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I have been trying to make pictures of my art for a year and a half. I have tried 3 different cameras{cheap ones under $200.} but everyone in camera is nor square or rectangle when I need them to be. I have read answers to my problem, But I am not a photographer and have no photographer to ask.

My cameras have fixed lens and I can't adjust them or other internal adjustments. The adjustments are there I just don't know how. I adjust but get same result.

My latest camera is a Panasonic powershot 610S supershot 20.2 megapixels. I have about 23 paintings on line for sale, but have to move in so close I lose some of the painting. I don't want to do that. Do you have an answer I can apply?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I am not sure this question is about a square aspect ratio so much as about barrel distortion. Ray, if you can, please post one of your attempts to photograph your artwork. A picture is worth a thousand words. \$\endgroup\$
    – osullic
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 21:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ There are many, many howto articles on the web when you search "taking photographs of art". Even modest equipment will work. Which is good, because ideally you want to invest a little into a tripod and lighting. As suggested everywhere else, only then do you worry about the aspect ratio by cropping. \$\endgroup\$
    – user31502
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 21:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ Take a look at the last point in the accepted answer here as it addresses lens distortion. photo.stackexchange.com/questions/15612/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Robin
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 22:17

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I suspect you have the Canon PowerShot SX610 HS because it is a 20.2 megapixel camera and there is no Panasonic camera with a similar name.

Most digital cameras have an option in the menu to change the aspect ratio.

enter image description here

Changing the aspect ratio to match each painting might be more trouble than it's worth. It is very easy to use a simple photo editor to crop the photo to the exact size of each painting.

On page 40 of the Canon PowerShot SX610 HS user manual it tells you how to change the aspect ratio from the default 4:3 rectangle to a 1:1 square.

enter image description here

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Just crop your picture after you take it. A program as simple as microsoft paint can do this: https://www.wikihow.tech/Crop-an-Image-with-Microsoft-Paint

Simply take a picture of your painting, get as close as you can to the painting without cutting off parts of it, then follow the above steps afterwards to remove unwanted space in the picture.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I don't think this is what he is asking. \$\endgroup\$
    – Robin
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 22:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ Getting as close as you can to the picture is a bad idea because of the deformations. You need first to zoom and step back. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rafael
    Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 8:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Rafael Depends entirely on the lens you're using. Can't zoom with a prime :) Also depends on the zoom range if it's a zoom. \$\endgroup\$
    – Orch
    Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 2:05

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