Most artists find out they got the wrong files at the worst possible moment: a gallery asks for a print-ready image the night before install, an insurer wants a high-resolution record, or a catalog editor needs something that will not fall apart when it is printed at twelve inches. The shoot went fine. The problem is the handoff.
Good art documentation does not end when the camera stops. It ends when you have a clean set of files that each know their job. The images matter, but so does the packaging: the formats, the sizes, the color space, and the names. This guide is the checklist we wish every artist had before they approved a delivery folder.
If you are still getting the work in front of the camera, start one step earlier with preparing artwork for digital capture. This post picks up after the shoot, when the files land in your inbox and quietly become your permanent record.
Start with what the files need to do
Before you ask for formats and sizes, ask a simpler question: what is this artwork going to do next? A piece headed for a website has different needs than a piece headed for a printed catalog, an insurance file, or a fine-art reproduction run. One master image can serve all of them, but only if it is captured and exported with those futures in mind.
Tell your photographer the destinations you already know about: website, social, gallery submission, print catalog, grant application, insurance record, or reproduction. A good documentation workflow in New York, or anywhere, should produce files shaped for those uses instead of one generic export you have to fight with later. The destinations decide the deliverables.
Master files: the ones you protect
The master file is the cleanest, highest-quality version of the image. It is uncropped for any single layout, full resolution, minimally compressed, and treated as source material. You should receive one master per artwork, and you should not use it for daily posting. It is the negative, not the print. Everything else can be made from it.
Ask for masters as TIFF or high-quality JPEG at full resolution. TIFF is lossless and ideal for archives and print; a high-quality JPEG is smaller and fine for many uses. If the work will ever be reproduced or printed large, TIFF is worth the storage. Keep these files somewhere stable and back them up, because a master you cannot find is just a rumor of a good image.
If you only remember one rule: keep master files separate from web files from day one. The single most common file disaster is a compressed web image quietly becoming the only copy of a sold painting.
Web files: small, fast, and replaceable
Web files are the working copies: sized for a page, compressed for fast loading, and named for where they live. They are meant to be replaced, resized, and regenerated. You want these delivered alongside the masters so you are not exporting them yourself under deadline, but you should never treat them as the record.
A useful web file is usually a JPEG somewhere around 2,000 pixels on the long edge, in sRGB, saved at a quality that looks clean without being enormous. That is plenty for a website, a submission portal, or an email. If someone needs bigger later, you make it from the master. That is the whole reason the master exists.
Print and reproduction files
Print and reproduction files are a different animal, and they are where most delivery folders come up short. If your work will appear in a printed catalog, a press feature, or a fine-art print run, you want files prepared for physical output: full resolution, 300 DPI at the intended print size, and a color profile suited to print rather than screen.
Reproduction, where a print is meant to stand in for the original, is the most demanding case. It leans on accurate color, even lighting, and enough resolution to hold detail at scale. It is worth naming this out loud before the shoot, because reproduction-grade capture is a choice made with the lights and the camera, not something you can fully rescue in a small export afterward. If reproduction is part of your practice, ask for a clearly labeled reproduction file separate from your web and archive copies.
Color space, and why it bites later
Color space is the quiet variable that causes loud problems. Files delivered in one color space and opened somewhere expecting another can shift in ways that make blues sulk and reds panic. For the web, you generally want sRGB, which is the safe, predictable default for screens. For print, a wider space like Adobe RGB or a print-specific profile preserves color range the printer can use.
You do not need to become a color scientist. You need to ask one question: which files are sRGB for screen, and which are prepared for print? A good photographer will have already made that decision and can tell you in a sentence. If nobody can answer it, that is worth noticing before the files become your permanent record.
Details, scale, and framing shots
A single straight-on image shows the piece. It does not always show why the piece is good. Ask whether your delivery includes detail shots for surface and texture, a scale or installation image when size matters, and a framed or edge image when the object record needs it. These are the images that convince a juror, a collector, or a gallery that the material is real.
You do not need ten angles of every small work. You do need enough that the record is useful when the artwork is across the city in a collector's hallway. Detail and scale images also do quiet double duty later, feeding your archive and your long-term artwork archive without a second shoot.
How the files should arrive
Delivery is not just a download link. It is the difference between a folder you can use in a year and a folder you have to decode. Ask for files named consistently, connecting each image to the artwork title or an inventory number, with the file type or use included when it helps. Camera-number filenames like IMG_4471 are fine for a memory card and useless as a permanent record.
A clean handoff usually means organized folders (masters, web, and print or detail separated), sensible file names, and a short note on what each set is for. If you keep records for a collection, insurance, or an estate, that structure matters even more; our post on documenting collections for insurance and legacy goes deeper on that. The goal is a folder a stranger could open and understand, because in six months, you are effectively that stranger.
The short version to request
When you approve a documentation delivery, ask that it include:
- One master file per artwork, full resolution, TIFF or high-quality JPEG.
- Web files in sRGB, sized for pages and portals, ready to use.
- Print or reproduction files at 300 DPI and print-appropriate color when needed.
- Detail, scale, and framing shots where surface, size, or the object matter.
- Clear color space for each set: sRGB for screen, print profile for print.
- Consistent file names tied to title or inventory number.
- Organized folders and a one-line note on what each set is for.
None of this is glamorous. It is the boring layer that decides whether your work looks professional the day someone important opens it on a screen you do not control. Get the files right once, and the shoot keeps paying off for years.
FAQ
What file format should artwork be delivered in?
Ask for a full-resolution master as TIFF or high-quality JPEG, plus smaller sRGB JPEGs for web use. TIFF is lossless and best for archives and print; JPEG is smaller and fine for screens and submissions. Print and reproduction uses want full-resolution files at 300 DPI with a print-appropriate color profile.
What is the difference between a master file and a web file?
A master file is the highest-quality, minimally compressed source image you protect and rarely touch. A web file is a smaller, compressed copy sized for websites, email, and portals. Keep them separate so a small web image never becomes the only copy of the work.
Do I need print files if my work is only online now?
If there is any chance the work will be printed, catalogued, or reproduced later, ask for a full-resolution master now. You can always make a web file from a master, but you cannot rebuild a master from a small web export. Capturing print-quality later often means reshooting.
What color space should my files be in?
Use sRGB for anything shown on screens; it is the predictable default for web and submissions. For print, a wider space such as Adobe RGB or a print-specific profile preserves more color for the printer. Ask your photographer which files are which.