How to photograph your artwork!
So you have a bunch of photos of your awesome art. But your photos are not awesome. Here is how to photograph your artwork like a champion. These steps are great for your IB exam but also great steps for artists of any level. Here we go!
2D Artwork:
1. Use a good camera. Seriously. Put away the phone (unless you have the most amazing camera phone in the world). Borrow a camera, find a camera.
2. Find natural lighting, if possible. If not natural lighting, at least find even and consistent lighting. Cloudy days are best for light dispersion and soft lighting. You want to avoid direct light or glares.
3. Stand directly over your artwork. If it is on the floor, get a ladder and stand over the work so you can shoot straight down. If it is on the wall, get straight on. Make sure you do not cast a shadow onto your artwork. Don't zoom, get closer to the work. Try to eliminate as much background as possible. This is a photo of your artwork, not your background. Get in there, kid!
**Note: if the artwork is small enough, use a scanner to get a better image. If you have digital art or digital photography, please submit a PNG or TIFF of your digital file- don't ever take a photo of the hardcopy of your digital work or digital photography.
4. Its time to edit your photos. Your goal is to crop out as much of the background as possible. You should also crop out your mat-board. Artwork only! Straighten and align your artwork- no crooked photos! You will also use color balance and contrast to match the photo to your artwork. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you do not try to "improve" your artwork by adjusting the contrast/balance more than your original. Your goal is to get as close to the original as possible - not change it!
CROPPING WITH PHOTOSHOP:
-File>Open your photograph
-Click and hold the crop tool on the left side of the screen> select the Perspective Crop tool
-Click at the top left hand corner of your artwork and drag a box to the bottom right hand corner of your artwork
-By grabbing the blue dots, move the grid to match the edges of your artwork
-Once you have the rhombus (squiggly rectangle) adjusted to match your artwork, hit the Return key or click the checkbox at the top of the screen. Now your artwork jumps to a beautifully cropped and straightened shape!
-Use the adjustment icons on the far right to change the brightness, contrast, exposure, and color balance of your artwork to MATCH your original artwork
-Image> Image Size You need to adjust the size of your photos to be under 4MB. Change the physical size of the artwork here and it will adjust the data size
-File>Save As as a JPEG or JPG with a title of your choice
CROPPING WITH PIXLR:
-Go to Pixlr = ( https://pixlr.com/editor/ )
-File>Open your photograph
-Click Edit>Free Distort
-Drag the blue dots to stretch your artwork into the desired shape - be careful! Hit Return when finished
-Click the crop tool on the left side of your screen
-Stretch the blue dots to adjust where you want to crop. Hit return when finished
-Image> Image Size You need to adjust the size of your photos to be under 4MB. Change the physical size of the artwork here and it will adjust the data size
-File>Save As as a JPEG or JPG with a title of your choice
3D Artwork:
1. Use a good camera. Seriously. Put away the phone (unless you have the most amazing camera phone in the world). Borrow a camera, find a camera.
2. Set up a photo booth. You need a black, white or grey background. See a teacher for help with this. Set your artwork inside this photo booth. You will be using lamps to adjust the lighting for the best effect. DO NOT just snap a shot of the artwork on your bed or classroom floor. This needs to be professionally done. Your teachers have the materials for this!
3. Make sure you do not cast a shadow onto your artwork. Don't zoom, get closer to the work. Try to eliminate as much background as possible. This is a photo of your artwork, not your background. Get in there, kid! Make sure ALL of your work is in focus. a Blurry photo does not add interest- it ruins it.
4. Its time to edit your photos. Your goal is to crop out as much of the background as possible. You should also crop out your mat-board. Artwork only! Straighten and align your artwork- no crooked photos! You will also use color balance and contrast to match the photo to your artwork. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you do not try to "improve" your artwork by adjusting the contrast/balance more than your original. Your goal is to get as close to the original as possible - not change it!
CROPPING WITH PHOTOSHOP:
-File>Open your photograph
-Click and hold the crop tool on the left side of the screen> select the Perspective Crop tool
-Click at the top left hand corner of your artwork and drag a box to the bottom right hand corner of your artwork
-By grabbing the blue dots, move the grid to match the edges of your artwork
-Once you have the rhombus (squiggly rectangle) adjusted to match your artwork, hit the Return key or click the checkbox at the top of the screen. Now your artwork jumps to a beautifully cropped and straightened shape!
-Use the adjustment icons on the far right to change the brightness, contrast, exposure, and color balance of your artwork to MATCH your original artwork
-Image> Image Size You need to adjust the size of your photos to be under 4MB. Change the physical size of the artwork here and it will adjust the data size
-File>Save As as a JPEG or JPG with a title of your choice
CROPPING WITH PIXLR:
-Go to Pixlr = ( https://pixlr.com/editor/ )
-File>Open your photograph
-Click Edit>Free Distort
-Drag the blue dots to stretch your artwork into the desired shape - be careful! Hit Return when finished
-Click the crop tool on the left side of your screen
-Stretch the blue dots to adjust where you want to crop. Hit return when finished
-Image> Image Size You need to adjust the size of your photos to be under 4MB. Change the physical size of the artwork here and it will adjust the data size
-File>Save As as a JPEG or JPG with a title of your choice
