Photos that identify: what to shoot and in what order

A photo on a ctlgs entry has one job: to let someone holding a copy decide whether it is the same thing. A beautiful shot of a cover does that badly if the cover is all it shows, because printings, pressings and editions usually differ in the small print on the back, the copyright page or the disc. This guide covers what to photograph, in what order, and how to make the small print readable. The order for books comes from the image guide the Bookogs community worked out; the rest applies the same idea to the other catalogs.

Images attach to the entry, not to your copy of it, as contributing to ctlgs explains. So photograph what makes this entry this entry, not what makes your copy special.

Use your own copy

Photograph or scan the item you have. An image from a shop listing or another website may show a different printing, a different cover or a mock-up made before the thing was printed, and nobody can tell from the picture. If you do use an image from elsewhere, it must match your copy in every detail and carry no watermark, and the edit summary should say where it came from.

The tools

A phone camera is enough. What makes the difference is light and angle.

• Daylight or a plain lamp, no flash. Flash bounces off glossy covers, laminated sleeves and shrink-wrap and wipes out the very text you need.
• Straight on. Hold the camera square to the item so the edges are straight, and fill the frame. Crop off the table.
• A scanner for flat things. Copyright pages, sleeves, inserts and small posters scan cleaner than they photograph. Don't press a book flat on the glass hard enough to crack its spine; open it only as far as it goes easily.
• A magnifier and a good light for reading. Small print is where the details are: printers' names, catalogue numbers, the text etched round the centre of a disc. Read it under a strong light before you type it in, and photograph it close up if the camera can resolve it.

ctlgs takes JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP files.

Order matters

The first image is the one people see: at the top of the entry, and as the thumbnail in collections and on shelves. Make it the front of the item as a buyer would see it. After that, put the images in the order someone checking a copy would look at them: outside first, then the identifying details.

On the edit page, the Images tab lets you drag images into order and turn one off without deleting it. If two images show the same thing, keep the sharper one switched on.

Books

1. The front cover. If the book has a dust jacket, the front of the jacket.
2. The spine, upright, as it stands on a shelf.
3. The back cover.
4. If you photographed the jacket, take it off and repeat the front, spine and back of the boards, as long as they show something: printed boards, lettering on the cloth, a blind-stamped mark.
5. The title page. A title page spread across two facing pages can be one image.
6. The copyright page, usually the back of the title page. This is the most useful image of all, because it holds the publisher, the dates and the number line.
7. The contents, and anything else that tells this printing apart: a list of other titles at the back, a printer's colophon on the last page.

Skip the inside flaps of the jacket unless they tell printings apart, for example by a price or a list of reviews that changed. Don't upload pages of the text itself. The entry documents the book; it does not reproduce it.

Two exceptions. If the front cover is missing or badly damaged, make the title page the first image. And if a book is laid out differently, as many children's books are with the copyright notice before the title page, follow the book's own order.

Home video and video games

Front, spine and back of the case or sleeve, then the printed face of each disc or the cartridge label. Then the details: the small print on the back with its codes and logos, any age-rating symbol, and the ring of text round the centre of a disc if you can get it readable. An insert or booklet goes in if it carries a code or differs between releases. DVD codes explained says which of those numbers matter.

Posters

The whole poster first, flat and square, edges in frame, under even light. A low light from one side shows every crease, so light it from the front. Then close-ups of what tells editions apart: the printer's credit, an edition number, a signature, a blind stamp, the margins. Photograph the back only if something is printed, stamped or written there.

Comics

The front cover, then the back, then the indicia: the small block of publishing details, usually on the inside front cover or the first page. On a comic the indicia does the job of a copyright page.

Hi-fi and music gear

The front panel, the back panel with its connectors, and a close-up of the plate or label that gives the maker and model. Those are what separate one version of a model from the next. The photo becomes part of the shared entry, so cover your unit's serial number if you would rather not publish it.

What not to upload

• Stock images, publisher mock-ups and pictures from sale listings that you cannot match to your copy.
• Photos of condition. A torn jacket or a scratched disc belongs in the notes on your own copy, not on the entry. A worn copy is still worth photographing if nobody has a better one; just shoot what the entry needs.
• Pictures with people, pets or your room in them. Crop them out.