CAMERA ANGLE, BACKGROUND
AND THOSE FORBIDDEN FRAMES

■ Use a clean, uncluttered background. Nothing but the artwork should be in the photograph.

■ Avoid image distortion by taking the picture with the camera level with the center of the artwork. Always take the picture with the artwork parallel to the camera.

■ Fill the frame as much as you can with the artwork, cropping out borders, matting, frames, etc.

■ Take some closer detail shots of the piece. Are there special details and finishing on the sides? A remarque, sketch, or special signature on the verso side? If it’s a sculpture, be sure to take shots from all sides and angles.

DEFINITION:

This refers to the clarity and sharpness of details in a photograph. An image with high definition will have sharper details and be clearer, while an image with low definition might appear blurry or less sharp.

BALANCE YOUR WHITES, SHOW THE REAL
COLORS  OF THE ARTWORK

■ The ideal lighting is diffused natural lighting, such as a cloudy day, which allows you to capture the most accurate colors and avoid shadows. Don’t have time to wait for a cloudy day? Get two lights that are exactly the same—wattage and color—and place them at 45-degree angles from the center of your artwork. Try to diffuse the light to avoid glare. Place your camera in the center.

■ Do not use naked bulbs or flash. These creates hot spots and glare on your artwork. A few sheets of white foam core can be set up to simulate a “raking light” effect where the lights are pointed at the foam core and the whiteboard reflects the light back at the piece.

IMPORTANT!

If you don’t have professional grade lighting kit, you can easily hack diffusing the light with a white sheet or white plastic between the lights and your work. This helps to evenly distribute the light. Alternatively, a few sheets of white foam core can be set up to simulate a “raking light” effect where the lights are pointed at the foam core and the whiteboard reflects the light back at the piece.

IMAGE RESOLUTION  VERSUS IMAGE SIZE

■ Review your images at 100% to choose the best shot and the best focus, and edit your photos to perfection.

■ There are plenty of free or inexpensive photo editing software alternatives out there that will help minimize any inconsistencies. Photoshop is considered the best, but Photoshop Elements or Gimp have basic functions such as color correction, cropping, and other adjustments. Lightroom also offers a subscription-based editing program that professional photographers swear by.

■ When you upload your artwork to a website to be sold, your artwork images should not include:

• • Logos, watermarks, or digital time stamps
  • Digital text overlay of anything that is not part of the artwork (e.g., artist’s website)
  • External people or easel holding or standing next to the artwork

■ It’s important that you take high-quality photographs that accurately represent the appearance of your artwork, capturing as much detail as possible. Remember, you are trying to sell your art to someone who has never seen your work in person. You want your creativity and techniques to shine through. Don’t forget to include at least two detail shots of the artwork, and make sure that the images you share accurately represent your art.

FILES SPECIFICS

■ DPI – Dots per inch is a measure of spatial printing, video or image scanner dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch. 

Min 72 Max 300

■ Pixels: Minimun 2000 px

■ Valid Formats:

• • JPG
  • PNG
  • TIFF

■ File Size Min 1 mb Max 6 mb

No frame. No borders. No background.