Illustrator Invoice Template
A free, editable invoice template built for freelance illustrators — with the line items and billing conventions your clients expect. Load the example, make it yours, download the PDF.
An illustration invoice prices two things the client tends to mentally merge: the making of the image, and the right to use it. Keeping them as separate lines isn't pedantry — it's what lets you sell the same catalogue piece three more times without anyone feeling cheated.
The invoice also inherits whatever the agreement said about stages: sketch, refined concept, final art. When a project dies at sketch stage — and some do — the kill fee only exists if the stages and their prices were already on paper.
What goes on an illustrator's invoice
Illustrators invoice per piece with usage stated on the invoice line itself — media, territory, duration — and 50% upfront for commissions over a few hundred dollars. Rush delivery carries a stated premium (25–50%). Original files, extended usage, and full buyouts are separate priced lines, never assumed inclusions.
The mistake illustrators most often make on invoices
Writing 'Illustration — $800' with no usage scope. That line silently grants whatever the client later decides it granted, and the illustrator discovers their editorial spot art on national packaging with no recourse and no second payment. The usage line is the second product — invoice it like one.
Not sure your underlying rate is right? Run the numbers in the freelance illustrator rate calculator — typical rates for illustrators run $35–$120/hour. And if an invoice goes quiet, use our late-payment email templates to chase it politely.