How to Put Together a Photography Portfolio on a Disk

You can create a digital photography portfolio by burning the images to CD.

A photography portfolio is a showcase of a photographer's best work. Well-designed portfolios show a photographer's range of ability and talents. There are a number of reasons for keeping an updated photography portfolio on a compact disk, or CD. News photographers need to demonstrate their abilities to prospective employers. Freelance, portrait or wedding photographers need to showcase their talents to potential clients. Art photographers may need to use a portfolio as an entrance exam for an art school, contest or competition, or while applying for grants or fellowships. Creating a photography portfolio on a CD is simple.

Things You'll Need

• Digital images
• Computer with a CD burner
• CDRW (rewritable CD)

Instructions

1. Determine the audience for your portfolio. A portfolio is like a resume--it portrays your capabilities and experience. You should only include photographs that exemplify the skills you want to portray. For example, you would not use "breaking news" photographs for an art photography portfolio.

2. Determine which photos you will put into your portfolio. Too many photographs can overwhelm a viewer and will lessen the impact of each photo. A portfolio should consist of between 12 and 24 of your most recent photographs.

3. Change the size of your images in a photo-editing software such as Photoshop or Gimp. Photoshop is an industry standard for photo editing. Gimp is open-source software that will edit your photos. Size your images for optimum viewing on a computer screen, such as a 5x7 inches, with 75 dots per inch resolution. Save these images to a separate folder on your desktop.

4. Place a CDRW into the CD slot of your computer.

5. Open the CDRW in a window on your desktop. Drag the previously-saved images from your desktop to the CDRW. Select the 'burn files' button on the screen. Your computer will save the files to the disk, creating a CD portfolio.

Tips & Warnings

• Check with the individual who will be receiving your portfolio to see what format he requires. Most people prefer to receive just images on a CD to view with their own software. If a slide show is needed, use a program such as ACDSEE or Compupic.

References

• Shutterbug:Putting Your Portfolio On CD ROM The Technology Is There, But Is This Any Way To Show Your Work
• NLFord:Preparing the Portfolio
• The Luminous Landscape: How to Create a Portfolio of your Work

Resources

• Art Schools:Preparing Your Portfolio for College Admissions