Square Inch Pricing Explained

Square inch pricing multiplies your height by your width in inches to get total area, then multiplies that area by your per-square-inch rate.

Formula: Width × Height × Multiplier = Price

A 12x16 canvas is 192 square inches. At $2.00 per square inch, that is $384.

This method is consistent across your catalog. A 12x16 at $2.00/sq in always prices the same as another 12x16. That consistency is one of its main advantages: it is easy to explain to collectors and easy to hold to over time. Collectors who have bought from you before understand that a painting twice the size costs roughly twice as much. That predictability builds trust.

The limitation: square inch does not account for how long a piece took. A highly detailed small canvas and a loose large canvas can land at similar prices if their sizes are close. That is where time plus materials comes in as a cross-check.

Square inch is the most common method working artists use as their primary pricing approach. Run all three, but this is usually the anchor.