How to Buy Art Online With Confidence

Buying art online gives you access to far more artists and artworks than you could ever discover locally. It also comes with one obvious disadvantage: you can’t stand in front of the artwork before you buy it.

So how do you know what you’re really getting?

Will the colours look the same in your home? Is 80 × 80 cm actually big enough for that wall? What does fine art paper look like compared with canvas? And how can you tell whether what you see online is a good representation of what will arrive at your door?

Fortunately, most of that uncertainty can be taken out of buying art online.

A few simple checks can tell you a great deal about an artwork before you order it, from its real-world size and materials to framing, colour and how it might look in your own room.

And after all those sensible checks, there should still be room for the most important part:

falling in love with the art.

Contents
1. Start with the artwork, not the checklist
2. Remember that every screen shows colour differently
3. Check the actual size, not just the room photo
4. Know what you’re buying
5. Look closely at materials and print quality
6. Use room previews, but use them wisely
7. Check framing options before ordering
8. Know who you’re buying from
9. Read the shipping and returns information
10. Still unsure? Ask the artist
11. When you know, you know

1. Start with the artwork, not the checklist

Before checking dimensions, materials, shipping or anything else, there is one much simpler question:

Do you actually want this artwork on your wall?

Buying art online can make it surprisingly easy to turn something emotional into a research project. You open several tabs, compare sizes, zoom into details, read specifications and eventually forget which artwork made you stop scrolling in the first place.

Start there.

If a particular piece keeps pulling you back, put it on your shortlist. Then do the practical checks.

This doesn’t mean buying blindly. Quite the opposite. The rest of this guide is about making sure the artwork you love is also the artwork you expect to receive.

But specifications can tell you whether a piece is suitable. They can’t tell you whether you’ll still enjoy looking at it years from now.

Choose with your eyes first. Check with your head second.

2. Remember that every screen shows colour differently

One of the biggest limitations of buying art online is colour.

The same image can look warmer on a phone, brighter on a laptop and slightly different again on a tablet. Screen brightness, display settings and even the light in the room where you’re browsing can affect what you see.

That doesn’t mean online images are unreliable. Good product photography should give you a very good impression of the artwork, but expecting an exact colour match between a glowing screen and a physical print or painting isn’t realistic.

Look at several product images if they’re available. Room photographs can help you understand the overall effect, while close-ups are better for judging colour, texture and detail.

Also pay attention to the material. Colour on canvas can feel slightly different from the same image printed on fine art paper, simply because the surfaces reflect and absorb light differently.

If an exact shade is crucial because you’re trying to match a particular wall, fabric or piece of furniture, leave yourself a little room for variation.

Better still, don’t make an exact colour match the reason you buy the artwork in the first place.

3. Check the actual size, not just the room photo

An artwork can look enormous in one photograph and surprisingly modest in another.

That’s why the dimensions matter more than the mock-up.

Room images are extremely useful for getting a sense of scale and atmosphere, but perspective, furniture size and camera position can all affect how large an artwork appears. Always check the actual measurements before ordering.

If you’re considering an 80 × 80 cm artwork, measure 80 × 80 cm on your own wall. Painter’s tape works brilliantly for this. A few minutes with a tape measure can tell you far more than staring at another ten room photographs.

Also consider the furniture underneath it. An artwork above a sofa, bed or sideboard usually needs enough visual weight to hold its own, while a smaller piece can work beautifully on a narrow wall or in a more intimate part of the room.

And don’t forget that framing changes the final dimensions slightly too.

If you want to go deeper into proportions, placement and choosing between sizes, see my How to Choose the Perfect Size guide.

The important thing is simple: use room photos for inspiration, but use the measurements to make your decision.

 4. Know what you’re buying

“Art print” can mean a lot of different things.

Before ordering, check exactly what the product is. Is it a print on paper or canvas? Is it framed or unframed? Does the canvas arrive stretched and ready to hang? Is the frame included in the dimensions? Is the image printed right to the edge?

These details sound obvious, but online shopping makes assumptions remarkably easy.

It’s also worth understanding the difference between an original artwork and a reproduction.

An original is the physical artwork created by the artist. There is only one. You may see brushstrokes, raised paint, small irregularities and other details that are part of the actual surface of the work.

A fine art reproduction is a high-quality print made from an original artwork. It allows you to own the image in different sizes and often on different materials, at a much more accessible price.

Neither needs to be treated as the “correct” way to buy art. They are simply different products.

If you love an image and want it large above your sofa, a canvas print might be exactly what you want. If owning the actual surface the artist worked on matters to you, an original offers something a reproduction cannot.

Read the product description carefully and make sure you know which one you’re choosing.

 5. Look closely at materials and print quality

Not all prints are made the same way.

If you’re buying a reproduction, look beyond words such as premium or high quality. They don’t tell you very much on their own.

Look for actual information about the materials and printing process.

For fine art prints, you may see the term giclée. This refers to a high-quality inkjet printing process designed to reproduce artwork with excellent detail and colour. The quality of the paper or canvas, inks and production process all contribute to the final result.

Paper weight and surface matter too. Fine art paper has a very different feel from a lightweight poster paper. Canvas adds texture and physical depth, particularly once it has been stretched around a wooden frame.

Close-up photographs are useful here. Look at edges, surface texture, print detail and framing rather than judging everything from one beautifully styled room photograph.

If a shop gives you almost no information about what its prints are actually made from, that’s information in itself.

If you’re deciding between the two main options, my Canvas vs Fine Art Paper guide explains the differences in much more detail.

 6. See the artwork in your own room

One of the hardest things about buying art online is imagining what it will actually look like in your own space. A beautiful artwork on a product page is one thing. Seeing it above your own sofa, next to your own furniture and against your own wall is quite another.

Simply use the View In Your Room option on the product page, which will take you straight to ARA, my custom-built room preview app. Upload a photo of your space, choose the wall where you would like to see the artwork, and try different sizes and frames before making your choice. And don’t worry: your photo is only used for your preview and isn’t stored or kept.

It gives you a much better sense of how the colours work with your interior, whether the artwork has enough presence and how different sizes and frames change the overall effect.

It is especially useful when you are hesitating between two sizes. Instead of trying to mentally turn centimetres into wall space, you can actually see the difference where the artwork would hang.

It is still a digital preview, of course, but it takes a large part of the guesswork out of buying art online.

 7. Check framing options before ordering

A frame can change an artwork more than you might expect.

Black can give a piece stronger definition. White can make it feel lighter and more spacious. Natural wood adds warmth, while leaving a canvas unframed can create a clean, contemporary look.

So if framing options are available, don’t treat the frame as an afterthought.

Look at the different versions of the artwork before ordering. Pay attention not only to which frame suits the piece, but also to how it might work with the wall and room around it.

And check exactly what you’re ordering. Is the frame included? What material is it made from? How wide is it? Does a framed paper print include glass or acrylic? Does a framed canvas use a floating frame?

With my canvas prints, you can see the available frame options in the product images. Switching between the variations gives you a quick way to compare black, white, light oak and no frame before making your choice.

If framing still feels like an entire decision in itself, have a look at To Frame or Not to Frame? A Guide to Framing Art.

 8. Know who you’re buying from

One advantage of buying art online is that you can buy directly from artists you might never have discovered locally.

Take a moment to find out who is actually behind the work.

Is there an artist page? Can you see other work by the same person? Are the materials and production methods explained clearly? Is there a real way to get in touch if you have a question?

This matters even when you’re buying a reproduction rather than an original.

You’re not just trying to establish whether a website is legitimate. Learning a little about the artist can also change your relationship with the artwork. Seeing how their work develops, what they make and what interests them gives the image some context beyond the product page.

And if you’re buying directly from an artist, use that opportunity.

Artists tend to know their own collections rather well. If you love a particular piece but need something slightly different in colour, format or atmosphere, ask. There may be another work you simply haven’t found yet.

Buying online doesn’t have to make buying art impersonal.

 9. Check the return policy

Even after careful measuring, comparing and previewing, buying art online can still feel like a bit of a leap. Before ordering, check the artist’s or gallery’s return policy so you know what your options are if the artwork simply doesn’t feel right once it is on your wall.

If you buy from me, you have 30 days to change your mind, no questions asked. So you can see the artwork in your own home and decide whether it really belongs there. You can find all the details in my Returns & Refunds policy.

Before ordering, check where the artwork is shipped from, whether delivery is included or calculated separately, how long production and delivery are expected to take and what happens if something arrives damaged.

For prints that are made to order, remember that production time and shipping time are two different things. Your artwork may need to be printed, stretched or framed before it can begin its journey to you.

Returns deserve a look too. Check whether returns are accepted, how long you have to make a decision and whether there are any exceptions for particular products or destinations.

If you’re ordering internationally, it’s also worth checking whether taxes, duties or import charges could apply.

None of this is particularly romantic, but knowing the practical details beforehand means you can concentrate on the much nicer question:
Which artwork do I want?

 10. Still unsure? Ask the artist

Sometimes you can do all the sensible checks and still hesitate.

Perhaps you love the artwork but can’t decide between two sizes. You’re torn between canvas and fine art paper. You like one frame in the product photos but suspect another might work better in your room.

Ask me.

You can send me a photo of the space, tell me what you’re considering and let me know what you’re unsure about. I know my own collection, so I may also be able to suggest another artwork if you love the feeling of one piece but something about it isn’t quite right for your space.

There’s no obligation to follow my advice, obviously. It’s your wall.

Sometimes all you need is another pair of eyes.

 11. When you know, you know

There comes a point when you’ve checked enough.

You know the size. You understand the material. You’ve compared the framing options, looked at the artwork in a room and read the practical information.

And you’re still going back to the same piece.

That’s usually a pretty good sign.

Buying art online requires a little more imagination than buying it in person, but it also gives you an extraordinary amount of choice. You can discover an artist on the other side of the world at midnight from your sofa and find an artwork you might otherwise never have seen.

Use the tools available to make a sensible decision, but don’t analyse all the pleasure out of it.

Art is allowed to be an emotional purchase.

And if, after checking everything, your reaction is still “I want that on my wall”, you probably have your answer.