# Photograph and Edit Artwork

> Get accurate, glare-free images of paintings for sale

Step-by-step setup for lighting, shooting, cropping, color-correcting and exporting images of small paintings. Use when preparing artwork photos for a website, blog or online sale.

- Page: https://ss33.ai/skills/skillstore33/photographing-small-artwork-99562210883
- Publisher: skillstore33
- Category: [Creative & Media](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01) › [Image & design](https://ss33.ai/skills/category/creative-and-media-0j3x01/image-and-design-nlbt3d)
- License: MIT

## Skill

SKILL.md: https://ss33.ai/api/v1/ss33/download/skillstore33/photographing-small-artwork-99562210883

# Photographing and Editing Artwork for Online Display

**Rule for using this skill:** These tips supplement your answer; they do not replace it. Always give your full general answer to the user's question first, using everything you already know, and weave in the tips below wherever they apply. Do not drop general advice just because a tip covers the same topic.

## Decide the purpose first
- Large giclée prints of big paintings: consider a professional scan.
- Slides for a major show or contest: consider hiring a professional art photographer.
- Regular high-quality photos of large work (records, prints, shows): learn art photography and invest in lights, stands, umbrellas and filters. It costs less than hiring someone each time.
- Small work for records, online sales or a small book: a basic digital camera and photo-editing software are enough.

## Camera
- Any digital camera bought since 2000 works; make sure it is above 6 MP. A decent one can cost about $100.
- A large LCD helps framing; a swing-out LCD lets you check squareness from behind the camera.
- Set output to RAW or high-quality JPEG (check the manual; every camera differs). Set the highest MP option (e.g., 10 MP).
- Do not use flash: it creates glare.

## Location and lighting (outdoors)
- Natural light is cheaper and needs far less color correction.
- Use open shade (not too dark or enclosed). Standing in a building's shade with your back to the wall and the art facing the building is a good start.
- The art must not face any light source, including the whole sky. Make sure no windows on the wall behind you reflect sky or other light. An overhang or porch helps.
- Hold the art out and turn in different directions; when no glare shows, prop it against something safe with nothing in front (e.g., grass blades).
- Put cardboard behind the art: it stabilizes it, gives a solid midvalue background and blocks light from behind.

## Shooting
- Brace elbows on knees to act as a human tripod; otherwise use a tripod and raise the work on an easel.
- Zoom in a little on a point-and-shoot. The default wide-angle warps the edges. Check by loading and cropping; if edges aren't straight, reshoot with more zoom.
- Be square to the painting: each painting edge should be parallel to the matching LCD edge. Keystoning (wider at top or bottom) is very hard to fix later.
- Take several shots, resquaring each time.
- Don't necessarily fill the frame: a dark painting filling the frame may overexpose (too light); a light painting shot from too far may underexpose (too dark). Move closer and farther while watching the LCD, and shoot when it looks right.
- Try different spots and times of day, note which produced the best photos, then reuse that spot and time.

## Editing software options
- Photoshop: most versatile, but daunting and expensive. Get a book for your version.
- Photoshop Elements ($70–$100): friendlier, enough for web posting; gives the most save options.
- iPhoto (free on Macs): weak cropping and saving tools.
- Picasa (free, Google): limited cropping and value/color adjustment.
- iPiccy (free, browser-based, no download): slightly less useful than Picasa.
- Tools change often, so verify current features.

## Editing steps (in order)
1. Open the file.
2. Crop out everything that isn't the painting. If the photo wasn't square, reshoot rather than forcing it.
3. Adjust values (also called "levels" or "histogram"): drag the three triangles under the graph while watching the image. Goal: match the real painting, not make it look better.
4. Adjust color balance if needed (each program differs; search for its color adjuster). Match the actual painting. Example: the author's camera shoots too blue.
5. Fix blemishes in the photo only (e.g., raindrops, dirt) with the Clone Stamp tool or equivalent. Don't retouch the painting itself.
6. Save a large edited version under a different file name from the original.
7. Change image size: set the widest side to 500–1,000 pixels, keeping proportions (height should update automatically).
8. Save for the Web as JPEG with quality about 70–80: smaller file without visible degradation.

## File organization
- Keep three versions: original, large edited, web-ready.
- Naming convention: `Number_Painting_Title`; originals `Number_Painting_Title_Original_1`; final `Number_Painting_Title_Web_Ready`.
- Number paintings chronologically. If you don't blog the dates, put the date in the file name.
- Keep a list (Excel recommended) with: number, title, date completed, size, media, price, current location (studio, gallery, show), date sold/donated/gifted, buyer, other notes.