Polaroids and digitals are the same thing in modern modelling. Both terms describe a set of clean, minimally edited reference images that show a model’s natural appearance from standard angles. Comp cards (also called sed cards) are a different artefact: a printed or digital one-page card combining a model’s digitals with their measurements and contact details, used at castings. Most Melbourne agencies now use the word “digitals” in writing and “polaroids” in casual conversation interchangeably, which is why the language gets confusing fast.
The first time you get asked to send “polaroids,” you’ll probably do what most new models do. You’ll open Google, type the word, and stare at a series of articles that all use the term slightly differently. One says polaroids and digitals are the same thing. One says they’re different. Another doesn’t mention polaroids at all and only talks about comp cards. Two hours later, you’ve learned nothing except that the industry can’t agree on its own vocabulary.
This article fixes that. Three terms, defined plainly, with the one you actually need to send to a Melbourne agency right now.
Most Melbourne agencies use “digitals” in writing and “polaroids” in casual conversation. They mean the same thing. The confusion is generational, not technical.
What’s the actual difference between polaroids and digitals?
They’re the same thing. The names refer to different decades of the same artefact, not to different artefacts.
The term polaroid dates back to when these reference images were literally shot on instant film at the agency office. A scout would set up a prospective model against a white wall, snap a few frames with a Polaroid camera, and clip the prints into a folder. The name stuck even after digital cameras replaced Polaroid film entirely in the early 2000s.
The international picture is similar. Agencies in New York, Paris, London, and Sydney use both terms. The word a specific booker uses tends to track how long they’ve been in the industry. Newer bookers say digitals almost exclusively. Veteran bookers still say polaroids. Both are asking for the same thing.
Today, digitals is the more accurate term and the one most Melbourne agencies use in their written submission guidelines. Polaroid survives in casual conversation, in older agency emails, and on some agency websites that haven’t updated their language. If you’re asked for either, you send the same set of images. The agency isn’t testing whether you know the difference. They’re using whichever word came to mind first.
What’s in a Melbourne agency-ready digitals set?
A Melbourne agency-ready digitals set covers six standard angles: full-length front, three-quarter, close-up face, profile, back view, and a natural smile. Specific agency briefs ask for different subsets of those six. The Premier Portraits digitals set shoots all six in every session so the submission works for any Melbourne agency’s specific spec, with no return to studio required.
Each image is shot under controlled lighting against a plain background, with minimal styling and no retouching beyond colour correction. The set isn’t trying to flatter you. It’s trying to give a booker a truthful, complete reference of what you look like right now, from the angles they need to assess.
Each agency’s submission page specifies which angles it wants. Shooting all six means you respond to any specific spec by selecting the requested angles from the existing set, not by booking another shoot.
The set isn’t trying to flatter you. It’s giving a booker a truthful reference of what you look like right now.
What’s the agency assessing in each shot?
Each angle answers a specific question a booker has in mind. Knowing what each one is for changes how you stand in front of the camera.
- Full-length front. Proportions. Whether the head, torso, and legs are in the ratios the agency books for. Whether the model stands straight without locking up.
- Three-quarter (or three-quarter turn). How the body reads at the angle most editorial work is shot from. Shoulders, waist, hip line.
- Close-up face. Bone structure, skin condition, symmetry, eyes. The single shot most likely to determine whether the submission moves forward.
- Profile. Nose, chin, jaw. How the face reads in side light. Significant for editorial casting in particular.
- Back view. Hair condition from behind, posture, shoulder line. Often overlooked, regularly requested.
- Natural smile. Teeth. Eye behaviour when smiling. Whether the smile reaches the eyes or stops at the mouth. Commercial agencies weight this shot heavily.
A booker can spend under thirty seconds assessing all six. The set is designed for fast review, not slow appreciation. If you want to see how a professional session produces this set, and what else you’ll walk away with, the Premier Portraits model session page covers Agency Digitals, Portfolio Selects, and Hero Retouches in a single structured session.
What is a comp card, and how is it different from digitals?
A comp card is different from digitals in both purpose and timing: digitals are what agencies assess to decide whether to meet you; the comp card is what your agency produces once you’re signed, to leave at castings. It combines your strongest images with measurements and contact details on a single printed or digital page.
| Digitals (Polaroids) | Comp Card (Sed Card) | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Six-angle reference image set, minimal styling, no retouching | One-page card with hero images, measurements, and agency contact details | Curated selection of editorial and campaign-style images across multiple looks |
| Who produces it | Photographer | Agency (once signed) or self-represented model | Photographer, across one or multiple sessions |
| When you need it | Before first agency submission | After signing, or for self-represented castings | After initial interest, built over time |
| What it does | Lets a booker assess your natural appearance from standard angles | Leaves behind your details at a casting or brand meeting | Shows your range and commercial versatility for job submissions |
| Can you DIY it? | Sometimes, with the right setup. See the section below. | Yes, with design software, but agency branding makes the agency version more useful | No. Portfolio selects require a directed professional shoot. |
The standard comp card layout features a single hero image on the front (often the model’s strongest portrait) and three to five smaller images on the back to demonstrate range. Across the bottom or down one side: height, bust, waist, hips, dress, shoe, hair, eyes, and the agency’s name and contact details. The model’s first name is usually on the front. The card is sized to fit a standard A5 sleeve or a casting folder pocket.
Comp cards exist because castings move fast. A casting director sees thirty models in an afternoon. They cannot remember which face went with which agency, which measurements, or which contact. The comp card is left behind so the production team can deliberate afterwards. Digital versions get attached to casting emails for the same reason: fast reference, no scrolling.
If your goal is agency representation, you don’t need a comp card at the submission stage. Agencies don’t read comp cards from unsigned models; they read digitals. The card is typically produced by your agency once you’re signed, usually within the first few weeks, because the format assumes agency branding and contact details.
Self-represented models, commercial models working directly with clients, and models doing brand work outside the agency system do produce their own comp cards, and there’s a legitimate case for it in those contexts. The card functions as a leave-behind at a casting or brand meeting where there’s no agent to call. If that’s the model you’re working, a self-made card makes sense. If you’re trying to get signed, the card isn’t doing the work; the digitals are.
What’s the difference between a comp card and a sed card?
Nothing. Sed card is the older term, short for setcard or composite card. Comp card is the modern shortened version. American agencies tend to use comp card. European agencies more often say sed card. Australian agencies use both, with no strong preference. If you see either word in an agency email, they’re describing the same one-page card.
Do you need all three, or just one?
For agency submission, you need digitals only. Comp cards come later, after representation, and are typically produced by the agency. A portfolio is a separate question and a separate investment.
The timeline runs in this order. First, you shoot digitals. You send those digitals to the agencies you’re submitting to, in the format each one specifies. If an agency expresses interest, they request more material or invite you in. If they sign you, they produce your comp card from existing imagery or commission new shoots. From there, you build a portfolio across multiple sessions, which becomes the working book your agent submits you with for jobs.
Trying to arrive at the first submission with all three is a sign you’re approaching the industry sideways. Agencies don’t want a polished comp card from an unsigned model. It signals you’ve either misunderstood the process or that another agency had you and let you go. Clean digitals and a short cover note is what gets read.
Trying to arrive at first submission with all three is a sign you’re approaching the industry sideways. Clean digitals is what gets read.
If you want the deeper version of how submissions actually move, the Melbourne modelling agency submission requirements guide covers what specific Melbourne agencies ask for, how they read what arrives, and what gets a model invited in. If you’re also trying to work out which type of agency to submit to first, how mother agencies and booking agencies differ in Australia is worth reading before you send anything.
What’s the difference between a digital and a regular portrait shot?
A digital is unstyled, minimally edited, and shot in controlled but plain conditions. A portrait can be styled, lit, and edited freely. The two are doing different jobs.
Agencies need both, but in sequence. The digital tells them what you actually look like. The portrait tells them what you look like at your best, in a creative context, with a stylist and a directed concept. A great portrait does not substitute for a digital because it doesn’t answer the booker’s question. The question isn’t can this person look striking when everything is set up for them. The question is, what does this person look like when nothing is set up for them?
Models who arrive at submission with three beautiful editorial portraits and no digitals often get a polite no. Not because the portraits are bad. Because the agency cannot assess the model from imagery that hides as much as it shows. Heavy makeup, dramatic lighting, and post-production retouching: all working against the assessment.
The Premier Portraits Reveal Collection is built around this distinction. Every session delivers a clean digitals set, a working range of portfolio selects across multiple looks, and a small number of fully retouched hero images. The difference between digitals, portfolio selects, and hero retouches is broken down in detail there, including what each type is for and which agencies ask for which.
Can you shoot your own digitals at home?
You can, and for some Melbourne agencies it’s accepted at first contact. Once an agency is interested, the digitals they want at the next stage are nearly always professional.
The case for DIY digitals is real. They’re the cheapest possible way to test interest. If you’re not sure you want to commit financially before you know an agency wants to meet you, a clean self-shot set lets you find out. Some agencies prefer the rawness of a phone shot over a studio set because it tells them more about the unstyled version of you.
The case against DIY is also real. A self-shot set that’s done badly costs you the submission. The most common mistakes:
- Filtered or beauty-mode phone photos. Both make the assessment impossible.
- Mirror selfies. Reversed perspective, distorted proportions.
- Harsh overhead lighting. Shadows on the face, no read on the bone structure.
- Loose or oversized clothing. Hides the body the agency needs to assess.
- Pose-heavy expressions. The set is meant to show neutral, not styled.
If you’re going to shoot your own, the setup is plain. Soft window light, white or light wall, no filter, no editing beyond cropping. Form-fitting basics. Friend behind the camera at chest height. One shot per angle from the six-angle list above. No retakes designed to find your most flattering frame: that defeats the purpose.
The practical answer for most models in Melbourne: start with a self-shot set if budget is genuinely tight. Upgrade to professional digitals once an agency is interested, or once you’re ready to submit to more than one or two places. The cost of getting it wrong at submission is higher than the cost of doing it properly. If you’re still working out whether professional digitals are worth the investment at submission stage, the guide to whether Melbourne agencies require professional photos walks through which agencies accept phone submissions and when professional imagery moves the needle. The model portfolio cost guide then covers what professional digitals cost in Melbourne and what the price difference between tiers actually buys.
A phone-shot submission has to be lucky on six variables at once. A professional submission only has to be good. If your target agencies are in the group where professional imagery is the threshold rather than an advantage, the Reveal Collection packages for models are built to meet that standard.
How should you prepare wardrobe and grooming for a digitals set?
Form-fitting basics, hair down and natural, minimal-to-no makeup, no jewellery, no logos.
Wardrobe rules for digitals are deliberately strict because the set is a reference tool, not an editorial. The clothes are there to show your body, not to be looked at. The standard kit:
- A plain black or grey form-fitting tank or singlet
- Plain blue jeans or black leggings (form-fitting, not skinny if that distorts proportions)
- A second top option in white or another plain colour for variation
- Bare feet or simple flats
- Hair down, brushed, natural texture
- Skin moisturised, lips balmed, brows tidy, no other makeup
- No watches, rings, earrings, necklaces
The point of the rules is to remove every variable except you. Oversized clothing hides the body. Heavy makeup hides the skin. Jewellery pulls the eye. Patterned tops compete with the face. All of these make the booker’s job harder, and a harder job is a faster rejection.
Hair is the most common quiet mistake. Models who arrive with a fresh blowout, dramatic waves, or a clearly styled look make their digitals less useful, not more. The agency wants to see your hair the way it looks ninety percent of the time, because that’s what they’ll be casting against.
If you’re booking a session that includes portfolio looks alongside digitals, the question of whether to add professional hair and makeup changes. The hair and makeup guide for portfolio shoots covers when it’s worth the investment and when it isn’t.
If you’re booking a professional session, what to expect on the day of a first portfolio shoot covers the wardrobe brief and the pre-shoot prep in more detail. If you’re also planning portfolio looks beyond the digitals set, the full wardrobe guide for portfolio shoots covers the outfit formula for each look type in detail.
Are there safety red flags to watch for when booking a digitals shoot?
Yes. A properly run digitals shoot is a calm, professional booking. The conditions that make it that way are knowable in advance, and so are the warning signs when those conditions are missing.
The shortest version of a legitimate booking: a real studio address listed publicly, a support person welcome, verbal direction only, a clear wardrobe brief in advance, no pressure toward underwear or implied nudity, and paperwork that limits image use to portfolio and agency submission. If any of those are missing or pushed back on, that’s worth paying attention to.
A photographer worth booking will not be upset that you brought someone, asked questions, or read the release before signing. The dedicated guide on how to choose a safe portrait photographer in Melbourne covers the full checklist of what to look for and what to walk away from.
How often should you update your digitals?
Every six to twelve months, or immediately after a significant change in appearance.
Bookers and agents work from the most recent version of you. Outdated digitals are worse than no digitals because they waste everyone’s time. The agent submits you for a job using a 12-month-old image. The client books. You turn up looking different. That’s a problem for the agent, for the client, and for your future bookings with both.
The events that force an immediate update:
- A significant haircut or colour change
- Visible weight change in either direction
- New tattoos in areas a casting might see
- A piercing change visible on camera (new septum, removed eyebrow)
- Significant skin change (acne resolution, scarring, surgery)
Signed models update on a schedule because their agents require it. Unsigned and recently-signed models often forget, then lose castings to models with current imagery. The professional pattern in Melbourne is a refresh roughly every nine months, with same-day updates when something visible changes.
So which one do you actually need to send?
For a first agency submission in Melbourne, you need digitals only. A comp card comes later, usually produced by the agency once you’re signed. A portfolio is a separate investment for after representation. Send clean digitals in the format each agency specifies.
The simplest mental model: digitals are how you get the meeting, the comp card is how the agency works you once you’re signed, and the portfolio is what your agent builds with you over time. Working them out of order is the most common avoidable mistake at submission. Models who get this right move faster than models who arrive with the wrong artefact in the wrong format.
If you’re at the point of preparing your submission, the practical next step is shooting digitals to the coverage standard above. Submission stage and portfolio stage often happen within months of each other, which is why the Reveal Collection model portfolio packages all include the six-angle digitals set plus a working portfolio in the same session.
The full picture of how Melbourne agencies assess submissions, including what they’re looking for beyond the digitals themselves, is covered in the Melbourne agency submission requirements guide.
Understanding what each deliverable is built for is the first step. The second step is building a session that produces all three. Book a submission-ready model portfolio session, and we’ll start with a conversation about where you are and what you need from the set.
Model Digitals: Frequently Asked Questions
Is a polaroid the same as a digital?
Yes. The two words describe the same artefact at different points in its history. Polaroid refers to the original instant-film format used at agency offices through the 1990s. Digital refers to the same reference imagery shot on a digital camera, which is how every agency captures and requests these images now. If a Melbourne agency asks for either word, you send the same set.
Do agencies still want printed polaroids?
No. Every Melbourne agency now accepts digital files, usually sent as email attachments or uploaded through a submission form on the agency website. Some signed models still receive printed cards from their agencies for castings, but those are comp cards, not polaroids. Print is not a current submission format anywhere in the Melbourne market.
Can I use phone photos for my digitals?
Sometimes, with caveats. A clean, unfiltered phone photo in soft window light, taken by a friend at chest height, with form-fitting basics and no editing, is acceptable to some Melbourne agencies at first contact. Most agencies prefer professional digitals at first submission, and nearly all require them at the next stage of conversation. Phone photos in beauty mode, mirror selfies, or anything edited with a filter will hurt your submission rather than help it.
What size and resolution should my digitals be?
Most Melbourne agencies request high-resolution JPEG files, with specific size limits varying by agency. Many provide an upload tool that resizes for you. The practical answer: shoot at the highest resolution available, then size down to whatever spec each agency lists on their submission page. Keep the originals.
Do Melbourne agencies have different digital requirements?
Yes. Each Melbourne agency has its own submission specification, and the differences are real. Vivien’s, Scene, Chadwick, Giant, KHOO Management, and Brooklyn MGMT each list slightly different requirements on their submission pages. The practical fix is to shoot a coverage set that satisfies the strictest version, then send each agency only the angles it asks for. The submission requirements guide breaks down what each major Melbourne agency currently asks for.
How many outfits do I need for a digitals shoot?
Two is the standard ask. A plain dark top and a plain light top, both form-fitting. Bottoms stay consistent (jeans or leggings) so the body line stays readable. Adding more outfits doesn’t improve the digitals set; it just creates editing decisions later. Save the wardrobe range for portfolio looks, which are a separate type of image with different rules.
Can I wear makeup in my digitals?
A minimal natural base is fine. Heavy makeup will hurt the submission. The booker is trying to see your skin, your bone structure, and your features without correction. A tinted moisturiser, light lip balm, and groomed brows is the upper limit. Foundation, contour, mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick all work against the assessment. If you can’t help it, do less than you think you should.
Do I need a comp card before I get signed?
Not for agency submission. Agencies read digitals from unsigned models, not comp cards, and a self-made card sent with a submission doesn’t move the needle. Models who work self-represented or do direct brand bookings often do produce their own comp cards, and that’s a different situation with its own logic. For first-time submission to a Melbourne agency, digitals are what gets read. Send those, in the format the agency asks for, and leave the comp card for after representation or for the specific cases where you’re working without an agent.
How much does it cost to get professional digitals shot in Melbourne?
Professional digitals in Melbourne vary widely in price, depending on whether you book a digitals-only session with an emerging photographer or bundle them into a portfolio session with an established studio. At Premier Portraits, digitals are included in every Reveal Collection package starting at $950 for The First Reveal, which delivers the six-angle digitals set plus a working portfolio in the same session. The model portfolio cost guide breaks down the Melbourne market in detail.
What happens if I send a portfolio when an agency only asked for digitals?
Usually nothing good. Some agencies will read past it and assess what they can. Others will set the submission aside as evidence the model hasn’t read the brief, which is a small but real negative signal. Agencies that explicitly request digitals are testing your ability to follow a clear instruction at the first step of the relationship. Send what they asked for, in the format they asked for, and save the portfolio for the next stage.
Where to from here
A digitals shoot is the start, not the destination. The submission gets you in front of bookers. The portfolio is what they put forward when the work starts. If you’re thinking about both at once, the Reveal Collection covers both in a single session.
Understanding what each deliverable is built for is the first step. Understanding what a session that produces all three actually looks like is the next one. Here is what to expect at your first professional model portfolio shoot in Melbourne, from the pre-shoot consultation through to gallery delivery.
If you’d rather talk it through before booking anything, book a fifteen-minute consultation. No pressure, no pitch, just a conversation about where you are and what makes sense for the submission you’re preparing.
Book a call to discuss your submission.
About the photographer
Nick Schoeffler is the founder of Premier Portraits, a Melbourne portrait studio specialising in model portfolio photography and athlete personal branding. A qualified Editorial Stylist through the Australian Style Institute, Nick was also a GUE-certified technical diving instructor for more than a decade. He has been based in Melbourne for over 20 years. View the model portfolio packages or learn more about the studio.
