Photographing your collectibles well

A collection photo is not a holiday snap. It has three jobs, and a good photo does all of them.

Identify the item. Someone who does not know it should be able to tell what it is at first glance: the sleeve of a record, the obverse of a coin, the profile of a figure. It is the photo shown on the item's card, and often the only one people look at.

Prove its condition. A scratch, a crushed corner, a faded label: these details make the difference between a new item and a worn one, and between a fair estimate and a disputed one. The Condition field of the entry says one word; the photo proves it. For an insurance claim as for a resale, the photo is what counts.

Recognise it later. A signature, a hallmark, an edition number, a mark under the base: what sets your copy apart from an identical one. The day you have to prove an item is yours, these details are worth more than the most beautiful overall shot.

In MyCataLog, the photo is not a finishing touch. An item created by hand must have one, and a collection can only go public if each of its items has at least one. So it is better to photograph at the time of entry, with a method you repeat, than to come back later to 300 items.

The good news is that no equipment is needed. A recent phone, a window and a sheet of paper are enough to do better than most collection photos online. What matters is consistency: the same light, the same background and the same shots for every item. A collection photographed consistently can be browsed at a glance; a collection where every photo is taken differently reads like a pile.

Light does half the work. The best, and cheapest, is daylight, near a window, without direct sun. It is soft, it reveals texture without washing out colours, and it does not cast hard shadows. An overcast day is often ideal.

Avoid the flash. It flattens volumes, distorts colours and leaves a white spot on anything shiny. If light is short, move closer to the window rather than turning the flash on, and switch off ceiling lights, whose yellow tint mixes badly with daylight.

To lift the shadows on the side away from the window, a plain white sheet or a piece of card stood upright bounces light back onto the item. It is the photographer's reflector, for the price of a sheet of paper.

The background should disappear. A white, grey or black matte sheet, laid so that it curves up behind the item without a crease, is enough. Avoid patterned tablecloths, heavily grained wood and the clutter of a desk: the eye should go to the item, not around it. Choose a background that contrasts with the item, light for a dark item, dark for a light one, and keep the same one for the whole collection.

Shiny items need particular care: a record, a coin, a plastic case, a display box. The reflection is not a flaw in the item, it is the image of the room you are in. Tilt the item or the phone slightly until the reflection leaves the frame, and move away from bright light sources. For a coin, raking light from one side brings out the relief far better than light from the front.

Finally, three simple gestures change everything. Wipe the phone's lens, often covered in fingerprints. Hold the phone parallel to the item, so that it does not look distorted. And rest on the table or use the timer, to avoid camera shake. Frame tightly: the item should fill the photo without being cut off.

You can attach up to 6 photos per item. The first one is the main photo: it is the one shown on the item's card and in previews shared in the community. You change the order in the item's form by dragging the photos, or with the keyboard: Space or Enter to pick up a photo, the arrow keys to move it, then Space or Enter again to drop it. So put first the shot that identifies the item fastest.

A method that works for most items, in 4 to 6 shots: 1. the main shot, from the front, the whole item; 2. the back or reverse; 3. the markings: label, signature, hallmark, edition number, maker's mark; 4. the flaws, in close-up, even small ones; 5. if the item has one, the packaging or certificate; 6. a shot that gives scale or context, if size matters.

Depending on the type of item, some shots are a must. For a record, the sleeve front and back, then the centre label on each side, which identifies the pressing. For a coin or a medal, the obverse, the reverse, and the edge if it carries an inscription. For a figure, the front, the back and the underside of the base, where the maker and the year often are. For a card, the front, the back and a close-up of the corners, which say most about its condition.

Keep the same order of shots for every item in a collection. When you swipe through photos from one item to the next, you then compare like with like: all the backs sit in the same position.

One last tip, if your collection is or will be public: do not photograph invoices, shipping labels or certificates that show your name or address. They prove ownership, but they also tell who you are and where you live. Keep them to yourself, or cover that information before photographing them.

Accepted photos are in png, jpg, jpeg and webp formats, up to 10 MB per file. Photos from a recent phone fit comfortably within that limit. Your files are kept exactly as you uploaded them: not recompressed, resized or cropped. The photo you get back is the one you entrusted.

Each photo is analysed automatically before being saved, to rule out content prohibited by the terms of use: nudity, violence, drugs and tobacco, hate symbols. The analysis keeps no copy of your image. A rejected photo is not saved, and you can send another one.

These rules also apply to collectibles. Photos of pipes, cigar bands, old cigarette packs or any other tobacco-related item are rejected, even when the item is purely a collectible: this is a rule of the terms of use, not a mistake by the check. For any other rejection you think is unjustified, write to us through the contact form: the request will be reviewed by a person. The "check unavailable" message, on the other hand, says nothing about your photo: it signals a temporary incident, and you just need to try again a little later.

Photos take up most of your storage space. Each plan includes an amount, which can be extended with a storage option. If you go over it, nothing is deleted: the most recent photos beyond the limit are replaced on screen by a padlock , until you free up space. Before sending 6 photos per item across a large collection, it is worth keeping an eye on your space, shown in your profile.

Finally, a photo added later is saved like the others, from the item's entry. That is the case for items imported from a spreadsheet, which arrive without a photo and carry the "Imported item" label Imported item: the guide Import your collection from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet explains how to complete them without getting lost.

Your phone can record, in every photo, the exact position of where it was taken. These coordinates are invisible in the image, but they are in the file, and any free tool can read them. For a landscape photo, it is a memory. For a photo of a collection taken at home, it is your address.

MyCataLog keeps your files exactly as you send them, with everything they contain. If a photo carries your position, it keeps it, including when the collection is public. The safest option is therefore that the position is never recorded in the first place.

On iPhone, open Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, then Camera, and choose "Never". Photos taken afterwards will no longer contain your position.

On Android, the setting is in the Camera app itself, in its settings. Its name varies by brand: "Save location", "Location tags", "Store location data". Turn it off before your photo session.

This setting only applies to future photos. For a photo already taken on iPhone, open it in the Photos app, tap the info button, then "Adjust" next to the location, and choose "No Location". On Android, some brands' galleries let you remove the location from the photo's details; otherwise, the simplest option is to retake the photo once the setting is off.

This advice goes beyond MyCataLog: it also protects the photos you send by message or post elsewhere. For a valuable collection, it is probably the most important setting in this guide, and it takes 10 seconds.