As an artist, you spend a great deal of time perfecting your craft. The following tips will help improve the digital presentation so it looks as awesome as the original.

Background

• Avoid any background—let the image of your work fill the camera’s lens.
• For 3-dimensional work, place your work in front of an uncluttered, neutral background (white, black, or gray walls are best). 

Lighting—tips to avoid shadows   

• Outside
  • An overcast sky is best.
  • Avoid direct sun.
  • Light from 10 am to 4 pm ensures the most accurate colour rendition.

• Inside
  • Use a room with plenty of windows and natural light.
  • Ensure the lighting is bright, diffused and uniform, rather than from a single overhead source.
  • If your work is behind glass, remove the glass to avoid glare and reflection.
  • Avoid using a flash.
  • Use extra light for 3-dimensional work. 

Shooting—tips to avoid distortion of your image

• Place your work at a height equal to your camera—use an easel if you have one.
• Stand directly in front of your work and centre the camera lens on the centre of the work.
• Ensure the edges of the image are straight and parallel with the edges of the camera lens (what you see on your phone’s screen or through a viewfinder).
• Your work does not have to be framed before photographing.
• Cover any signature—the Arts & Letters entries are blind-judged. 

Detail

• A detail is a section of your work enlarged to show surface detail. The size of the section depends on what you want the adjudicators to see, such as interesting brush work and texture.
• Either zoom in or stand closer to the work.
• Submit only 1-2 detail images. 

Editing

• Crop the edges of the image to tighten and straighten it, and to remove any background. 

Submitting

• We suggest submitting your images as a TIFF file at 300 pixels per inch with 10 inches on long axis.
• If you submit a JPEG, use a high resolution.