A guide for artists
How to photograph your work
The animation starts from your photo. If the photo is crooked, dark or full of reflections, the animation will be too. The phone you already have is enough: what matters is the light and the position. Ten minutes per work.
The minimum we need
| Size | At least 1600 pixels wide. Better 2400 or more: the bigger it is, the better it animates and the better it looks on screen. |
|---|---|
| Format | JPG or PNG, up to 25 MB per photo. No filters, no watermarks. |
| Framing | Only the work, straight and whole. No hands, no floor, no wall around it. |
| Proportions | Whatever your work has: landscape, portrait or square. Don't crop it to fit a format: your work is shown whole, and we take care of the animation's format. |
| One per work | One photo per work. If the work has relief or fine detail, add a second close-up and tell us which one is the main image. |
| File name | The title of the work: woman-at-the-window.jpg. It saves confusion when there are ten of them. |
The light, which changes everything
- In daylight, near a window, but with no direct sun on the work. Direct sun burns out the light areas and casts hard shadows.
- No flash. Your phone's flash flattens the colour and bounces off any shiny surface.
- Even light across the whole work. If one side is brighter than the other, turn it or move until it evens out.
- If the work has texture or impasto, soft light from the side brings out the relief. Try it with the window to one side.
- Not at night. Lamplight tints everything yellow or blue and the real colour of your work is lost.
The position: straight and square on
- The work, upright: hung on the wall or leaning against it, not lying on the floor.
- The phone, parallel to the work and level with its centre. Shoot from above or from the side and the work comes out as a trapezium.
- Step back and zoom in (1.5x or 2x). Up close, the lens distorts the edges and bends straight lines.
- Rest the phone on something steady or use a tripod, and shoot with the three-second timer: less shake, more sharpness.
- Tap the screen on the centre of the work so it focuses and meters the light there.
Reflections and glass
This is the most common problem and the one that ruins a photo fastest.
- Take the glass off if the work is framed and you can. That is the real solution.
- If you can't, turn off the lights in front and work only with window light, coming in from the side.
- Wear dark clothes and check that neither you nor the phone is reflected in the glass.
- On varnished or gold-leaf works, move a few centimetres until the glare slides out of the frame.
Colour
- Neutral background: a white or grey wall, or a plain cloth. A coloured background shifts the tone of the whole photo.
- No filters, no "auto enhance". If your phone's HDR oversaturates, switch it off.
- Compare it with the real work before sending it: if it looks more saturated or cooler on screen, tell us and we'll correct it.
Which works animate best
Anything can be animated, but some works turn out spectacular and others barely move. If you are unsure which to choose, send us two or three and Dani will tell you.
The animation is made in landscape (16:9) or portrait (9:16) depending on your work, and always whole: nothing is cropped. If the proportions don't match exactly, we fill the edges with your own work, softly blurred.
These animate beautifully
- Figures and portraits: a glance, a gesture, breathing
- Skies, clouds, smoke, fire
- Water, waves, reflections
- Fabric, hair, foliage, grass
- Works with depth: something in front and something behind
These are harder
- Works with text or very small signatures, which distort
- Pure geometry and fine straight lines
- Collages with very hard-edged cut-outs
- Low-resolution or out-of-focus photos
- Very dark works, where you cannot tell what is what
Your portrait
Along with the works, send us a photo of yourself for the top of your gallery. Natural light, simple background, looking at the camera or working in your studio. Landscape or portrait, either works. If you would rather not appear, your gallery works just as well without one.
What to send with each work
Besides the file, we need these details. They are what goes on the label under the work, as in a museum:
- Title y year
- Technique: oil on canvas, print, digital illustration, photography…
- Size in centimetres
- Two or three lines about the work: what it is, what led you to make it, what to look at. It is what people read before looking again.
Before you send, check
- Is the work whole and straight, with nothing around it?
- Is it sharp when you zoom in on your phone?
- Are the colours the ones of the real work?
- Are there no reflections, no shadows of you, no glare from glass?
- Is the file named after the work?
If the work is physical and the photo won't come out
Don't fight your phone: we can digitise the work ourselves. It is a separate service, charged per work, and you end up with a very high quality image that also serves you for printing. Write to us and we'll sort it out.