When taking and uploading images to SAC, keep the following things in mind for the best results.
Order of images
Most of the image sets of artworks on SAC follow the following structure: an overview image, followed by optionally one or more detail images, followed by any in-progress images, if available. A guideline for the number of images would be around 3 to 5.
Upload straight from the source
Some ways of transferring photos from your phone or camera compress the image to lower the file size. This makes transferring the images faster, but also produces images of a lower quality. Especially avoid transferring or downloading images from Whatsapp or Facebook. If at all possible, upload them straight from the source. You can do so by plugging in your phone or camera into your PC, or use something like Dropbox or iCloud Drive.
At least 1500 pixels wide
The best images are those which are at least 1500 pixels wide. Not sure if your phone or camera creates large enough images? Any modern smartphone or DSLR camera will do this.
Landscape instead of portrait
Landscape-orientation images work better than portrait images. Portrait images might be cut at the top or bottom when display in the SAC app. If you use software to edit your images before uploading, we recommend something close to a 4:3 aspect ratio.
File formats
While SAC will allow you to upload multiple types of image files, we recommend always uploading images as JPEG (or .jpg) files. Those will look best on the app and website, and can be made small enough by our software to deliver them quickly to viewers.
Cropping images
For now, cropping is done automatically by the SAC platform. We’re working on adding a feature that will allow you to change the way your image is cropped when you upload it.
If you have any other questions about images, feel free to post them here.
Thanks for that info, Thomas. i have a query (which will show my ignorance). You mention the pixel width; can you also explain what file size is best. Are we better to upload 3MG size images or 1MG? does the site optimise for size? what is the smallest file size we should use? i suspect that I have decreased the resolution of some of mine too much… Cheers, Lou
Hi Lou! In general: the bigger the better. The website automatically resizes and modifies the quality of the images to optimise for speed, so you shouldn’t need to manually resize the images before uploading. Thanks for asking!
Hello, Per from the Oslo team - i am a bit confused. I was told on facebook a couple of days ago to upload at least two photos, the first cropped for the cover, then a second for the full representation.
Above is stated first an overview image, followed by optionally one or more detail images, followed by any in-progress images, if available.
Hello Thomas, I’m struggling on the aspect ratio of the published photos, especially of the cover photos. You are recommending a Ratio of 4:3 (1.33). What I See ist: in Android app: ~1.19, in my mobile web browser: ~0.89 and on my PC website: 1.84. This means, no matter what aspect ratio I’m using, all format filling cover photos are cropped in a way, that major parts of the artworks are missing. Is it possible to have a consistent aepect ratio across all channels? First choice would bei a standard like 4:3, 3:2, 5:4 or 1:1. Cheers Jørg
Hi Mamzel! No I think that’s okay, these are more guidelines than hard requirements - we automatically crop images with different aspect ratios to fit the way they’re displayed.
I noticed with the way that I uploaded the structure was that I would add in the zoomed detail first, and then continually zoomed out with all the different photos until it was the overview image.
And then I saw what it looks like on my Hunter Page (and the SAC Insta posting which only showed the uploaded image of the young lady in the middle) that it really only shows the detail. Which because it only shows the first image it’s actually feels like I’m undermining the artwork itself.
But I think I’ve now learned that it’s best practice to use an overview image and then dive into the details. Otherwise this:
…in both the hunter page, web and app versions, effectively losing the grand scale and fullness of the artwork by being detail-first, rather than everything, all at once. First impressions are everything, and just seeing a zoomed version of it diminishes it.
I’ve adjusted all the regional cities to reflect the first photo as the overview image; going to revisit the larger ones Sydney/Wollongong/Canberra to change this around, plus fill in all the gaps and missing descriptions/titles when I finish this round of new cities. It’ll probably take another month.
