Answers for Artists

It's a simple 3-stage process.

1. Register as a member of Gallery 247. This will give you a user name and password so that you can log in as an artist.
2. Create your own personal art gallery, by entering the details of the artwork then uploading photographs of your work.  You can add more artwork to your gallery than you plan to enter.
3. Select the art show you want to enter, check the works you want to enter and click on the [SUBMIT] button.

Click here for a more detailed explanation of entering your work to an art show.

Yes. The system allows you to enter an unfinished work into an art show. You can upload the picture at any time, preferably before the closing date.

If you are already known to the art show organisers, they may decide to accept your entry for hanging sight unseen, based on your existing reputation with them. If you're new to the show, the acceptance panel will probably look within Gallery 247 for other works of yours, and take into account whether you have works that have sold. Once again, they may well decide to accept your work, sight unseen, based on what they think of other work you've done.

If you're new to both Gallery 247 and to the art show you want to enter, then the acceptance panel has nothing to go on other than the images in your personal gallery. In that case you might not get accepted without any images.

If you have no images, then your entry will appear in the printed catalogue, but it won't appear in either the show preview gallery, Gallery 247's gallery or the show's history of previous shows.

You can upload images in JPG or PNG format.  Some cameras allow you to take photographs in RAW format; do not upload these because browsers cannot display them.

Unlike other websites, Gallery 247 does not require a specific image size. There is a maximum allowable size of 2MB, with no minimum. In the interests of quality, though, anything in the size range of 200k to 2MB should give great results.

We recommend an image size of up to 2500 pixels in any dimension as providing the quality normally needed. Anything less than 640 pixels in any dimension is likely to result in your work not displaying as well as it could.

Generally speaking the larger file sizes will allow a potential purchaser to zoom in to see detail of your work.

The actual pixel dimensions depend on the camera you’re using and on the settings you use. For example a photograph taken with an 8MP camera and using high quality image settings, will give you an image size of around 3264*2448 pixels, and a JPG file size of 2MB at highest quality.

Note that at this resolution, a person who visits your gallery could produce their own high resolution 10” x 8” print of your work, and you might not want that to happen.

If your work has a lot of fine detail, you can upload a main image plus multiple detail images, so that a prospective purchaser can explore your work more closely.

Three-dimensional art work, such as sculpture and jewellery, should have multiple images to show it off at its best.

This phenomenon is caused by the photograph's metadata - stored information about the image, when it was taken and other camera information - that has nothing to do with the image itself.

The simplest way to correct this is to remove the metadata completely.  You can do this by going to the free online service www.tinypng.com.  All you need to do is upload your original image, allow TinyPNG to process it, then save the processed image back to your computer.  That service also has the great benefit of automatically reducing your file size too, sometimes by as much as 80%.

It's important that you delete the original image from your virtual portfolio, then replace it with the newly processed one.  Do NOT delete the entire entry.

No - Gallery 247 automatically generates thumbnails for you.

This is usually caused by hidden metadata in the file, that's added by your camera when you take the photo.  Metadata can include multiple versions of the same image, data about your camera, location information and hidden software instructions.

You can easily strip out that unwanted metadata by using the free online service www.tinypng.com.  All you need to do is upload your original image, allow TinyPNG to process it, then save the processed image back to your computer.  That simple action can reduce your file size by 75% or more.

With the proviso that Gallery 247 are permitted to use your images in any way for promotional purposes, copyright of all images is vested in you as the artist.  We retain copyright of the website itself as well as the Gallery 247 system.

Refer to our Standard Terms and Conditions.

If your work is already framed, then yes, include the frame in the photograph you provide.  With Gallery 247 there is no need to go to the expense of framing your work first.  Our virtual framing wizard allows you to automatically include a frame and insert when you upload your photograph.

Yes. To become an artist manager, first log in as a normal registered artist.  Then click on [My Gallery] and select "Become a Manager".  Complete the form, and as soon as your application has been approved, we will activate your manager's account.

Then it's a simple process to click on [My Artists], where you can add and manage as many artists as you wish.

You can register as an artist and become a Gallery 247 member for free, simply by registering here.  We also have four subscription-based memberships that offer great value to artists.  Check which one is best for your needs.

Yes, if you wish.  However, you're more likely to be better off relying on one of the Gallery 247 membership levels that will meet your website needs.  By operating within Gallery 247 you:

• Avoid the cost and hassle of trying to maintain your own website
• Escape reliance on either external IT people or needing technical skills to maintain your website
• Benefit from extremely high Google visibility
• Enjoy additional leverage from art shows that you enter
• Sell your work on line at no additional cost
• Leverage off being part of a purpose-built online service for artists

If you already have a domain name, it can be used to access whatever Gallery 247 subscription you adopt.  If you require a domain name, we recommend purchasing it through www.streamscape.com.au, or we can arrange it for you when you take out your membership subscription.

Most digital cameras from 2MP and up will deliver satisfactory results.  Remember, though, that it’s the lens rather than the number of pixels that will determine the quality of the final result.  Furthermore, cheap and mobile phone cameras are unlikely to give the colour accuracy that best represents your work.

Cheap cameras and mobile phones can easily to result in poor quality images that could prevent your work from being accepted into an art show or being sold on line. Negative effects can include uneven lighting, distortion and colour inaccuracy.

Minor barrel distortion is tolerable on an unframed work, because the image can be cropped to make the edges straight.

Noticeable barrel distortion, even where a frame is included, can be corrected using our free image correction software that you can download.  It’s suitable for both Windows and Apple operating systems.

Tip: Remember that you’re trying to sell your painting, not the photograph you took of it.  In other words, although you want the best quality you can in your photograph, there’s no need to be obsessive about it.

If you have suitable equipment you can scan slides or negatives and upload the resultant image to obtain national registration of your work, and to have it included in your personal gallery.  Many digital processing shops offer scanning services as well.

We strongly recommend that prints are not scanned, because they cannot deliver the richness and accuracy of colour that scanning directly from a negative provides.

Assuming that you've registered as a artist, and logged in to your personal gallery, it's a simple 4-step process.

1. Click on Add New or Edit My Artwork (under My Artwork Tools)
2. Click on the large [Add New Artwork] button
3. Create the art work listing by entering its title, medium and so on, then click on the [Insert Artwork] button
4. Once the listing has been created then you can click on the Edit icon and add the photo.

Note that nothing will be displayed until you have uploaded the image.

You are required to log on as a Gallery 247 member, and mark that particular piece as having been sold.  That work is automatically marked as [SOLD] in your personal gallery, but it remains on display in case a prospective purchaser wants to commission you to do a similar work.

Your customer can also register themselves on line as the purchaser of the particular work, and subject to validation the work in question is also automatically flagged as [SOLD].

Commissions are only payable to Gallery 247 for any work you sell in direct response to a Gallery 247 enquiry.  They are not payable on work that you sell privately or through a gallery.

Plus and Pro members can sell works on line.  You can decide which individual works you want to place on sale.  When you elect to sell on line, you are bound to abide with Gallery 247’s 7-day money back guarantee, which is designed to protect both you and the purchaser.

Once an art show has accepted your entry, online sale of that accepted item is automatically disabled until the art show concerned has finished.

There is no limit to the number of images you can store.  You may also have multiple images per work, such as to show detail or signature on a painting, or to show different views of a sculpture.  Different membership levels allow you to display different numbers of works from your overall personal gallery.

Additional storage and backup fees apply when you exceed 500MB of data, which is sufficient to store approximately 2000 - 10000 high quality images depending on the file sizes.

You can use any you like, providing it can save files in high quality JPG format.  The critical functions you need are:

• Colour correction
• Exposure or contrast adjustment
• Cropping
• Image re-sizing
• Perspective adjustment
• Barrel and pincushion distortion correction

These last two functions are unnecessary only if you can guarantee perfectly square and straight photograph - which rarely applies in the real world.  It is highly unlikely that the imaging software that came with your scanner or digital camera will provide these last two requirements.

Adobe Photoshop provides all the necessary functions, but can be too expensive for many artists.  GIMP is powerful open source image management software that also provides the necessary functionality, and it’s free. We recommend GIMP, which runs on both Apple and Microsoft systems.  You can download it by selecting your operating system.

Another option is to use the free online service https://pixlr.com/editor/, which provides all the adjustment features that artists are likely to want.

You can enter your work in multiple participating art shows, even if they overlap in the art show calendar.  The first art show to accept your work for hanging or display becomes the winner, and the work in question is automatically withdrawn from entry into the other shows.

Yes.  Up until your work has been accepted for display you can change the work you’ve entered, or change a work’s details such as its price, title and, using Gallery 247’s virtual framing wizard, you can change frames and inserts.

After acceptance, you can only change the work’s title, price, virtual frame and artist’s notes, but not the work itself.  Once the show catalogue has been produced, no further changes are possible.

Yes.  Log in using your normal email address and password.  Select My Gallery from the drop-down menu, or click on the My Artwork link.  Decide which work you want to publish or hide and click on the Edit icon.  Under the Properties tab simply click on the Publish checkbox to select the status you prefer.

You can upgrade your membership at any time.  To downgrade, you must have held your current membership grade for a period of at least 12 months.

This has to be done by the relevant art show organisers, because each show has its own policy regarding swapping entries.

Important: DO NOT DELETE AND RE-ENTER A NEW PAINTING. DO NOT OVERWRITE THE DETAILS OF THE PAINTING YOU'VE ENTERED WITH THE DETAILS OF THE NEW ONE. In both cases you are likely to have corrupted information about your entries, leading to incorrect price tickets, catalogue entries and preview gallery information.

You also run the risk of being invoiced incorrectly if the correct procedure is not followed.

The correct procedure is the same for all shows:

1. Ensure that the new painting you want to enter has been loaded into your virtual studio
2. Send an email to the art show organisers, detailing what painting you want removed, and the new one you want it swapped with

In the majority of cases the organisers will make the swap free of charge, and the catalogue and the preview information will be correctly updated.

We put a lot of effort into protecting the quality and integrity of what information appears in and is accessible through Gallery 247.  We also put a lot of effort into the quality of how your information is indexed by the major search engines, particularly Google.

Our system automatically disables all links (including emails and websites) contained within your personal bio and artist notes because they're not intended to be advertising media for external contacts or third party websites. This is partly to protect your privacy, partly to prevent spam and partly to ensure that your personal gallery can't be used as a link farm or advertising portal.

It's also to protect art lovers who visit Gallery 247 to find out about you and your work.  They don't want to be directed to potentially malicious or harmful external websites.