Artwork Guidance

See guidance below on how to scan and photograph your artwork.

Applicants to the NAIDOC 2025 Art Competition must submit a digital copy of their artwork online. This can either be a scan or high-quality digital photograph of your original artwork. Read the tips below on how to create a high-quality digital image of your artwork to upload and submit to our annual student art contest.

We will use your digital artwork to determine the finalists, so it is important that you create a good digital copy of your artwork to be judged  If you have access to a printer/scanner, full-colour scans often produce the best results, but almost all phones and digital cameras will be able to create a quality image for submission.

Image files should be 2 MB – 5 MB in size, and in one of the following file formats: JPG, JPEG, TIFF.

Please note that although we are accepting digital scans and photographs of artwork, this does not mean the artwork has to be created digitally. All artworks can be created by hand using acceptable media, such as paint, pencil, marker, crayon, ink, or oil pastel, but digital media is also accepted.
 

How to make a Digital Scan of your Artwork

  1. Place your artwork directly on the glass bed of the scanner. If your artwork is larger than the scanner, take a picture instead.
  2. Set the scanner to make a colour scan and output the file as a .jpg or .tiff. Click scan.
  3. Open the file on your computer to confirm that it looks good, is in colour, and is straight and not at an angle. File must be between 2-5 MB in size.
  4. If necessary, rotate the image so that it is upright.
  5. Save the file to your computer.
  6. IMPORTANT: Rename the file “last name, first name, school and year.” Example: Heemsoth-Amy –Sydney-Girls-School-year-6.jpg. Do not use spaces in the file name. 
  7. Your file is now ready to submit to the NAIDOC 2025 Art Competition!

How to Photograph your Artwork

  1. Place your artwork on the floor or against the wall in a naturally lit location. The artwork should not be resting at an angle against the wall or floor. Do not use flash photography.
  2. Use your phone or digital camera to take a picture of your artwork straight-on and as close to your artwork as possible. Centre the lens of your camera or phone with the centre of the artwork. Make sure there are no shadows or glare on your artwork when you take the image. Move the artwork to a different location if this occurs. If the image is blurry, retake the photo.
  3. Open the file on your computer to confirm that it looks good, is straight and not at an angle, and between 2-5 MB in size. Save the image as a .jpg or .tiff file.
  4. If necessary, rotate the image so that it is upright. We recommend cropping the image to show just your artwork. Do not make any substantial changes to the image, such as applying an Instagram filter. The goal is to have a photograph that resembles your original artwork as much as possible.
  5. Save the file to your computer.
  6. IMPORTANT: Rename the file “last name, first name, school and year.” Example: Heemsoth-Amy –Sydney-Girls-School-year-6.jpg. Do not use spaces in the file name. 
  7. Your file is now ready to submit to the NAIDOC 2025 Art Competition!