Preparing Your Artist Images and Bio

Before submitting your info and images for your gallery page, do some preparation that will make your information and images easy to find later on your own computer. First, create a folder on your computer for the images and text that you will be loading into My Profile and My Gallery. Alternately you can keep the images in a folder in your photo library and the text in another folder. Use FAN in the folder name so that you can search for it later.

My Gallery

Images you will need:

  • Head shot
  • Artwork photos

You are allowed up to 16 images on your gallery page and you can change these over time. Exhibition artwork is no longer automatically added to your Artist Gallery so feel free to include any Exhibition artwork that you wish to highlight in your Artist Gallery.

Text Information you will need:

Note: This must be plain text, with no formatting.

  • Artist Description – See “Writing an Artist Biography” on the FAN Links page.

In My Gallery you can write an Artist Biography, Artist Statement, or a combination of the two. If you have your own website, you have probably already crafted the words you want the public to know about you and your art practice. This statement can be as long or as short as you want, although we suggest that you make it short enough to highlight your artwork without having to scroll down to it!

  • Art Work Details

You will need to enter the Title of your artwork and can optionally include a price, dimensions (please include the unit of measurement i.e., inches or cm), and a description of this particular artwork – this can be the story behind the image, how it was made or anything else you feel is relevant to the viewer.

Exhibit Entry

Images you will need:

  • Artwork photos

The Exhibit will specify the number of images allowed for each Entry and the number of Entries allowed for each artist.

Text Information you will need:

  • Artist Bio for Exhibits.

This is a short biography limited to 450 characters that will be requested with your Exhibit Entry.

  • Artwork Statement for Exhibits.

This is a description of the motivation for your artwork. The length will be determined by Exhibit Organizers.

  • Artwork Details:

Title, Price, Dimensions (unit of measure will be determined by the Exhibit Organizer).

Please carefully proofread any text you create, as what you provide will be what ends up on the public site, spelling errors and all. If you plan to cut and paste your text from the document into the website, we suggest you use plain text or as little formatting as possible. For Exhibits, you cannot change this once your entry is submitted. If changes are required you must ask the Exhibit Organizer to make the change for you

Photo Guidelines

Please check the links in “Photography Help” for information on taking a good photograph of your artwork and resizing your images.

Begin with a photo taken using the highest settings on your camera, making sure it is in focus. Take the photo straight on so that the full artwork is evenly displayed in the image frame.

Before uploading your image files, preview and edit the image files on your computer. For the best display, make sure your monitor is calibrated. Choose the sRGB profile, which is best for the web and viewing on most computer monitors—this can usually be changed from your photo editing software or in System Preferences under Displays. Unsure about any of this? Be sure to check the HELP FILES on your computer or in your photo editing software if you have any questions. The answers are usually there.

For All Images – Please check the Format

Make sure your images are in JPEG or JPG format. Use your photo editing software to change or save as a different format.

FORMAT – special note for iPhone and iPad cameras

If you use an iPhone or iPad camera to take photographs, they may be in HEIC/HEIF formats. You can change this by changing the settings of your camera to “most compatible” instead of “high efficiency”.  A detailed explanation of how to do this can be found on the Photography Help link above. A quick way to change the format and size is to email the photograph to yourself. Mail will automatically reformat to JPG and will give you size options for the image. Be sure to choose full size.  Note that “Airdrop” does not change the format.

Artwork Photo Requirements

CROP the IMAGE

Crop so that only your art work is visible. DO NOT include the background unless your art is an irregular shape or has uneven edges. In that case, photograph on a WHITE background and crop so that only minimal background shows.

RESIZE YOUR IMAGES – For the website.

Use your photo editing software to check the image dimensions (pixels) and storage size (MB) and resize if necessary. We recommend that your images be at least 1600 pixels wide and sized between 1.5 and 2 MB. Our website will automatically size your image to the device used for viewing it. Images for Exhibit Entries must be a minimum of 1600 pixels on both dimensions to be uploaded to the Exhibit. This minimum is not enforced for Artist Gallery images but is recommended. Our website image size is recommended to conserve server storage space and reduce the risk of image theft, while still looking good online.

RESIZE YOUR IMAGES – For High Resolution Images if required.

These images are required for Gallery Exhibits (not for Boxed Exhibits). Create a JPEG image that is a minimum of 2500 pixels on the longest side and a maxiumum size of 5 MB. Email this to the Exhibit Organizers (check the Exhibit Details) and Proposal Coordinator. These images will be sent to venues for use in their promotional materials. We do not recommend use of these larger images on the website.

RENAME YOUR IMAGES.

For your Gallery Page: We suggest naming your images with lastname_firstname_artwork_title.jpg.  This will enable them to be immediately identified as yours and is a good practice to follow.

For Exhibit Entry: images are automatically re-named when they are uploaded but it is good practice as you prepare your images for entry to name them as you do for your Gallery Page on your own computer.

Problems/Unsure????

If you are hesitant at all about editing your Artist Gallery Page, please contact the Gallery Page Coordinator who can assist you by guiding you through the process or can do it for you provided that you have all the relevant images and text available to email to them. Always check your Artist Gallery Page after updating MyGallery to make sure that the changes are as you wish (you will have to use your browser’s refresh button to make sure new changes appear). If there are any mistakes, correct them immediately by repeating the processes described above, remembering to click any SAVE button you see at the bottom of the page.

Ready to Update your Artist Gallery?

Click here for instructions on the next step.

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