Print and catalog models

Print modeling and catalog modeling jobs

Most print modeling and catalog modeling in the US is booked by the brand, the retailer or the photographer, not through a print model agency. Publish one reviewed profile with your sizes, your city, your day rate and your dates, and the people shooting catalog and e-commerce email you direct.

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The short answer

Do you need a print model agency?

No. Print modeling is the one part of the industry with no height standard, no size standard and no age ceiling, because a catalog is cast to look like the people who buy from it. A commercial print agency is genuinely useful for national advertising, where usage is negotiated and the fee is large. The volume work, a retailer shooting a season, a brand refreshing a few hundred product pages, a photographer building a lookbook, is booked straight from a listing by the person running the shoot.

MaxGirls is a reviewed model directory, not an agency. Your profile carries your photos, your categories, your city, your height, a day-rate range and your availability. A person reviews it before it goes public, and brands, photographers and production teams filter the directory and email you directly. We take no commission on anything you book.

Commercial print modeling, job by job

Six kinds of print modeling jobs

Print describes the medium, commercial describes the intent, and briefs say "commercial print" for the overlap. The rows below are what that overlap actually buys on a call sheet.

The six kinds of print and catalog modeling booked in the US, who books each and how the fee is built
Type of print work	Who books it	How the fee is built	What the brief wants from you
Catalog	Retailers and apparel brands shooting a season, and the studios that produce for them	A half day or day rate, high garment count, usage often limited to the catalog and the brand's own channels	Sample size or the brand's fit size, fast changes, consistent posing across dozens of looks
E-commerce and product pages	Direct-to-consumer brands, marketplaces, in-house content studios	Usually a flat day rate with broad web usage folded in. The steadiest repeat work in print	Reliability and stamina more than range. Brands rebook the model whose images already convert
Packaging	Consumer goods, beauty, health, food and household brands	A day fee plus a long usage term, because a box stays on a shelf for years	Often a detail: a face, hands, hair, skin. See beauty and parts
In-store and point of sale	Retail chains, franchise groups, brands buying window and shelf space	A day fee plus usage by territory and term, priced on how many doors carry the image	A look that reads at three feet away and matches the chain's customer
Advertising and commercial print	Brands and their agencies, cast through a commercial board or direct	The largest fees in print. Shoot fee plus a negotiated buyout by media, territory and term	A specific casting brief. Expect to be one of many options and to sign a real usage agreement
Lifestyle and licensed imagery	Photographers shooting for libraries, agencies, publishers and corporate clients	A day fee, sometimes with a royalty. Read the release closely: the usage is usually very wide	Natural behavior on camera. Couples, families, workplaces and hobby scenes book constantly

The first two rows are where the day-in day-out money is, and they are almost never posted as a casting call. A studio shooting a hundred styles next Thursday searches for someone the right size, in the right city, who is free that day. That is a directory query, not an audition, and it is the search your profile needs to answer.

Print model salary

What print modeling actually pays

There is no national print rate card, and anyone publishing one is guessing. The nearest public number comes from job postings: ZipRecruiter listed the US average for a print model at $26.36 an hour and $54,827 a year in March 2026, with posted hourly rates running from $9.13 to $69.95 and the top tenth of postings above $106,500 a year. Treat that as what employers advertise for staffed and hourly print work, not as what a booked campaign pays.

A real print booking is two numbers, not one. The shoot fee pays for your day. The usage license pays for where the pictures run, in which countries, and for how long, and on packaging or a national campaign that second number is usually the larger of the two. Two jobs at an identical day rate can be worth very different money once the license is written down, which is why the first question to ask a new client is where the images will run and for how long.

Print model agency or a direct listing

The middle column describes how a commercial and print board generally works, not one named company. Terms vary by agency and by market, and your own contract is the only one that binds you.

How a print model agency and a direct listing differ for catalog and commercial print work
Feature	A commercial and print agency board	MaxGirls
Who sees you	The clients your booker chooses to submit you to	Every brand, studio and photographer who filters to your category and city
Catalog and e-commerce days	Handled, but the board prioritizes the larger campaign fees	Booked direct, as often as you want, at the rate you published
Who decides you are in	A scout or a board meeting, on their schedule	A reviewer checks the profile is real, complete and yours
Commission on your fee	Commonly 10 to 20 percent, plus a client service charge at many agencies	None. We never see what you were paid
Negotiating usage	A real advantage. A good booker prices the buyout and chases late payment	Yours to handle. The estimator below is there to help you price it
Exclusivity	A mother agency contract is normally exclusive in that market	None. Nothing is signed between us
Age, height and size limits	Each board keeps its own, and many still cut on height	None beyond 18 and over. The brief decides, not a board
What it costs you	Nothing up front. The commission is the price	$19 a month on Talent, $49 on Talent Pro. No commission on any booking

Who sees you: A commercial and print agency board The clients your booker chooses to submit you to; MaxGirls Every brand, studio and photographer who filters to your category and city
Catalog and e-commerce days: A commercial and print agency board Handled, but the board prioritizes the larger campaign fees; MaxGirls Booked direct, as often as you want, at the rate you published
Who decides you are in: A commercial and print agency board A scout or a board meeting, on their schedule; MaxGirls A reviewer checks the profile is real, complete and yours
Commission on your fee: A commercial and print agency board Commonly 10 to 20 percent, plus a client service charge at many agencies; MaxGirls None. We never see what you were paid
Negotiating usage: A commercial and print agency board A real advantage. A good booker prices the buyout and chases late payment; MaxGirls Yours to handle. The estimator below is there to help you price it
Exclusivity: A commercial and print agency board A mother agency contract is normally exclusive in that market; MaxGirls None. Nothing is signed between us
Age, height and size limits: A commercial and print agency board Each board keeps its own, and many still cut on height; MaxGirls None beyond 18 and over. The brief decides, not a board
What it costs you: A commercial and print agency board Nothing up front. The commission is the price; MaxGirls $19 a month on Talent, $49 on Talent Pro. No commission on any booking

Where an agency genuinely wins

National advertising. When a brand wants your face on packaging in every state for three years, the difference between a well-negotiated buyout and a naive one is thousands of dollars, and a commercial board does that for a living. If you have strong commercial digitals and a look a national brand wants, apply to the print and commercial agencies in your market. Nothing here stops you keeping a direct profile at the same time, and the catalog and e-commerce work that fills the rest of the calendar comes from people searching for you directly. Who those people are, and the quote to send them, is on modeling for clothing brands.

Print modeling height requirements, and the rest of the myth

Who catalog clients actually book

Fashion casts a silhouette. Print casts a customer. Backstage says it directly: print does not hold to a strict set of physical requirements, because agencies and brands are looking for the right look. That single difference is why print is the category that books people fashion never calls, and it is worth reading the table below before you decide you are not a model.

What print and catalog briefs look for, and which MaxGirls page covers it
The brief says	Who books it	Where to list
"Real people, relatable, not a model look"	Retail catalogs, insurance, healthcare, banking, grocery, telecom	Commercial models
"Size 14 to 22, apparel fit"	Size-inclusive apparel, intimates, activewear e-commerce	Plus size modeling
"5 ft 4 in and under, petite fit"	Petite apparel lines, beauty, youth-skewed catalogs	Petite modeling
"45 to 70, active, natural gray welcome"	Healthcare, pharma, travel, financial services, home and garden	Mature modeling
"Hands only, close-up, unmarked skin"	Packaging, jewelry, electronics, beauty and food brands	Hand modeling
"Athletic, visible definition, sportswear"	Activewear, supplements, gyms, equipment and recovery brands	Fitness models
"Visible tattoos, alt look"	Streetwear, tools and trades, beverage, music and aftercare brands	Tattoo modeling
"Sample size, high garment count, studio day"	Apparel catalogs and the fit studios attached to them	Fit model jobs

Print model comp cards, and what replaced them

The four numbers a print booker checks first

A comp card is printed both sides at 8.5 by 5.5 inches: the strongest headshot and your name on the front, three to five range shots and your stats on the back. It still gets handed around on set, and you can build a comp card with your own photo before you print one. Online, the profile does the same job and updates the day your hair changes, which matters in a category where the booker is matching you to a garment and a date.

Sizes, written out

Height, and then the measurements the brief is built on: bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, inseam and shoe. A catalog studio is matching you to a sample rail before it looks at your face, and a profile that leaves the numbers out gets skipped.

Clean digitals before anything styled

Head and shoulders, three-quarter and full length, daylight, plain background, fitted clothes, no filter, hair down and minimal makeup (model digitals, shot by shot). Print clients want to see what they are actually getting, then one or two styled frames to show range.

Expression, not attitude

Print sells a feeling: relief, comfort, confidence, an ordinary good mood. Include at least two frames of a genuine, unforced smile with the eyes engaged. It is the single most requested thing in commercial print and the thing most portfolios have least of.

A day rate and real availability

Publish a rate range so the first email is about the booking rather than about money, and keep availability current. A studio filling a Thursday looks at who is free on Thursday. What goes in the set covers the rest.

Where print and catalog bookings come from

Five categories that carry print work

Print is not a separate category on MaxGirls, because it is a medium rather than a look. It runs through five of the nine categories, so list in every one that genuinely fits you. Each is another filter that returns your profile to somebody with a shoot to fill.

Commercial models Catalog, e-commerce, packaging, advertising and lifestyle. The category almost every print brief filters first, and the widest-booked one on the site. Fashion models Lookbooks, editorial print and the apparel catalogs cast on a fashion silhouette rather than a customer. Beauty and parts models Close-up print for skincare, cosmetics, jewelry and packaging. Hands, skin, hair and nails are booked on their own all year. Fitness models Activewear catalogs, supplement packaging and equipment advertising, shot in a studio the same way apparel is. Creators and brand ambassadors Content packages that brands now buy alongside a print day, licensed for paid social as well as the product page.

Local work

Print modeling agencies near me, and what to do instead

Commercial and print boards are local businesses. The established ones sit in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and Houston, and if you live in one of those markets they are worth applying to on their own sites. Check each takes direct submissions, read its terms, and never pay a fee to be added to a list. A legitimate agency earns its money when you do.

Outside those seven cities the search mostly returns directories and scouting services rather than boards, and that is the gap a direct profile fills. Catalog and e-commerce shoots happen wherever there is a studio, and local production companies, regional retailers and photographers all book models without going through New York. Set your city, keep availability current, and say in the bio whether you travel and whether you can self-tape or self-shoot a fit check.

Price the usage, not just the day

A catalog that runs one season is a day fee. Packaging that sits on a shelf for three years is a day fee and a real license. Set your base and see what the usage does to it before you reply.

Day rate and usage estimator

Runs in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Four steps, about twenty minutes

No application fee, no test shoot you pay for, no portfolio package. If a "print agency" asks you to buy photos, classes or a comp card printing package before it will represent you, read how to spot a modeling scam first.

Create your profile What goes in the set

Shoot digitals, then two styled frames Head and shoulders, three-quarter and full length in daylight against a plain wall, fitted plain clothes, no filter. Then two styled shots, at least one with a real smile. Five to eight images are enough to publish.
Pick commercial first, then every category that fits Commercial is where print and catalog briefs filter first. Add fashion for lookbooks, beauty and parts for close-up and packaging, fitness for activewear, creator if you make content. Each is another filter that returns you.
Put the measurements in the profile Height, bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, inseam, shoe, and your usual fit notes. Catalog studios match a body to a sample rail before they look at anything else, and missing numbers cost you the shortlist.
Set a day rate and keep availability current Publish a range so the first email is about the booking. Availability is one click: available now, this month, or booked. A studio filling next Thursday is filtering on exactly that.

Questions

Print modeling, answered

Something missing? Write to support@maxgirls.com and a person will answer it.

What is print modeling?

Print modeling is still photography that sells something: catalogs, product pages, packaging, in-store signage, printed advertising and the lifestyle imagery brands license for their sites. The model is there to make a real person want the product, so the job is expression and posing rather than runway height. Most of it is shot in a studio in a day.

How do I become a print model?

Shoot clean digitals in daylight, a head-and-shoulders, a three-quarter and a full length, wearing fitted plain clothes, then publish a profile that carries your sizes, your city, your day rate and your availability. Apply to commercial and print agencies if you want a board, and list directly at the same time so the brands and photographers shooting catalog this month can find you.

How much do print models get paid?

ZipRecruiter listed the US average for a print model at $26.36 an hour and $54,827 a year in March 2026, drawn from posted jobs rather than from booked shoots. In practice a print booking is a shoot fee plus a usage license, and the license usually moves the total more than the length of the day does. How a print rate is built takes it apart.

What are the print modeling height requirements?

There are none in the way fashion has them. Backstage puts it plainly: print does not hold to a strict set of physical requirements, because the brand is casting the right look for its customer. Catalog and e-commerce work is booked at every height, every size and every age from 18 upward, and a brand selling to 50-year-olds needs a 50-year-old.

What is the difference between print and commercial modeling?

Print describes the medium, commercial describes the intent, and they overlap almost completely. Print means the image is a still photograph used in a catalog, a product page, packaging or an advertisement. Commercial means the work sells a product to a general audience rather than presenting a designer collection. Most commercial modeling is print, and briefs use "commercial print" for exactly that overlap.

Do I need a print model agency?

No, and for catalog and e-commerce work most people do not use one. A commercial print agency is worth applying to if you want national advertising campaigns, where the board negotiates usage and chases late invoices. The everyday print work, a retailer shooting a season, a brand refreshing product pages, a photographer building a shoot, is booked direct and pays with no commission taken out.

How do I find print modeling agencies near me?

Search the city, not the country: commercial and print boards are local businesses and the big ones sit in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and Houston. Check each one takes direct submissions, never pay a fee to be added to a list, and read its own site rather than a directory. A direct profile works in cities that have no board at all.

What is a print model comp card?

A comp card is a two-sided card printed at 8.5 by 5.5 inches: your strongest headshot and your name on the front, three to five range shots plus your stats and contact details on the back. It is what a booker keeps on the desk, and the model comp card spec sets out the size, stock and layout. A profile carrying the same images and the same numbers does the same job online, and it can be updated the day your hair changes.

Read next How a print rate is built Commercial models Fit model jobs Modeling websites, priced What it costs

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