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LIGHTING YOR BRET WEBSTER IMAGE

Our museum acrylics have glare reducing qualities and are 99% UV resistant.  This is because the material is engineered to redirect light away from your prints… as a result, they have a backlit quality when placed under art lights.  For this reason, we always recommend great lighting to help bring your images to life, almost light daylight is coming out of them!

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LIGHTING SUMMARY

Our images can be illuminated well from above or below and we commonly see both approaches.  The materials and processes used in your image’s manufacture were designed to react to light.  One thing is for sure – with the variety of fixtures/bulbs, the long reach of new LED spotlights and similar products there is ALWAYS a relatively easy way to illuminate your art!

We like to use spots vs floods in the gallery but in general the lighting goal is a nice uniform amount of light distributed evenly across the image as much as possible.  A key consideration is to avoid reflections from the lights in the areas where your image will be viewed most because (like all framed images and glass fronts) the lighting will reflect from the surface of your new image. Typically, an angle from above or below at 30 degrees is used. You can also light your image diagonally up or down and/or sideways.

Every location is different – if your fixtures are close to the image you may want to use floods instead of spots!  It all depends roughly on the “beam angle” of the bulb.  Remember – you want to achieve a uniform, even lighting on your image and avoid bulb-reflection into your eyes.

If you don’t have a conveniently located fixture don’t worry!  There is ALWAYS a way to get light onto your image.  The LED spots below can shoot a wonderful beam up to 40+ feet.  People often illuminate from below (which works great) using simple, free-standing cans sitting on a coffee table or floor. Also, “art light” bars which can be mounted right above your image work quite well.

We like to use LED spots but we also like a color temperature around 2700-3000k which is basically the same as common halogen spots. We do not commonly find acceptable LED spotlights at Lowe’s or Home Depot but instead we order them online.

LIGHTS WE REALLY LIKE

We like to use LED spots but we also like a color temperature around 2700-3000k which is basically the same as common halogen spots. We do not commonly find acceptable LED spotlights at Lowe’s or Home Depot but instead we order them online.

When in doubt the 25 deg beam angle is the most versatile

Notice the Par 30 outer bulb diameter and make sure it is compatible with your fixtures!

You may have to experiment with the beam angle vs the distance of the bulb from your picture. For example, a 9-degree beam angle spot or even a 15-beam angle spot may be too close to your image causing it to generate a “hot spot” on the image vs something like a 25 degree beam angle. On the other hand, if the distance is adequately far (and if the bulb is adequately bright) then 9 or 15-degree beam angle may be ideal (typically 10-30 feet). In our gallery we generally like and use a 9-degree beam angle placed 15-30 feet away.

Sometimes glare/reflection (particularly from daylight windows) can interfere with perfect viewing of an image. Our images reflect slightly less than a typical glass fronted framed image.  There are a few options that can make slight (but not complete improvement).

      • One is to light the image more significantly.

      • Another is to have an interceding barrier such as a free-standing wall (not usually amenable in most environments…)

    Of course, using daytime shades and/or moving the image can make a huge difference but often is not very satisfying. One good thing…glare usually is only an issue during the daylight hours.

 

BATTERY POWERED LIGHTS & PLUG-IN LIGHTS

If hardwiring an art light isn’t an option…

On Amazon or Google, you can search “Battery Powered Art Light” and you’ll see many great solutions!

If you’d prefer plug-in lights, you can search for those as well. However, you’ll want to make sure the cord length is long enough. (You can always use extension cord). Installation for plug-in lights is relatively simple, but you’ll need to manage the cords in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Here are some links for some battery/plug-in light choices:

Of course, we haven’t tried any of these, so we cannot vouch for their performance. However, the more costly options will be more powerful and will last longer as far as battery power. It is worth mentioning that there are many other great options that are far less expensive and likely very adequate as well as other available sizes and types of bulbs etc.

CAN LIGHT ADAPTERS

Adapters can sometimes work with your existing lights, turing any can light into a directional light designated for your art.

Keep in mind that you can always illuminate your image from any direction… down is always very nice.

You can search for battery powered OR plug-in simple bar type art lights, can lights, spotlights, rotatable wall sconces etc.

For bar type art lights specifically, you’ll want to choose the right size. Obviously, the bigger the picture, the more light you’ll need to illuminate it. It also depends on whether the artwork is in a portrait or landscape format.

There are a couple of rules of thumb for getting the size right:

  • For portrait pictures, choose a picture light that’s about half the width of the picture.
  • For landscape pictures, choose a picture light that’s between a third and 3/4 of the picture width.

If you have can lights nearby, using a lighting adapter such as this can help illuminate the image:

We hope this information is useful and that you enjoy your image!

-Bret

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