Create Images and Photograph Artwork

Student editing images in the Portfolio Room
The VRC provides digital imaging stations, photography equipment, a Portfolio Photography Room, and training to members of the department who wish to digitize images or photograph artwork. We also digitize images in support of teaching, learning, and scholarship in the department.

The VRC maintains digital imaging stations for Art and Art History faculty and students, and provides training by appointment to department members in image scanning, processing, and archiving strategies for purposes such as classroom presentations, artist portfolios, and publishing. For optimal color management, lighting is daylight balanced (5000K), backdrop walls are painted an RGB-balanced gray, and the equipment is calibrated regularly.

Our stations include:
  • iMacs (Intel Core 2 Duo) with Adobe Creative Cloud suite (Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign, Adobe Reader, Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Professional, and Acrobat Professional Extended, After Effects, Animate, Audition, Flash Builder, Scout, Bridge, Dimension, Dreamweaver, InCopy, Media Encoder, Muse, Prelude, Spark, SpeedGrade, Story Plus, and other Adobe applications and services)
  • Flatbed scanners:
    • Epson Expressions 10000XL (quantity 2), tabloid size (12鈥 x 17鈥)
    • Epson GT-1500, letter size with document feeder
  • Memory card readers

Policies for using the digital imaging stations

  • First come, first served; available to Art and Art History students and faculty. Undergraduate AAH students may use the equipment during VRC hours only.  AAH faculty, graduate students, post-bacs, and BFA students may use the equipment after hours with Buff OneCard access by request.
  • This equipment is for digital imaging related to studies and research/creative work in the Department of Art and Art History.
  • If you need any formal training in image scanning or processing, you may schedule a personal training session in advance (aahvrc@colorado.edu)
  • Plan ahead in the event of occupied stations or unexpected VRC closure.
  • Users must observe copyright laws and understand the basic tenets of fair use. For information about copyright and fair use, please see the VRC copyright page.
  • Need to print? See the Department's Printing page for options in the Visual Arts Complex and nearby, including the Art and Art History Print Lab for high quality printing of fine art materials.

How to Document Art

  • See the VRC's  guide for photographing small to medium 2-D and 3-D artwork (PDF).
  • See our Equipment Room page for information about cameras, lenses, lighting kits, backdrops, etc. that we lend to current students and faculty in support of coursework.
  • We also maintain a  guide.

VRC Portfolio Photography Room

  • This facility is for photographing small to medium 2-D and 3-D works. Training is provided. Use is restricted to Art and Art History faculty and students. Arts Practices instructors who wish to incorporate a portfolio requirement into their syllabi should contact aahvrc@colorado.edu in advance to discuss logistics.
  • Reserve in advance by emailing aahvrc@colorado.edu (please include your phone number in the email). Reserve the room as far ahead of time as possible. Space is limited. The room is frequently booked solid at various points throughout and at the end of the semester.
  • Users must be trained during the first reservation. You will receive instructions on how much time to allot for your reservation depending on what and how much you are photographing.
  • A Buff OneCard is required for all users.
  • Contact aahvrc@colorado.edu with questions.
  • The room is equipped with:
    • A shooting table for smaller 3-D works (ideal for pieces under 24鈥 high x 24鈥 wide). One wall is used for hanging framed 2-D works, and another has a surface for hanging unframed 2-D works.
    • Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera with Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM AF Lens, tethered to an iMac with Adobe Lightroom software.
    • Manfrotto Tripod
    • LED Three-Light Studio Kit
  • Upon Art and Art History faculty request, the VRC scans images needed for teaching and learning within the department. In observance of copyright law, the VRC cannot scan images that are reasonably available from vendors. The VRC can license these commercial images to be included in the collection for educational purposes.
  • To avoid scanning images already available in digital form, the VRC encourages instructors to first check the VRC digital image collection and Artstor before requesting VRC scanning. The VRC guarantees scanning and processing of up to 40 images within a two week turnaround time, although we always try to accommodate rush orders of a reasonable size.
  • Please see the VRC鈥檚 order images page for complete policies and ordering instructions.

鈥婽his content is licensed under a . Visual Resources Center, Department of Art and Art History, University of Colorado Boulder. /artandarthistory/vrc