Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are the art world topic of the minute. Although the NFT itself is a unique code stored on a cryptocurrency blockchain, most NFTs represent a digital file that can be displayed and traded online. But what if you want to hold your crypto art in your hands? Well, you can now print an NFT with ease.
Printing and framing your NFT is now easy with services like Fine Art America offering direct wallet connection. In March 2022 Fine Art America launched its simple NFT finder to help collectors print NFTs and turn them into a wide range of physical products.
What is a printed NFT? (And I don’t mean baseball cards!)
NFTs are unique tokens minted into digital currency blockchains. The Ethereum blockchain is the most common but others are rising in popularity. I’ve written about NFTs for photographers here and we discussed how to get into the space in Episode 4 of the Photofocus Roundtable podcast. With more and more artists getting on board, I think we can safely say that NFTs are here to stay.
Until now, the most common way collectors display their NFTs are in online galleries on spaces like Rarible and OpenSea. You can also purchase a specialized screen designed for art display, like The Frame from Samsung, or the Meural Canvas II digital frame. Products like these are becoming more common for collectors, and some even have the wallet and NFT marketplaces built-in.
For collectors entering the space, the most affordable way to start a home gallery is to print an NFT. But what is printed crypto art? When you buy and create an NFT, the unique (or non-fungible) part is the code proving ownership on the blockchain. However, it generally points to a video, image, or other piece of data. The NFT is a token granting you ownership of the work that the file contains.
So, a printed NFT is simply a physical product made from that digital file. Like taking a photo of your (adorable) puppy in an Ewok suit and slapping it on a mug, your art can be printed on all kinds of products.
Print crypto art with Fine Art America
At Fine Art America, you can turn your NFT into canvas, framed, wood or metal prints. If you’re after something more casual, all the other Fine Art America products are also an option: From posters to pillows, T-shirts to bags, notebooks to yoga mats, and even face masks. An NFT printed on a face mask has to be about the most 2022 thing you’ve ever heard of, right?
The service allows you to print any NFT you know the contract address/token ID or wallet address for. Technically, this is meant to be used only for NFTs that you own. Before printing, Fine Art America prompts you to agree that “I am printing NFTs that I own for my personal use, only, and not for resale.” However, it’s not clear whether this is enforced.
Once you have picked your NFT, you can choose the product, and preview how it will look. It’ll be printed and on its way to your hands in just a few days.
Other services that print crypto art
Fine Art America is not the only service offering to print an NFT and turn it into a physical product. Technically, you can print crypto art anywhere you can upload a digital file. You just need the high-resolution image attached to your NFT. That is the basis of NFT printing services like Flow-NFT and Beyond Print: They simply prompt you to upload the file.
Others, however, connect directly to your digital wallet and print the NFT directly with just a few clicks. Fine Art America falls into this category, allowing you to print NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Level Frames also offers a direct wallet connection: They support MetaMask wallets. For other brands of digital wallets, again, you have the option to upload the original file manually.
The future for printing NFTs
It will be interesting to see how the printed crypto art space evolves as this technology becomes established and widespread. For example, when an NFT is minted (created on the blockchain), the artist can specify that they earn a percentage of the same every time the NRT is resold. Could this be applied to printed NFTs?
For those marketplaces like Fine Art America with integrated wallet connections, what if fans could print NFTs they love from other collector’s wallets, with the current owner and original artist taking a share of the sale? Like merch for your favorite band, adding a buy merch option would be interesting to see in the digital collections on marketplaces like Opensea, Rarible and Foundation.
Fine Art America is reaching out to creators and NFT marketplaces to build this functionality. Their engineers can help set up widgets or code to allow buyers to print crypto art as physical products. We may start to see NFT printing become more widespread sooner rather than later.
