Your Color on the Web

As artists, we are constantly using the Web to share/promote artwork. We email galleries, publish websites, enter contests, etc… everything is online.  However, very few artists understand the medium of an Internet browser. It has its own rules and “color space” that can deeply affect the quality and color of images. Making sure your work looks good online is critical for success. More people will see your images online than will ever see your work in person, so it’s wise to familiarize yourself with some of these rules.

For example, have you ever got an image perfect looking in Photoshop, only to see the color die once it is uploaded? Very frustrating. Or, perhaps all of your images are super large (for print) and are too big to email? I would like to provide a few resources that may be helpful, already published on the SlideRoomBlog.

Color Quality
If the color in an image dies after you upload it, this is because the color space of the image does not match the color space of the Browser.  Here are step-by-step instructions on how to fix this.

Image Size
Often, smaller images look better on the Web.  Learn how to resize images (without Photoshop) for Mac and for PC .

Image Resolution
What does this mean? Why is it important? What are the best guidelines for the Web?

Browser Bonus
About 1/3 of you probably use Firefox 3.  This is a great browser, but this version launched with color management turned off.  This means that even though your images may be perfect, everything on the Web will look dull to you.  Download this free addon to brighten your day!