Turnaround, packing and shipping: what happens after you upload your artwork

The moment you click Add to cart, your artwork leaves your control and enters ours, and most of the anxiety artists feel about print on demand lives in that gap. What happens to the file? How long until it ships? How is it packed? What does delivery cost, and who pays duties overseas? What if it arrives damaged? This guide walks through every stage between upload and delivery as Print Punch runs it, so you can describe the journey to collectors with the same confidence you have in the artwork itself.

Stage one: the upload

On each printed product page you choose size, finish and stock, upload one production file (TIFF, JPG, PNG or WebP up to 200 MB), check the preview and place the order. The same file you previewed attaches to the order; there's nothing to email afterwards. For wallpaper you also confirm the repeat is prepared at 70 cm wide at final scale. The file preparation guide covers getting the file right, and the how it works page shows the whole path.

Stage two: file review

Before anything is printed, we check the selected size against the file, the crop or border choice, any notes you've added and any visible resolution problems. If a decision is needed, we contact you before printing, and production pauses until it's resolved. That pause protects you from a print you didn't intend; it also means a file query adds time, so a clean file is the fastest route to dispatch.

We don't adjust colour, because we can't see your original. What you upload is what we print. The colour management guide explains how to judge a first print, and the refund policy records how file, crop and colour approval works.

Stage three: production

Once the file is approved, the piece is made at our West Gosford production facility on the Central Coast of New South Wales, by a team with more than ten years of professional printing and framing behind it. Paper prints are printed with archival pigment inks on your chosen stock, then framed behind a clear acrylic face if you ordered a framed print. Canvas prints are professionally printed, stretched and set in a floating frame. Wallpaper is printed as a 70cm × 10m smooth paste-the-wall roll. The frames and materials page describes each construction.

The dispatch target and its exceptions

Print Punch's standard dispatch target is within 72 business hours after artwork approval. Three published exceptions can extend it:

• Peak periods, when order volume is high.
• Quality control, when a piece needs to be checked or remade before it leaves.
• File queries, which pause production until you've answered.

Rush production isn't guaranteed. If a collector has a deadline, ask us to confirm it before you make that promise. The service guide publishes these rules and the artist FAQs summarise them. In your own listings, "made to order in Australia and dispatched within about three business days of file approval, plus delivery time" is a sentence you can stand behind.

Stage four: packing

Finished pieces are packed to protect them in transit. Framed paper prints are glazed with acrylic rather than glass, which removes the breakage risk that follows glass through courier networks. Framed canvases and unframed prints are packed to protect faces, edges and corners for the journey. Standard packaging is included in the listed production charge for printed products.

We can ship directly to your customer under your brand. Supply your sender details, packing slip preferences, any optional insert and returns details with your order. The white-label guide explains the profile, and the white-label page sets out the rules.

Stage five: delivery pricing

Delivery is calculated at checkout from product size, weight and destination. It isn't a flat rate, because an A2 unframed print and a 120 × 180 cm framed canvas are very different parcels. Checkout is active for Australia and 31 international regions, so the same product can reach a collector in Perth or overseas.

The practical consequence for pricing: check the delivery figure for your common destinations before you set retail prices, then either build it in or charge it separately, as the pricing guide describes. Large framed pieces carry higher freight than unframed prints, so unframed is often the better format for distant or international buyers who can frame locally.

International orders, duties and taxes

International delivery is available at checkout for the active regions. Local duties, taxes and import charges may apply and are the recipient's responsibility. Say so in your listing and your policies so an overseas collector isn't surprised at the door. Framed pieces attract more freight than unframed; many artists offer unframed prints internationally and framed pieces domestically for that reason. The shipping policy records the current terms.

Stage six: tracking

When the parcel ships, tracking is sent to the notification owner. For a manual website order that's the checkout contact; for a white-label order it's whoever your fulfilment profile names. You pass tracking on to your collector through your own store or message, so they hear from you. If you sell through Shopify, the Shopify guide explains how tracking returns to your order so your store sends its normal notification.

Address accuracy and redelivery

An incorrect or incomplete address is the most common cause of a delayed parcel. Check unit numbers, postcodes and recipient names before placing the order, especially for white-label deliveries where you're copying a collector's details. Redelivery and return-to-sender costs follow the carrier's rules and the shipping policy.

If something arrives damaged

Ask collectors to check the piece on arrival and keep the packaging. If there's damage, email promptly with the order number and clear photos of the front, back, the damage and the external packaging. Faulty, damaged or misdescribed work is assessed under Australian Consumer Law and the published refund policy, and we work with you to put it right. Because the collector is your customer, you're the one who speaks to them; having the photos ready makes the conversation short.

Made to order and changes of mind

Every print is made to order from your file, which is why the refund policy treats change of mind differently from a fault. Order changes and cancellations are possible before production starts; once a piece is in production the options narrow. For collectors, this is a reason to describe the product accurately and to show real photographs from your test order. For you, it's a reason to run that test order before launch, as the test order checklist explains.

Artwork file handling

Your production files are used to prepare, produce and support your order and any reorders you request. Access is limited to the people who need them for that work. You can request deletion of a production copy by emailing the address on the contact page, subject to records we must retain for legal and accounting purposes. The privacy policy and terms of service record the detail.

What to tell collectors, in one paragraph

"Your print is made to order in Australia: archival pigment inks on fine art paper, or professionally printed canvas. It's dispatched within about three business days of file approval, and delivery time depends on your location. Framed prints use a clear acrylic face rather than glass. Please check the parcel on arrival and keep the packaging; if anything is damaged, send me photos straight away and I'll sort it out." Honest, specific and calm. It answers the three questions every buyer has before they ask them.

Planning for busy seasons

Orders cluster before Christmas, Mother's Day and the end of financial year, and the peak-period exception to the dispatch target exists for exactly those weeks. Tell collectors your last order dates early, allow extra time in your promises, and place your own stock-free "test" orders for gifts ahead of the rush so you know current timing. The guide to selling without stock covers the rhythm of running a print range through the year.

Formats and freight, compared

The relationship between format and delivery is worth understanding before you decide what to offer where. An unframed print at any size is a light parcel. A framed paper print adds the frame and the acrylic face, so weight and dimensions grow with size, though acrylic keeps it far lighter than glass. A framed canvas has no glazing but is bulky at large sizes, and the largest canvases are freight items rather than parcels. A wallpaper roll is a compact, consistent parcel regardless of design. In practice: offer every format domestically, lean toward unframed for overseas collectors who can frame locally, and check the checkout figure for a large framed piece to a distant postcode before you promise free delivery on it. The pricing guide covers the build-in or charge-separately decision, and the paper versus canvas guide explains the weight difference between the two framed formats.

Reorders and repeat collectors

Once your file is locked and your first order has run cleanly, reorders are the simplest thing in the business: same product page, same file, same options, new address. Keep your master files named by version so you reorder the exact file that passed, and keep your fulfilment profile current if your sender details or insert change. Repeat collectors are also where white-label pays off most, because their second parcel looks exactly like their first; the white-label guide explains how the profile keeps that consistency. The guide to selling without stock covers building a range that invites a second purchase.

Dates you can and can't promise

You can promise that production starts after file approval and that the standard dispatch target is within 72 business hours of that approval. You can quote the delivery estimate shown at checkout for a destination. You can't promise a delivery date for a birthday or an event unless you've asked us to confirm it and we have, because rush production isn't guaranteed and carriers set their own timing once a parcel leaves. For gift buyers, suggest ordering two to three weeks ahead in normal periods and earlier before Christmas. For a collector who needs certainty, offer to confirm the timing with us before they pay; it's a two-line message through the contact page and it saves a difficult conversation later. The service guide is the published reference for all of this, and the test order checklist gives you your own measured timing to quote.

The one-line summary for your listing

If you take one sentence from this guide into your store, make it this: made to order in Australia, dispatched within about three business days of file approval, delivery time added for your location, framed behind acrylic rather than glass, and any damage sorted promptly with photos. It sets honest expectations, it matches the published service guide, and it turns the gap between upload and delivery from a worry into part of the story of how the piece was made. The print-on-demand for artists page summarises the service for anyone who needs the short version.

Frequently asked questions

How long does Print Punch take to dispatch an order?

The standard dispatch target is within 72 business hours after artwork approval. Peak periods, quality control and file queries can extend it, and rush production isn't guaranteed.

How is delivery priced?

Delivery is calculated at checkout from product size, weight and destination. Checkout covers Australia and 31 international regions.

Who pays duties on international orders?

Local duties, taxes and import charges are the recipient's responsibility. Say so in your listing for overseas collectors.

How are framed prints protected in transit?

Framed paper prints use a clear acrylic face rather than glass, and all pieces are packed to protect faces and corners. Standard packaging is included in the production charge.

What do I do if a print arrives damaged?

Email promptly with the order number and clear photos of the front, back, the damage and the external packaging. It's assessed under Australian Consumer Law and the refund policy.

Can I cancel or change an order?

Before production starts, yes. Once a made-to-order piece is in production the options narrow. The refund policy sets out the detail.

Ready for your first order

Prepare the file, choose your product on the print formats page, and place one order to your own address to see the whole journey end to end. The artist FAQs cover the smaller questions, and the contact page reaches us for anything else.