Why do you need a digital art catalogue?

This article covers the main reasons and benefits of having a digital catalogue.

A digital catalogue is a collection of resources accessible online. It is an inter-disciplinary approach to help people find the resources they need in a digital environment. For example, researchers can use it to collect data, students can use it for research, and businesses can find information about their products. A digital art catalogue can be used to find artists, view their portfolios, learn about their art, to buy, sell, or trade art.

Staying up-to-date

What is the primary advantage of printed catalogues? They have been around for centuries and seem that they will be around for decades to come. On the other hand, although they appeared more recently, digital catalogues have two key benefits over printed ones: the possibility to correct and update information.

Frequently, printed catalogues are out of date the moment they are published. The digital format of catalogues is both cost-effective and time-effective: it can be updated with the latest information, which is often not possible with printed ones due to printing and distribution costs. In addition, digital catalogues are more environmentally friendly than physical ones.

A versatile tool

Catalogues are a great way to keep track of information, but they can be hard to come by and expensive to produce. However, with the advent of digital publishing, anyone can create their catalogues and make them available to a global audience.

A radical feature set digital catalogues apart from their paper predecessors: the ability to include links and unlimited images. So readers are no longer confined to a printed page; they can now access supplementary materials, making the catalogue an interactive experience.

Think about an art catalog: it can be quickly revised and updated with new information, making them more flexible and responsive to changes, more accurate and up to date than its printed counterparts. 

Streamlined process

The traditional way of publishing a catalogue was to print, which can be costly and time-consuming, but a digital edition does change the game plan a bit. In both cases, catalogues are extensive projects that often require years of research before publication. However, a digital catalog edition can be issued faster because it eliminates printing. 

Gathering a catalogue requires time, effort, patience, thoroughness, and accuracy. Traditionally, there were a research phase and a publication phase. We marry these activities into a single software platform and a single production process. As a result, Navigating.Art is an essential tool for anyone who wants to create a professionally assembled digital catalogue.

Protect legacy and intellectual property

The artist catalogue has been a staple of the art world for centuries. In recent years, the rise of digital technologies has led to a new wave of artists adopting the digital catalogue as their primary means of storing and sharing their work. So, this enables them to protect their legacy more effectively and efficiently. 

The digital catalogue is also a way of securing an artist's intellectual property. By making it easy for others to find and view their work, artists can be confident that they will be appropriately credited and compensated for their creativity. 

Target new audiences

With art catalogues online, collectors and gallerists can easily track down specific works, and audiences can understand the artist's work more deeply. While they make it simple to discover new artists, art catalogues online are a fantastic way to reach the broadest possible audience.

Access for younger artists

For too long, catalogues have only been done for well-known artists. By starting earlier, we can keep track of an artist's development over time and get a better sense of their overall body of work. In addition, this will also allow us to discover new talent more easily. The contemporary art scene will surely benefit from a more organized, better exposed sphere of younger artists.

The Future of Digital Catalogues

Cataloguing artwork is a vital part of any curator or artist's job. In recent years, there has been a shift towards digital cataloguing, as it is more efficient and easier to update. However, printed catalogues still have their place. Both digital and printed catalogues will likely continue to be used in the future, each serving a different purpose. 

The Navigating.Art platform can help you get started with everything you need. Simply request a free demo today.