Northern Illinois University
School of Art and Design
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Find a white, grey or neutral wall to on which to hang your artwork. Avoid brightly colored walls. Or place the artwork in front of white paper or foam core large enough to cover the entire background.

Make sure there are no other objects in the camera frame. Remove posters, plants, etc.

Hang the art level and flat against the wall with push pins or nails. If you can't hang a piece, prop it against the wall.

Position the art and camera so there's no distortion. Center the artwork in the frame of the camera. Leave minimal white space around the piece. Make sure all sides are parallel. If you propped the art on the wall, make sure the camera is tilted to the same angle.

Set up two lights with the same brightness. Use painting clamp lights, desk lamps, floor lamps, shop lights, strobes or tungsten lights designed for photography. Diffuse, or soft, even lighting, is best. Use umbrellas or soft-boxes if you have them.

You can use the sun as an alternative to lights. When setting up outside, be mindful of the sun's direction so you don't cast shadows onto the work. To avoid distracting shadows on 3D work, photograph them on an overcast day.

Position lights 45 degrees from the artwork and camera. Position them between the artwork and the camera, outside of the camera frame.

Use a DSLR camera, a digital point and shoot camera, or your cellphone. DSLR has the most settings and highest quality. Point and shoot is next best, with fewer manual settings. Cellphone cameras are lowest quality but easy to access.

Use a tripod, stack of books, box, table or anything that can keep the camera stable to avoid blurry photographs. Use the camera timer or remote to reduce camera shake.

If the artwork is behind glass, use a polarizing filter on the lens to remove glare.

If using your cellphone, follow these tips:

• If possible, adjust your aperture to f/8 or higher. On an iPhone, open the camera and select portrait mode. Tap the icon on the top right. Use the bar above the shutter button to slide between different apertures.
• With the camera app open, tap the screen to focus.
• Try portrait mode for detail shots.

If using a DSLR or point and shoot camera, you can use automatic settings. If using a DSLR camera, you can also use any of the following manual settings:

• Image quality/file format: RAW.
• Color space: Adobe RGB 1998.
• White balance: Use presents for color temperature of lights or Auto White Balance. You can also use Custom White Balance for more accuracy, if you know how.
• Metering mode: Matrix or Evaluative, Grey Card, or Incident Reading.
• ISO: 100. Don't use anything above 400, or your image will be crunchy and full of digital artifacts.
• Aperture: f/8 or higher; f/22 is preferred and has the most depth of field.
• Shutter speed: Set according to exposure meter reading.
• Exposure: Incident light meter is the best and makes sure light is even. Reflective in-camera meter. Bracket - intentional over and underexposure.
• Lens focal length: 50 mm is standard, no lens distortion. Leave space around the image so you can correct distortion in Photoshop.
• Focus: Use manual, auto or both. Use printed text to help focus. Check focus playback with zoom.

Try to take the best pictures possible. Editing can't save a bad photograph. Be sure to use a color checker card to ensure color accuracy.

To edit photos in Photoshop or a similar program, import the photos into your computer and follow these steps:

• Crop the images. For 2D artwork, crop image to the edges. For 3D artwork, leave white space so the piece doesn't feel crowded in the frame.
• Adjust brightness and contrast as needed.
• Save file according to file requirements.

To edit cell phone photos, follow these steps:

• Use the editing software in your camera app to adjust cropping, brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc.
• Don't edit your photos too much. You want a realistic image of your work.
• Don't oversaturate colors or add too much contrast.

Follow these advanced editing tips for DSLR photos:

• Import RAW images and save as DNG or TIFF.
• Use camera RAW plugin for White Balance.
• Crop the image to the edge of a painting or leave a thin white border.
• Use the Levels Adjustment layer for black point and white point.
• Use the Curves Adjustment layer for contrast or refined color correction.
• Use the lens correction filter to remove any distortions.
• Zoom to 100% and check for imperfections. Clone stamp or heal them out.
• Save master file with layers. Save flattened file for print or easy resizing. Save as JPG.