Student editing images in the Portfolio RoomThe VRC provides digital imaging stations, photography equipment,听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听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,听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. 听Undergraduate students may use the equipment during VRC hours only. 听Art and Art History faculty, graduate students, post-bacs, and BFA students听may use the equipment after hours with Buff OneCard access.
  • This equipment is to be used only for digital imaging related to studies 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 听guide for photographing small to medium 2-D and 3-D artwork (PDF).
  • See our Equipment Room听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听听驳耻颈诲别.

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听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.
    • 惭补苍蹿谤辞迟迟辞听罢谤颈辫辞诲
    • LED Three-Light Studio听Kit

  • Upon Art and Art History faculty request, the VRC scans images needed for teaching and learning within the department.听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听. Visual Resources Center, Department of Art and Art History, 精品SM在线影片.听/artandarthistory/vrc