How to write an illustrator invoice

What goes on an illustrator invoice

Six things, in the order they belong on the page. The invoice generator opens an illustrator / artist document with the lines already in place, so most of this is checking rather than typing.

1. Bill the commission as one line. The finished piece is known work at an agreed fee. It goes on as a single figure rather than an argument about hours.
2. Charge for concept sketches separately. Roughs are work whether or not a route is chosen. Naming them stops the client reading them as a free pitch.
3. Put the usage license and its term on the invoice. What the artwork may be used for, where, and for how long. This is the line that decides what happens when it appears on packaging two years later.
4. Name the revision rounds included. Two rounds included, further rounds priced. Rounds that are not counted are unlimited.
5. State whether the original files transfer. Layered working files are a separate deliverable from a flattened final. Say which the fee covers.
6. Send it with a due date. A named date and terms in days, because illustration is often paid by a marketing or production budget on a cycle.

The lines an illustrator invoice usually carries

The generator opens with these lines when you pick Illustrator / artist. The figures are placeholders to type over, not a going rate.

Add, rename, reorder or delete any line, and set tax per line where it applies. Priced as they open, that comes to $1,520 before tax.

How to write an illustration invoice, step by step

1. Bill the commission as one line. Open the illustrator / artist invoice and describe the finished piece: one full-color illustration for a book cover, to the approved sketch.
2. Charge the sketches. Concept sketches are work, even when the client picks the first one. They get their own line.
3. Write the license and its term. What the image may be used for, where and for how long: print and ebook cover, worldwide, five years. The license is what you are selling.
4. Count the revisions. Rounds included and rounds used. An extra round is a line at your per round price.
5. Say what files transfer, then send. High resolution final files, and whether layered source files are included. Set 14 days and send it with the final artwork.

Illustration invoice example, filled in

A book cover commission: the sketches, the final piece, a commercial license and one extra revision round. The license term is in the note, because the license is what the publisher is really paying for.

Subtotal $1,520, tax $152, total $1,672. The license at $400 is its own line, so the publisher can see the price of the rights separately from the price of the picture. When they want an audiobook cover or a poster, the note shows exactly what was not included.

License and term, which is what you are actually selling

An illustration fee is rarely a sale of the picture. It is permission to use it, in defined places, for a defined time, and pricing it as though the client bought the artwork outright gives away the part with the long tail of value.

Write the license as its own line with three facts on it: the use (editorial, packaging, advertising, merchandise), the territory, and the term. A one-year UK editorial license and a perpetual worldwide advertising license are different products and should not cost the same by accident.

When the client comes back wanting more, that is a new invoice for an extended license, priced on the new use. That conversation is straightforward when the original terms are on the original invoice and awkward when they are not.

Concept sketches, and the pitch that quietly becomes free work

Illustrators lose more money to unpaid roughs than to almost anything else. A client asks for three directions before committing, then picks none, and the work has already happened.

Price the concept stage as a line and bill it whether or not a route proceeds. If a commission follows, the sketch fee can be credited against it, and saying so up front makes it easy to agree.

Then get the chosen route signed before you start the finish. A signed concept means the finished piece is the one they asked for rather than the one they had imagined, which is what stops revision four arriving as a correction.

Revisions, reproduction and the file the client actually needs

Two things get discovered late: how many rounds are included, and what file the client is going to print from.

Name the rounds on the invoice and price the extras. Then be specific about the deliverable: a print-ready CMYK file at a stated size is not the same as a web JPEG, and a layered source file is a third thing again.

If the artwork is going to reproduction, say who is responsible for the proofing. Color on press is where a happy commission turns into an argument, and the invoice is a cheap place to have set the expectation.

Hourly, fixed price or per unit: how illustrators price the work

Illustration is priced as a commission fee plus a license, and the license is the part that carries the long-term value. An illustration used on one book cover and an illustration used on national packaging take the same time to draw and are not remotely the same sale.

Price the concept stage separately from the finished artwork. Sketches are real work that a client can approve or reject, and separating them means a commission that dies at concept stage still paid for the thinking.

Working out what to charge

Illustration fees depend on the usage, the term and the client's reach, so a figure from a web page cannot price a license. The freelance rate calculator starts from the income you need, and the service price calculator turns your drawing time into a commission fee.

Getting paid once it is sent

Take a deposit on booking and invoice the concept stage separately, so a commission that stops after the sketches has still paid for them. If the due date passes, the late fee calculator works out what your terms allow and the due date calculator sets the new date.

Five dates decide whether an illustrator gets paid on time, and four of them are set before the work starts.

Mistakes that cost illustrators money

• No license term on the invoice. A one-year use and a perpetual one should never be the same price by omission.
• Concept sketches given away. Roughs are work. Price them, and credit them against the commission if it proceeds.
• Unlimited revisions by silence. Uncounted rounds are uncapped rounds.
• Vague deliverable. "The illustration" is not a file. Name the format, the size and the color space.
• No due date. Illustration is usually paid from a budget on a cycle. Give them a date to work to.

Illustrator / artist invoice questions

Free illustrator invoice template

The free illustrator invoice template opens with the lines above already priced, in any of 30 designs made for the trade, and exports a print-ready PDF with nothing saved to a server. Opening a design needs a free account.

Invoicing guides for related trades

Everything on this site, set up for illustrators

The whole toolkit, with the reason each one matters to illustrators rather than in general. The four marked links open with illustrator / artist already selected.