Taking photos of your art

If you want to sell high-quality prints of your artwork, capturing a professional-looking photo is the first and most crucial step. Whether you’re a painter, illustrator, or graphic designer, ensuring accurate colors and sharp details will help your prints look just like the original piece. If hiring a professional photographer isn’t an option, you can achieve excellent results on your own with the right setup and techniques.

Lighting: The Key to a Great Photo

Proper lighting is essential for capturing the true colors and details of your artwork. In professional photography, a technique called copy lighting is used to achieve even illumination. This involves placing two lights at a 45-degree angle on opposite sides of the artwork to eliminate shadows and prevent glare.

If you don’t have access to professional lighting, natural light can be a great alternative. Photograph your artwork in a well-lit room with large windows, or take it outside on a cloudy day when the light is soft and diffused. Avoid direct sunlight, as it can create harsh shadows and distort colors.

When using artificial light, a simple work lamp can work well. Position the lamp about two feet above the artwork at a 45-degree angle. To diffuse harsh light, place a sheer white cloth or diffusion material in front of the lamp. You can also hold a white foam board opposite the light source to reflect light and balance the shadows.

Capturing the Photo: DSLR vs. Smartphone

A high-quality camera, such as a DSLR or mirrorless model, gives you full control over exposure, white balance, and lens selection. However, newer smartphones have advanced cameras capable of capturing sharp, high-resolution images that are more than sufficient for professional prints.

Taking the Best Photo with a Smartphone

If you’re using a smartphone, follow these steps to ensure the highest quality image:

1. Use the highest resolution setting – Go to your camera settings and select the highest possible resolution. Many phones have an option labeled “High Efficiency” or “Pro Mode.”

2. Keep the lens clean – Wipe your camera lens with a microfiber cloth to remove dust and smudges that can reduce image sharpness.

3. Stabilize your phone – Use a tripod or place your phone on a steady surface to prevent motion blur. If you don’t have a tripod, lean your phone against something stable and use a timer or remote shutter to avoid shaking.

4. Frame the shot correctly – Hold your phone parallel to the artwork to avoid distortion. Use the built-in grid lines in your camera settings to help align the artwork properly.

5. Tap to focus and adjust exposure – Tap on your artwork in the camera preview to set focus. If the image appears too bright or dark, adjust the exposure manually using the brightness slider that appears.

6. Shoot in RAW (if available) – Some smartphones allow you to shoot in RAW format, which captures more detail and provides better flexibility for editing.

Editing Your Artwork Photo

Once you’ve taken your photo, editing helps fine-tune the colors and brightness to match your original artwork.

Photoshop and Lightroom are industry-standard tools for editing, offering powerful features to adjust contrast, sharpness, and color balance. They do require a subscription and some learning time, but they provide professional-level results.

For a free alternative, VSCO is a great option. Available for iOS, Android, and online, it offers manual editing tools that allow you to enhance colors without over-processing the image. Here’s a quick guide to editing in VSCO:

1. Import your image into VSCO and go to the manual editing tools instead of applying filters.

2. Adjust brightness and contrast to balance the exposure and make details stand out.

3. Correct color balance using the white balance tool. If your image is too warm (yellowish), slide the temperature toward blue. If it’s too cool (bluish), adjust it slightly toward yellow. You can also refine colors further using the tint slider.

4. Crop the image carefully to remove any background distractions or unwanted shadows.

5. Sharpen slightly to enhance fine details, but avoid over-sharpening, which can introduce unwanted textures.

6. Export in a high-quality format like PNG, TIFF, or high-resolution JPEG. Avoid small file sizes or compressed formats that can reduce print quality.

Upscaling for larger prints

Even if you use a high-quality camera or set your resolution to the maximum, the final image may still not be large enough for some of our bigger print sizes. In these cases, you can use an AI upscaler to increase the resolution without compromising quality.

AI upscalers use advanced algorithms to enhance details and enlarge images while maintaining sharpness. Many online tools offer free or paid AI upscaling services. Some popular options include:

• Let’s Enhance (letsenhance.io)

• Topaz Gigapixel AI (topazlabs.com)

• BigJPG (bigjpg.com)

These platforms allow you to upload your image and choose how much to upscale it. For best results, use an AI upscaler before finalising your print file to ensure the highest possible quality.

Final Checks Before Printing

Before offering your artwork as a print, it’s a good idea to do a test print. Computer monitors don’t always display colors accurately, so printing a sample helps ensure that your final product matches the original artwork. If necessary, make final adjustments based on the printed version.

By following these steps, you can produce high-quality prints of your artwork that look professional and true to your original creation.