Picture Lights

Not only is the type of picture light you choose important, but the way you install it is also crucial. If you want to get your picture lighting right, follow these simple tips:

• Place the light in such a way that the beam of illumination shines somewhere in the middle of the piece. Doing so will eliminate hot spots, glare and shadows.

• Further avoid glare by placing the light directly above the artwork at a close distance. This will move the light right onto the picture at an angle that is steep enough to prevent glare.

• The standoff of the picture light needs to be a bit thicker than the frame itself to remove obstructions in the light’s beam. After sorting that out, you can work out the height at which you should mount the picture light — it needs to be the same height as the standoff.

• Large pieces of art with ample vertical space will need a photo light that has a bigger standoff than average.

• Generally speaking, picture lights should be installed 1.5 to two times the width of the artwork away from the art.

• Position the lights at the ideal angle of between 30 and 45 degrees to prevent disruptive shadows.

• Place the light an inch above the standoff to generate a more even wash of light. With the light at that position, you can direct the light beam in such a way that it will also avoid glare.

Picture wall light fittings are a light style that is designed to illuminate artwork as it hangs on the wall. The idea of a picture light is to evenly spread photo or painting illumination across the work, showing off its details without casting shadows.

A quality picture light will ensure that the textures, colours and other visual elements of the art piece are clearly visible and preserved. You’ll see this sort of art lighting in museums and galleries, and those who have art to display at home can benefit from it as well.

LED picture lights come in many different styles, usually in the form of picture wall sconces. This style of picture lamp sits either on the sides of the frame or above it, depending on preference and the situation.

Picture frame lights light up artwork from the frame itself. These lights are ideal for paintings that need illumination up close for one reason or another.

Track lighting is another common way to illuminate art. This lighting is used as an over-picture light source usually mounted on the ceiling. Spotlights shine directly onto the artwork, often at a close distance. Those who like to rotate their art on display may benefit most from the adjustable picture lighting that track lights afford.

Other ceiling lights used to light up artwork include recessed lighting. Recessed lights are mostly hidden in the ceiling, providing a minimalist look. This keeps the focus on the art itself and not the fixtures that illuminate it.

Alongside functionality, wall mounted picture lights can also improve the aesthetics of a room. A gold picture light can bring an art gallery feel to your home, for example. Black picture light fittings, on the other hand, can blend better into the environment to improve upon the overall appearance.

LED lights have a famously long lifespan, especially when you compare this to the mere 1,000 hours of traditional bulbs. Our range of LED lighting has a minimum-rated life of 20,000 hours. This is achieved by using only the highest quality LED lights such as Osram and CREE brands. Cheaper bulbs will run for substantially fewer hours, making it worth it to buy the higher quality bulbs.

Since modern picture lights are used for six hours a day, you can expect them to last for a minimum of ten years. This means that while the bulbs may come at a slightly higher price initially than halogen or incandescent bulbs, you will spend much less over time avoiding constant replacements.

LED lights have their brightness indicated by lumens instead of watts. Generally speaking, one watt of LED light is indicated as 100 lumens.

To understand better how this translates, you can consider that:

A 3-watt LED bulb will shine the same amount of light as a 25-30 watt halogen bulb; a 5-watt LED bulb will shine the same amount of light as a 40-50 watt halogen bulb; and a 9-watt LED bulb will shine the same amount of light as a 60-watt halogen bulb.

When determining the proper lumen count for above picture lights, you should take into account the other light fixtures in the room and their lumen output. A picture light is used more as a complementary light source instead of a main source, providing ambience and mood to the area; it should not be used as the primary illumination.

Our over picture LED wall lights bring with them plenty of benefits, but there are no built-in switches on them. Instead, you will need to hardwire the picture lights into the power supply and use a switch on the wall. For this reason, you should consider this when carefully planning and designing the light for the area.

To add elegance and sophistication to the space, you can connect the picture lighting to a motion detector. In so doing, you will cause the light to trigger on whenever you go in the room. Not only will this give the space a modern feel and functionality, but it will further improve energy efficiency and lifespan as the lights will automatically turn off when no one is using them.

As stated, LED lights are incredibly energy efficient. Where traditional bulbs will turn most of their energy into heat, LED lights output almost all of their energy as light. This makes them the best option for lighting homes, hotels and galleries alike, especially in the latter where such lights are nearly constantly running. Their lower heat output also makes them safer to operate, as there is no risk of injury if you touch them while they’re turned on.

Our picture frame wall lights can be installed as a DIY project, but just because you can, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. It is advised that you hire a qualified, professional electrician to do the work for you. They’ll be able to check all of the wiring and associated connections to ensure there is no fire hazard and that they are up to code.

Art can be delicate depending on the medium and the materials used. Because of this, it is a common concern that a picture wall light might damage artwork. Fortunately, this isn’t something you really need to worry about.

Generally speaking, LED lights are safe to use to light artwork, especially compared to halogen or incandescent lighting. It’s important to choose the right LED picture light fixture to reduce the risk of damage.

The main benefit of an LED picture light sconce is the reduced level of heat. Halogen bulbs output a notable amount of heat. Too much heat can cause damage to pigments, warp the canvases or otherwise deteriorate the art. Since LED bulbs output next to no heat, the risk of this is much lower.

UV radiation is another concern for preserving artwork. UV lights can cause the colours to fade and degrade over time. It can also damage the canvas itself. Since LED lights don’t output high levels of UV lighting, this won’t be a concern.

That said, not all LED bulbs are the same in terms of quality. You’ll need to choose a picture spotlight or wall sconce with high quality LED bulbs to preserve your art. When you are deciding on which LED to use, you should pay attention to the colour temperature of the light.

Choose a color temperature that won’t distort the colours or overall appearance of the art piece. Some works look better with cool lights, while others will benefit from warmer lights. Check both to see which one best suits your unique art.

You will also want to pay attention to the colour rendering index, or CRI. This measurement indicates how accurately a light will show the colours of the painting. Generally, it is best to shoot for a rating of 80 or higher.

While you may think that your ambient light is enough to display your artwork, relying on ambient light alone won’t do the artwork justice. Without having a direct source of light on the artwork, you may end up casting shadows and not displaying it to its full potential. Similarly, relying on nearby wall sconces or floor lamps to do the job runs the risk of creating hotspots and glare on the artwork.

A modern picture light will ensure that your artwork is getting the attention it deserves. Good lighting will ensure that the colours, textures and other details are on clear display. With this, viewers can see the finer details of the art that a poor light setting might make it easy to overlook, such as brushwork.

Picture lighting can also help you create a focal point in your space. Well-lit art becomes a statement that is hard to miss and serves as a great conversation starter. Similarly, well-lit art can also influence the mood of the room and the emotions of the guests within it. Help your room achieve the perfect atmosphere with the inclusion of picture lights.

Perhaps most importantly, picture lights help preserve the artwork, as we mentioned earlier. Choosing LED picture lights will reduce the risk of damage done to the work while preserving the intent of the artist visually.

CRI stands for Colour Rendering Index. It measures the natural appearance of a colour’s render underneath any source of artificial white light compared to how it looks under sunlight.

The spectrum for CRI runs from 0 to 100, with 100 indicating a perfectly accurate representation of the colours. Anything under 80 is believed to be poor CRI. Anything between 90-99 is considered to be great.

When it comes to hanging artwork in your home or business, a picture light fixture with a high CRI is best. The primary job of picture lights is to illuminate the artwork and make it clearly visible.

By choosing picture lighting with a high CRI, you can be sure that what guests see when they look at the artwork is what the artist intended for them to see when creating the piece.