Master Your Digital Images

When you’re asked to provide someone with a digital file of one of your images that is 355 ppi and 400 pixels on the longest side, can you do it within 15-20 minutes?

Lena Johnson, Hope: Fire and Rebirth. Digital art. © The Artist   http://www.lenajohnsonstudio.com

Too often I see artists hindered by their inability to use technology effectively. There’s nothing wrong with the art. In fact it may be wonderful. But today you have to be able to share the art with anyone at a moment’s notice. We live in a world of instant gratification. People are just used to getting what they need as soon as they hear about it or come across it online.

I often counsel artists to hire professional photographers. Photographers can be particularly valuable to those artists whose work is difficult to photograph. It takes years, and lots of expensive equipment, to become proficient at photographing jewelry or glass. If your work is difficult to photograph, your time is probably best spent making the art and then hiring a genius photographer to capture its special-ness. At the same time, you need to become competent with using your digital camera and software.

A recent article in the New York Times revealed that even high-end art is selling through the emailing of JPEG images. Read about it here:
http://www.artbizblog.com/2008/02/people-are-buyi.html

I am certainly not an expert in this area, but I want to stress the importance of mastering your digital images. Every artist should:

►Know what a JPEG is, what a TIF is, and why you don’t use the GIF format for your fine art. (Check the blog for a resource here.)

►Know that RGB color is for computers and CMYK color is for print.

►Know how to download the photos from the camera to the computer. (And, by the way, know how to find them on the computer!)

►As I said above, have the capability and know-how to resize the images at a moment’s notice. Someone else might be responsible for capturing the image in the first place, but you need to know how to adapt it. The newspaper isn’t going to wait two days for you to get a hold of your photographer to do this for you. Nor is the art dealer going to be too happy if you make an important collector wait too long.

►Know how to attach an image to an email effortlessly, and why you don’t send someone a 10 MB file without first asking permission.

►Know that PPI means pixels per inch and is the standard resolution measurement for digital images and that DPI means dots per inch and is the standard resolution measurement for printed images. You want your Web site to load quickly, so your images online will be on the lower end (72 ppi), but the newspaper editor wants a crisp photo in his publication, so you email him a higher-resolution 355 ppi image. He’ll print it out at 355 dpi. (Thank you to the person who pointed this out for me. I lost the email message so I can’t give you credit, but the correct terminology made it into my book.)

In addition to being able to email digital images to the media and to prospective patrons and galleries, you need to master the process in order to take photos for your blog and for your newsletter. You want photos of your art, your installations, you in the studio at work, and you with your patrons.
 

Know This . . . Technology isn't going away. Think About This . . . When the newspaper calls and they’re on a tight deadline, will you be ready to email them what they need? Do This . . . Master your digital images one step at a time. Learn to use the camera. Learn the software. Learn to download the images and find them on your computer. Tips for mastering your digital images AND your technology are on the Art Biz Blog. I’d love to hear some comments on there from you and your experience with this topic. http://www.artbizblog.com