Visual Guidelines for Three-Dimensional Art:

  1. All three-dimensional product photos must be shot against a plain, neutral background, or neutral gradient background.
  2. Images must be in focus and have good lighting. Avoid hard shadows or “blown out” lighting.
  3. Images must give an accurate representation of the item being sold. Colors should not be over-saturated and photo retouching should be kept to a minimum.
  4. Where necessary, include additional angles of the piece. For example: back, side, and three-quarter views. Where appropriate, include a few detail shots. (Note that the viewer will be able to see zoomed-in views of all of your images.) For wearables (fiber, jewelry) you may use a form to hold the piece. However, the forms should be subtle and not distract from the piece.
  5. Images should have a reasonable amount of margin between the edge of the product and the edge of the photo.

Do not:

  • Do not use unnecessary props. The only item(s) in the photographs should be the ones for sale. The exception to this are forms for wearables. (See above.)
  • Do not use live models. If a live model is the only option to display a wearable, the model should not be recognizable and should blend into the background as much as possible so that the item for sale stands out and is the primary focus.
  • Do not use textured backgrounds. For example, “natural” (bark, grass, sand, etc.) backgrounds, fences, brick walls, are not acceptable.
  • Do not cut off or crop the art off of the edge of the photo. The entire piece should be in frame at all times.

Visual Guidelines for Two-Dimensional Art:

  1. Artwork should be straight-on (not at an angle).
  2. Any matts or frames should only be included in the image if that matt or frame is a part of the sale.
  3. For best results, the photo should be in a square format. If the art is not a square, the empty space that fills out the square should be either white or black. (White is recommended.)
  4. Edges should touch the edge of the square. As specified above, extra space should be black or white.
  5. Images must give an accurate representation of the item being sold. Colors should not be oversaturated and photo retouching should be kept to a minimum.

Do Not:

  • Do not photograph two-dimensional art with glass on top of it. The glass will distort the art and create glare and reflections.
  • Do not photograph two-dimensional art on an angle.
  • Do not photograph two-dimensional art in any setting (gallery wall, home setting, etc.).

Technical Specs:

  • No more than 1mb in size (You may need to add JPG compression to get your file size to less than 1mb)
  • For best results, images should be square.
  • JPG format is preferred, PNG will also work
  • 20”x20” @ 72dpi or 1440px x 1440px

Note that it is more important that the image be a square, or as close to a square as possible. If the image is smaller than the recommended size, the zoom feature will not be as effective. 

For tips and more information on how to photograph your artwork, see this article: https://haverfordguild.org/2020/06/08/preparing-your-photos-for-juries/