the work, so a larger painting earns more without you deciding its worth from scratch every time.
| Size (inches) | Square inches | At $1.50 | At $2.00 | At $2.50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5×7 | 35 | $52 | $70 | $88 |
| 8×10 | 80 | $120 | $160 | $200 |
| 9×12 | 108 | $162 | $216 | $270 |
| 11×14 | 154 | $231 | $308 | $385 |
| 12×16 | 192 | $288 | $384 | $480 |
| 16×20 | 320 | $480 | $640 | $800 |
| 18×24 | 432 | $648 | $864 | $1,080 |
| 24×30 | 720 | $1,080 | $1,440 | $1,800 |
Pick one rate and run it across every size. The consistency is what makes a price list defensible when a collector compares 2 pieces, and it is what stops the smallest work in the room being accidentally the best value in it.
The Artwork Pricing Calculator does this in a spreadsheet you keep, carrying a separate rate for canvas, panel and paper, and your whole price list in one file.
Choosing Your Rate Per Square Inch
$1 to $3 per square inch is the usual starting band for original work on canvas. Inside that band the number is yours, and it moves with your exhibition history, your sales, and the size of the audience already asking.
A rate on paper or panel usually sits below the rate on stretched canvas, which is why a working price list usually carries 2 or 3. Pick the canvas rate first and set the others against it.
What You Take Home
A gallery commission is commonly 40 to 50 percent, and a to-the-trade discount for designers is often 20. Both come out of the number you quoted.
| Your retail price | After a 50% gallery commission | After a 20% trade discount |
|---|---|---|
| $150 | $75 | $120 |
| $250 | $125 | $200 |
| $500 | $250 | $400 |
| $1,200 | $600 | $960 |
Pricing to the figure you want to keep, then working backwards, is a different exercise from pricing to a retail number and discovering the rest later. Both columns belong on the same page.
Works on Paper, Panel and Prints
Most pricing structures run more than one rate. Stretched canvas usually carries the highest, with panel below it and paper below that, because the surface, the framing and the collector expectation all differ. Prints come off a different calculation again, based on edition size and production cost instead of square inches.
The longer guide to pricing your work walks through the career multiplier, supply costs and discount structures in more detail than fits here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pricing Artwork
How do I price my art by square inch?
Multiply the width by the height to get the square inches, then multiply that by your rate. A 16×20 is 320 square inches, so at $2.00 it comes to $640 before materials. Materials and shipping go on top of that.
What rate per square inch should I start at?
$1 to $3 is the usual starting band for original work on canvas, and most artists begin nearer the bottom of it than they expect to. The rate is the part that carries your exhibition history and your sales, so it is meant to move upward over time instead of being solved once.
Should materials be included in the price?
Yes, on top of the square inch figure. Canvas, paint, varnish, framing and shipping are costs you have already paid, so recovering them is not a markup.
How does a gallery commission change what I charge?
A gallery taking 50% halves what reaches you, so a $500 painting returns $250. The price has to work at both numbers, which is why the retail figure and the figure you keep need to be worked out together.
Do works on paper use the same rate?
Usually a lower one. Paper and panel generally carry a smaller rate than stretched canvas, which is why a pricing structure usually carries 2 or 3 rates instead of one.
When should I raise my prices?
When the work is selling steadily, when the size of your audience has changed, or when a body of work is genuinely stronger than the last. Raising a rate lifts every size at once, which is the point of pricing by rate instead of piece by piece.
Price It Once, Then Keep the File
A formula answers one painting. A price list answers the next 30, and it is the thing that keeps a body of work priced consistently as it grows. The Artwork Pricing Calculator holds your rates, your costs, your discounts and your net on every piece in one spreadsheet you own.