Art File Requirements

General File Submission Requirements

Preview Your Work

Early File Requests

Final File Requests

Large scale file submission tips per medium

Digital art

Paintings, drawings, and mixed media

Photography

For all Art Challenge submissions, we ask artists to send their highest resolution file that they believe will scale well to our largest sizes before winners are announced. 

We do this so that we can determine if a piece is able to meet our resolution standard for our large-scale products. We require all winning fine art pieces to scale to our largest sizes: 48x70 (for portrait and landscape pieces) or 44x44 (for square pieces).

This early review step allows our art production team to:

• assess what work might be needed to improve the file,
• communicate that back to the artist, who is then responsible for making those updates,
• and provide scanning advice if needed. 

In some cases, we may be able to use internal scaling software to help a piece scale to our largest sizes.

When creating your large-scale artwork submission, we ask that you meet a few technical  requirements. These requirements are meant to ensure our products can be produced at the level of quality Minted is known for, and ensure you are benefiting from your artwork being offered in the full breadth of Minted artwork sizes.

There are 3 potential file uploads that we will request from you throughout the Art Challenge process:

• Submit to a Challenge: To submit art to the Challenge to be considered for a win, we ask for an initial submission file.
  
• Early file Review: If your artwork is chosen to be considered as a winning piece, we will ask for another file during the early file request process.
  
• Final Files: If your artwork scales to our highest sizes, we will then ask for your final file during our final file request process.

General File Submission Requirements

• Digital reproductions of original artwork should be created as a high-resolution photograph or scan (2400 DPI saved as a TIFF preferred) in order to scale to 48” x 70” or 44” x 44”.
  • Native resolution of an image file is important. This is the dimension, in pixels, of the image as it was originally taken or scanned. A good native resolution image would be at least 3700x5550 pixels at 300 PPI. To see the native resolution of your file:
    • On a Mac - right-click the original image file and select ‘Get Info’. Under the ‘More Info’ section, it will say ‘Dimensions’ or ‘Resolution’, depending if the file is a PDF or JPG.
    • On a PC - right-click the original image file and select ‘Properties’. Within the ‘Details’ tab, you will find the ‘Dimensions’ of your image.

Before submitting, preview your work!

• We strongly recommend that you use Photoshop or Illustrator (Illustrator is preferred) to preview how your artwork will look when scaled up to 48” x 70” or 44” x 44”. If it looks good on-screen, we will likely be able to launch in all sizes.
  • Resize to a new large size (If using Photoshop, ensure your file is also at 300ppi at the our largest size to get an accurate view).
  • Click Command+1 to view at 100% scale.
  • Turning on the ruler tool (Command+R) will help you get a sense of scale.
  • Reminder: This is just to preview printing quality on your own, not file prep!

Early File Requests

If your artwork is chosen to be considered as a winning piece, we will ask for your highest-quality file to review resolution quality during the early file request process. This file must exactly match your original Challenge submission.

If your piece does not scale successfully during this review, we will notify you before winners are announced to let you know we will unfortunately not be able to accept it as a winner.

How to prepare your file for Early File Requests:

• If submitting a JPG file: your final artwork must be sRGB IEC61966. 
• If submitting an Adobe Illustrator file: your final artwork must be CMYK.
  • For Custom Art (artwork that the customer can edit; for example, artwork that includes an editable text box or photo), CMYK Web Uncoated is preferred.
  • For Non-Custom Art, CMYK U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 is preferred.
  • Please do not use any profile outside of these two for Adobe Illustrator files.
• Ideally, we would like your file submitted in the following formats:
  • For scanned artwork: please send us a TIFF file with no compression
  • For photographed artwork: please send us a 16-bit layered .psd or .tif file
  • For graphic artwork: please submit a 48x70 or 44x44 illustrator file
  • If the formats above are not possible, or your workflow does not accommodate, please send us flattened 16-bit TIFF files with no compression.
  • After we have received your highest quality unscaled file, our team will complete a resolution check to test if your piece scales successfully to our largest sizes (48”x70” for portrait/landscape sizes; 44”x44” for square sizes).

Final File Requests

How to prepare your file for Final File Requests:

• Please follow all instructions above as noted for early file requests, but also please make any final edits to your approved file to remove stray marks, hairs, signatures, scan marks, etc. prior to submitting your final file.
  • Zoom in to AT LEAST 100% view - edits should be done at the scale of our largest sizes (44x44 or 48x70) to look the most natural. The goal is to not be able to tell where the artwork is digitally altered/cleaned up.
    • When editing in Photoshop, adjust your brush hardness and brush size accordingly for seamless editing and cleanup. 
      • For tools such as the clone stamp and spot healing brush, smaller brush sizes and decreased hardness will help blend any editing needed.
      • Avoid overuse of large-scale edits (i.e., clone stamp tool) as it can affect resolution quality when scaled to larger sizes.
        • For example: using too large of a brush with decreased hardness can unintentionally blur some of the artwork around the stamp marks which makes your edits noticeable (especially when done on a smaller artboard and then scaled up).
    • Avoid using filters such as noise or blur when not scaled to large sizes
      • For example: noise filters applied to an 18x24 artboard will make the grain look pixelated and oversized when scaled to 48x70. 
• If our team has any special requests for your piece(s), we will include them in your file request email.
• Reminder: the files that we launch on site must match the resolution quality of the approved file during early file request and your original file submissions, in terms of coloring and lighting, pending any special requests from our merchandising team.

Large scale file submission tips per medium

Digital Art

Photoshop + Illustrator

• Create your document at the size of your final submission at 300 ppi (48” x 70”, 70” x 48”, or 44” x 44”).
  • This is especially important if you are working with outside elements such as textures, imported images, or Photoshop layers in your Illustrator file.
  • Even if your art is digital, these elements can prevent your artwork from scaling to our largest sizes due to inconsistent resolution quality.
• For digital art created with textures:
  • We strongly suggest that you test print a section with that texture of your work scaled to 48” x 70”, 70” x 48”, or 44” x 44” to make sure your art is high quality and the scale of the textured elements makes sense for the intention of your artwork.
  • If you do not have access to a printer, we recommend following the steps in the Preview Your Work section above to preview your art in Photoshop or Illustrator.
• For completely vector art: 
  • Vector art can be infinitely scaled. When submitting files for file review and final file requests, we recommend keeping the artwork as a non-rasterized Illustrator file.

What to avoid:

• Please do not rasterize elements in your digital artwork unless it is absolutely necessary. If rasterizing is needed, all rasterizing should be done while your artwork is scaled to 48” x 70”, 70” x 48”, or 44” x 44”.
• Using low resolution images within your artwork, even for a small section or as an overlay, will cause inconsistent resolution quality and will not meet our standards.
• If creating textures and layers in Photoshop to use in your final Illustrator file submission, create them at the scale that is appropriate for our largest sizes. (this will depend on how large you need your layer within your 48” x 70”, 70” x 48”, or 44” x 44” artboard). Even if your Photoshop elements are created digitally, they can become pixelated or unintentionally blurry at the edges when scaled in your Illustrator file.

Procreate

• Currently, the artboard size is limited in the Procreate program. We have found difficulty scaling Procreate files to our largest sizes. This is dependent on the type of brushes, textures and elements used within the Procreate program.
• However, we have found that using elements designed on individual artboards (at the largest size) within Procreate and then combining/resizing those elements to other digital programs (Illustrator or Photoshop, for example) has a greater chance of scaling to all Minted sizes.

Paintings, Drawings, Mixed Media

If you are submitting paintings, drawings, or mixed media, your artwork will need to be digitized before submission. See our tips below for successfully digitizing your work:

• Tip: Clean your painting before scanning to make file cleanup easier! 
  • Scanned files show artifacts like dust, paintbrush hairs, and strings easily when scaled to our largest sizes. 
  • A brush hair on a 18x24 canvas will almost triple in size at our 48”x 70” size! 
  • We suggest a microfiber cloth or gentle vacuuming with a soft bristle brush.
• Use a scanner that scans between 900 and 2000 dpi (most print shops have scanners that can scan up to 1200 or 2400 dpi, and some have even larger). 
• Many home scanners can scan up to 2400 dpi, while some professional-grade home scanners will scan as high as 6400 dpi. 
• You can also take your work to be professionally photographed or scanned. 
  • While this is not required, this can often give your work the best chance at scaling to our largest sizes.
  • We recommend letting them know that your files will be printed at 48x70 or 44x44. This gives them context to make the best decisions when scaling your artwork for you.   
  • Please do not photograph your artwork using a mobile phone. Currently, the resolution of a mobile phone does not meet our requirements. 

If the artwork resolution still doesn't meet Minted standards after digitizing and reviewing it on-screen at 100% view in our largest sizes, try the “grid” method: 

• Scan or photograph your work in individual grid segments.
• Stitch them together in Photoshop’s Photo Merge or a similar program.
• This may allow you to achieve a larger file while maintaining a high resolution. 

In order to ensure that your painting can scale appropriately, we strongly recommend that you create your original painting on an 18 x 24 inch canvas (18 x 18 inch for square projects).  While designs created on smaller canvases will not be automatically eliminated from voting, if a design cannot scale to our largest size, then Minted will not be able to offer it for sale on our website.

Photography

When submitting photography, it’s important to think about how the image was photographed and the editing process to ensure that your photograph can scale. 

What to look out for when creating your photography submission:

• If you want to add texture or stylistic elements (grain, blur, overlays, etc) to your photograph in the editing process, keep in mind what those edits will look like scaled to our largest sizes. Your edits should look intentional and have good resolution quality for all sizes.
  • For example: Grain added to an 18”x24” photograph looks much different when scaled to 48”x70”. It will turn pixelated and each grain will become much bigger for our larger sizes.
• Severe cropping will shrink file size making it increasingly harder to scale.
• Check the different aspect ratios for each of our sizes before making final cropping decisions (our sizes and ratios are listed under the “Submitting AI Files” section).

Tips on taking photographs that can scale to 48x70:

• Your cameras should ideally be 24MP or higher to ensure scalable quality
• Make sure your camera is defaulted to the highest megapixel setting
• Capture images in-camera as RAW/DNG files for maximum pixel information whenever possible
• Shoot on a tripod or with stabilizer lenses whenever possible
• Turn on the viewfinder grid if available on your camera for horizons and straightness. This will help to avoid having to straighten and crop in post-production
• Try in-camera cropping rather than cropping in post-production
• Use the lowest ISO possible on your camera
• Check the depth of field for sharpness of all intended subject matter
• Choose an appropriate white balance for the intended lighting and scene

Reminder: photos taken on mobile phones are not eligible. We are not able to scale them to our largest sizes at this time. Please do not submit mobile phone photography.