How to Photograph Your Artwork So It Sells Online
Selling artwork online is a booming business, with billions of dollars in art sales happening online each year. For artists who want to take advantage of this ever-expanding market and find the perfect buyers for their artwork, the first step is to get your art off the easel and into the digital space.
In this article, we'll walk you through how to photograph your artwork like a pro, including tips on how to photograph artwork to make prints and how to market your art online so you can turn your hard-earned talent into some hard-earned cash!
Why High-Quality Photography is the Key to Selling Artwork Online
High-quality photography is critical when selling artwork online. Crisp images that accurately represent your work will help potential customers see what they're getting and appreciate each piece's subtle details.
Choosing the Best Camera for Photographing Artwork
There's a saying that the best camera to use for a task is the one you have. So, if you only have an iPhone at your disposal, you can still get decent images of your art to get you started with online sales.
However, if you want more professional results or want to create large prints with your photographs, a DSLR with an optical zoom lens will give you ultra-sharp images that will help your artwork shine and allow you to create detailed, accurate prints.
How to Photograph Artwork for Prints
If you're photographing your art to create high-quality prints, here are a few tips and tricks for getting the best possible image so your prints look as good as the original.
Use a DSLR with an optical zoom lens
You want your prints to retain as much detail as possible. While phone cameras have come a long way, the only way to get ultra-crisp images that can be enlarged to standard print sizes is to use a DSLR that shoots images of at least 12 megapixels (12MP). Pairing this with an optical zoom lens will allow you to frame your print perfectly without losing any details.
Pay attention to lighting
Lighting is the key to a great image, and the good news for artists on a budget is that natural lighting is the best for lighting artwork. If possible, photograph your artwork near a window or even outside. Make sure to position your artwork so that the light falls across it evenly.
If photographing in natural lighting isn't possible, you may want to invest in a photography light with a softbox or other diffuser to mimic soft natural light.
Set up and position your camera properly
Here are some suggested camera settings for sharp print photography:
- Position your camera directly parallel to your artwork
- Choose the lowest ISO possible for your lighting conditions, ideally 100-400 ISO
- Choose a higher f-stop to ensure the whole image is in focus, ideally an f8 or higher
- Frame your artwork so there's about an inch of space all around the artwork so you have some flexibility to crop or straighten your image during the editing phase
How to Edit Your Images
Once you've taken your shots, now it's time to edit them to remove any distortions and other flaws in the image.
To edit your images, you'll need some photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, or even the native Mac Photos app.
Once in your editing software of choice, these are the tools you'll want to explore to get the most out of your artwork images:
- Crop/Straighten: This will allow you to straighten your image and remove any extra space around your artwork, which will be necessary for prints
- Saturation/Vibrancy/Contrast: These are color adjustment sliders that you can tweak to make sure that the colors in your image match the colors of your artwork
- Healing Brush/Spot Removal: This will allow you to remove any dust, scuffs, or other minor flaws that might show up in the image that aren't part of the artwork
It can take a little time to learn how to use these tools if you're new to photo editing, but after a bit of practice, you'll find a quick system of editing that you can use repeatedly to make your images pop.
How to Sell Fine Art Online
Online art sales have made purchasing original art much more accessible for more consumers and allowed artists access to a much larger customer base than the traditional gallery route.
To maximize your earnings and reach the most customers, try implementing these strategies:
Explore Prints and Digital Files
Selling original artwork is often artists' primary goal, but the price of original art is out of reach for most consumers. Expanding your offerings to include prints and/or digital files of your work can open you up to a much larger customer base and increase your earnings.
You can offer a variety of print types to suit different aesthetics and budgets, including:
Photograph Your Artwork in an Aesthetic Space
Having a crisp image of your artwork on its own is critical, but if you want to sell large prints or originals, including photographs of the art hanging in a well-appointed space can help potential buyers visualize what your art might look like in their own space.
Including a person or common household objects in the frame for scale can also help buyers better understand the size of the artwork, which can help them make a more informed decision and purchase with confidence.
Sell Your Artwork on Multiple Marketplaces
Listing your art on multiple online marketplaces can increase your reach, especially when you're just starting out. Explore different platforms that specialize in selling handmade products and see which ones are the right fit for your business.
Whether your specialty is dreamy watercolors or bold inks, there's a buyer out there who will love your art just as much as you do! And if you're looking for stunning, color-accurate prints, check out our full range of print products that will make your work shine!