START WITH THE BASICS.
We’re selling artwork, which an emotional purchase in a digital space, asking people to trust us and spend their money without seeing the artwork in person. The online art market is very strong but it’s important to build trust – which is why crafting a strong and compelling artwork listing is VERY important. Below is the right way to build trust and sell artwork digitally.
1 | UPLOAD YOUR BEST WORK
Although EC does not limit the number of listings, we want you to showcase your most current and most popular works.
High resolution, clear and understandable images are necessary. Buyers need to zoom in to see texture and all significant details. However you should keep your work secure by uploading files sizes that cannot be reproduced by others.
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- 1800 pixels on one side
- up to 4MB
- Any size above 4MB will be rejected.
- PNG or JPG/JPEG file types
- No watermarks or text overlay of any kind
It’s the responsibility of the artist to take high quality photos of their artwork. If we see blurry photos or watermarks we’ll place the listing into draft-mode until you add an approved image.
The best way to photograph artwork.
2D Artwork must fit edge-to-edge
No frame and no wall can be showing.
3D artwork on a white background.
The main image of all 3D artwork should be on a white or light background.
If you have professional photographs on a neutral or gradient background, we will accept those.
We want to keep our online art gallery clean and cohesive.
2 | NAME YOUR PHOTOS
Search engines do not see images. The name you attach to your image file is what Google, Bing and other search engines use to identify an image.
If your image is titled, “screenshot1298378”, neither Google nor Bing will match it to a buyer searching for the art you produce.
Title your artwork, “Blue Moon-Darren_Demakis-painting-33×40” (artwork title, artist, type, size)
Update your image titles by “editing” any of your “Products”. Doing so will automatically open your media library where you can change the titles and re-save the image.
3 | MORE IMAGES PLEASE
Add more than one image to your listing to give buyers as much visual information as possible.
Are the sides of the canvas painted? What does the frame look like? What does the back of the sculpture look like?
We give you more than one image, per product so use the space to show everything that the buyer might have a question about.
4 | INCLUDE IN-SITU
Buyers want to know what the piece looks like displayed.
Use stylized shots or in-situ (in situation) images.
Stylized images show your artwork outside, hung on a wall or sitting on the floor of a decorated room. WHY do you need stylized shots? Because collectors love them and if you want to sell your artwork, it’s important to show the buyer what your piece will look like installed.
5 | INCLUDE A STORY
To sell a physical piece on a digital plane, you need to connect to your buyer and EVERY buyer wants a story to tell.
For our collectors, and interior professionals who need to sell to THEIR clients, artworks are conversation starters. Buyers want to talk about a piece of art they’ve just purchased.
Add something distinctive to every listing description: A poem; Cultural history; Your “why” behind the piece.
For help, see our section on how to write a great description.
6 | BE TRUSTWORTHY
- How accurate is your product information?
- Did you place the width and height in the correct boxes when you listed your piece?
- Did you include every material used to create the piece?
Inaccurate information leads to lack of trust. And when a buyer does not trust the seller, they do not purchase. Imagine investing in a piece of original art worth thousands of dollars. You receive it, open the package and the information you read in the listing doesn’t reflect what you received… Yikes! Not cool…
Be sure to represent your materials, hanging apparatus, size, etc., accurately.
For a step-by-step, watch the art + object listing video below.