Resize Digital Photos of your Artwork

To send digital images of our paintings as show entries,

We need to adjust pixels and resolution.

Consult your upcoming show's prospectus

regarding digital preparation requirements.

For example:
San Diego Watercolor Society requires:
1200 pixels on the longest side x 300 dpi / dots per inch 

Generally, take several photos to try to present squared-up sides

and best possible color before attempting matting and framing!

With this Coronavirus Hiatus at every gallery, we can skip matting and framing!

Do crop your image to the same reveal as the mat you hope to use, someday.

And please straighten the horizon in a landscape and the verticals on buildings!

Apple Mac users:

Procedure:

Open Photo / iPhoto

Select the photo (click on it)

Click and drag it to your Desktop

(your original photo remains safely within Photo / iPhoto)

Click and open that photo on your Mac’s Desktop

 – it opens using your Mac’s built in Preview program.

Now, within Preview,

go to the pull down menu - TOOLS

Select adjust size.

1.

Width & Height pixels can be set to desired requirement

by changing the longer dimension

(ex: 1024 or 1200, or ?).

The shorter dimension resizes proportionately, automatically. Easy.

2.

Resolution = dpi / dots per inch

72 dpi

or reset to 300 dpi, as needed.

3. SAVE

From Preview’s pull down menu - FILE,  

save as,

follow label format of the show you enter 

_______, to Desktop,

Now, it can be dragged from Desktop into an email, as an attachment, as needed.

Also, it can be dragged back into Photo / iPhoto to be saved in this reduced .jpg format as if it is a new photo.

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National Watercolor Society /  NWS

suggests this

FREE resizing tool:

 www.photosize.com  

a website for editing and resizing your image.

(Be sure to use the HELP link if something is not clear to you.)

I still do it all from my MacBook Pro laptop

but it is nice to know that IF I need to do this chore on one of my smart devices,

a website-assisted option is out there.

--

For Windows users:
I consulted with Bruce Burr ( bruceburr.com )

an ace photographer and active member of Foothills Art Association in La Mesa, CA
- for tips to help PC/Windows folk do the resizing on their standard equipment.

Open the image in Windows Photos by double clicking on the thumbnail.

On the far right, notice three dots - Click on them.

A dropdown menu opens.  

Choose Resize.

Four re-Size Options appear.

  SMALL (for profile pics and thumbnails) 

  MEDIUM (for Emails and messages)

  LARGE (for viewing)

OR

    Define Custom Size Click!
    Input the longest length &

    click on Save Resized Copy

    Choose to save to desktop or a folder of your choice.

   (There seems to be NO option to reset dpi / dots per inch in Windows)

Voula!

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Digital Photos of your artwork - Lighting

White Screen as a diffused light source

If you need to digitally photograph artworks, documents and so on, here is a serviceable light source for even, diffused lighting – your computer’s white screen.

I have bookmarked the following website providing a white display (and other colors)

 http://whitedisplay.com/

I just lay my artwork across the keyboard of my laptop, turn on the white screen and take great photos, even at night! (I do turn on other lights in the room, by the way). Size limit depends on size of your computer’s monitor.

I always take several photos, paying particular attention to squaring up the perimeter of the painting. You may need to adjust the color temperature cast, as well.

More and more, juried art exhibitions demand specifically prepared digital photos  - to both enter a show and to promote on websites. It is absolutely essential that your photos be accurate in both color and value. I will share more about how I resize digital images for show entry in another blog.

Drew’s Artful Blog - April 2017

Spring has sprung. Plein air painting opportunities abound locally in San Diego, California - 6th Annual Plein Air Convention of 2017, San Diego Watercolor Society paintouts, Art Walk Little Italy, Art Alive at San Diego Museum of Art, not to mention our beaches, bays and park events.

In every class I teach, there are other teachers. Here is a tip from Christine R.
Accordion Sketchbook from one piece of paper

Watercolor paper makes a great, packable sketchbook, if you simply fold and cut correctly.
For this application, I like Fabriano’s Soft Press 140 lb. all-cotton watercolor paper. Its finer texture is an agreeable surface at the resulting smaller sizes and works well with drawing supplies, as well as watercolors.





Look for tutorials online. It's easy.
Here are a few photos of the basic process, using 8.5x11” stationery paper.
Most will fit into a plastic sandwich bag. Stash ‘um in car, purse, wherever?

Most importantly, use ‘um!

1
For a 16 panel result, each part will be proportionate to the full sheet.
Fold 2 times N/S,  Fold 2 times E/W,
cut to ¾ along the red lines, as indicated...

2
For an 8 panel result, each part will present a rather long rectangle.
Here, Fold 1 time N/S along the length,  Fold 2 times E/W,
cut to ¾ along the red line.

3

For a 6 panel result, each part will present a rather squat rectangle.
Here, Fold 1 time N/S along the length,  Fold into 3 equal parts E/W.
cut to ¾ along the red line.

Get creative. Try cutting similarly, but across the illustrated recommendations.