Images on CD

Sofia asked about my process for putting images of my artwork on a CD when I send out proposals.

Unless there are specific guidelines, this is what I put on my CD:
- a PowerPoint presentation (saved as both PowerPoint and slide show)
- a pdf version of the presentation
- a folder of jpgs of the images in the presentation
- resume (pdf and Word)
- artist's statement (pdf and Word)

I think that most people have PowerPoint on their computers. If they don't, then hopefully the slide show will play. If not, then hopefully they have Acrobat Reader and the pdf file will work. If not, then they will at least have some sort of image reader that will read the jpg files. If not, then I guess I've sent them a frisbee.

Here's how I create the PowerPoint presentation:
The first slide is a large background image (a painting detail) with my name reversed out in white.
The next few slides (12-20, depending on the situation) include images of my work and installation shots. The images are good quality and they fill up most of the page. I made the background black and reverse out the title and media information.
I then include a slide with my artist's statement.
Lastly, I include several slides with my resume and contact information.

I save the file as PowerPoint and then do a Save As and in the Save dialog box, where it says Save as Type, I choose PowerPoint Show. This creates a file that will run in PowerPoint viewer if you don't have PowerPoint.

I also save a pdf version by either selecting Convert to Adobe PDF (if you have this capability, you will see an Acrobat icon in the toolbar), or by printing to Adobe PDF (it will be an option under printer name in the print dialog box). I have the full version of Acrobat, so I open it up and crop the excess white border that it sometimes creates and I make sure that it opens the way I want it to.

I then also put each jpg image into a folder. I name the files so that they will appear in the same order as the images in the slide show -
01.dwood_title.jpg
02.dwood_title.jpg
etc.

I include my name in case the files or the CD somehow get lost, they'll at least know whose images they are. I also name them 01, 02, 03, etc, so that they will be in the correct order in the list.

I do the same to the title of my resume and artist's statement:
dwood_resume
dwood_statement

I also create a color print out "slide list" or "image script" that includes thumbnails and titles of all of the images on the CD - so someone can see the images at a glance without even putting the CD in the computer.

Also, I can't stress enough how important it is to read submission guidelines, if there are any. You don't want to spend all your time putting together a CD when they only want slides. And if they do accept images on CD, be sure to note if they have guidelines for image resolution, file sizes and formats (jpg, tiff, etc).

Thanks for the question, Sofia. Good luck!