Model Comp Card vs. Portfolio: What Agencies Actually Want to See
October 6, 2026
New models often ask which matters more, the portfolio or the card. Agencies need both, but they read them for different reasons. A model comp card is a quick reference that a booker can file and pull out later; the portfolio is where they judge range and how you work with a camera. For someone who is not yet signed, neither has to be elaborate. What an agency wants first is an honest look at you as you are today.
What a comp card is
A comp card, short for composite card and also called a zed card or sed card, is the model's answer to business cards. Where traditional business cards stop at a name and contact information, it also carries photos and measurements, so a client can put a face to a name days after a casting and check whether you fit the brief.
Layouts vary from agency to agency. Most include one large photo on the front, usually a headshot, with your name beneath it, while the reverse holds three or four smaller photos, your stats and contact information for you or your agency. The printed standard most guides cite is 8.5 by 5.5 inches on heavy cardstock, double-sided.
Clients keep composite cards on file after go-sees and castings and come back to them when booking jobs. That is the whole point: a good model comp card stays in the room after you leave.
What a modelling portfolio is
The portfolio, known in the industry simply as your book, makes the longer argument. It shows how you photograph across different styling, lighting and moods, and whether you can carry a concept through a full shoot. A book aimed at catalogue and advertising clients is built on friendly, relatable pictures; one aimed at fashion clients relies more on styling, attitude and movement.
Online, most bookers prefer a tight edit. Guides aimed at new models commonly put the online edit at roughly 8 to 12 photos, each showing something the others do not, with a clean headshot at the front. A physical portfolio is still used at castings, typically in a 9 by 12 inch black folder with plastic sleeves, though many agencies now send links first.
The portfolio stays with you. The comp is what you leave behind, which is why many models keep a sleeve of them inside the folder.
Comp card vs. portfolio at a glance
| Comp card | Portfolio (book) | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Fast reference after a meeting or casting | Shows range, experience and consistency |
| Images | One large photo plus 3–4 smaller ones | About 8–12 online; more in print as work builds |
| Text | Name, stats, agency or personal contact | Short bio, categories, current measurements |
| Format | Printed card and a digital version | Online portfolio plus an optional print book |
| Left with clients? | Yes | No |
| Who builds it | Usually the agency once you are signed | You and the agency, shoot by shoot |
What agencies want from a new face: digitals
Before a professional book exists, the most useful material is a set of digitals, sometimes called polaroids or digis. These are plain, unretouched photos that show what you look like walking into a go-see. Agencies use them to judge proportions, skin and bone structure without styling getting in the way, and a first composite is usually built from them.
- Shoot in soft daylight near a window or in open shade, never in direct sun.
- Stand against a plain wall; no props or staged sets.
- Wear fitted basics: black top and black pants, or clean jeans and a white tee.
- Keep makeup to a minimum and hair pulled back for at least one frame.
- Cover a close-up of the face, a waist-up frame, a profile and a full body shot.
- Do not retouch or filter anything.
That last rule matters most. A smoothed or filtered digital defeats its own purpose, because the booker will compare it with the person who walks through the door.
Choosing what photos go on the card
Every image chosen has to earn its space. Draw on the strongest photos in your portfolio and aim for a range of photos in which each frame adds something: a headshot, a three-quarter or full body shot, a change of energy, different poses and facial expressions. Five variations of one look waste the space. If you are signed, expect the agency to choose your photos with you, because its bookers know what clients in that market ask for.
Market matters too. A comp aimed at commercial print clients looks different from one built for runway or fashion editorial, and some models create separate versions for each type of job. Freelancers can learn a lot from the model pages of established agencies, many of which publish their models' cards online. Creative lighting and heavy makeup belong in the book, not on the card, because they hide the model.
Stats and contact details
The text side is short, and it has to be accurate. Include your measurements and contact details clearly:
- Measurements: height, bust, waist, hips (or chest and waist for men), plus dress and shoe size.
- Hair and eye colour, if space allows.
- Your agency's phone, email and website, or the booking contact info you want clients to use if you freelance.
- A public, client-appropriate social media handle, if you have one.
If you work in markets that use different systems, give height in both feet and centimetres. Update the numbers whenever they change. A comp showing old stats or a previous hair colour wastes a client's time and can cost you the booking.
Digital and physical cards
Comps now come in two forms with identical content: a PDF or web version that an agency sends to clients, and a printed one handed over at castings. Working models usually keep a combination of digital and physical versions. At the start, the online composite card is the practical choice, since a beginner's photos and stats change quickly and a file can be updated at no cost.
When physical comp cards are needed, have them professionally printed on heavy stock, but keep print runs modest: a large order of composite cards becomes waste the day your hair or stats change.
Putting the portfolio online
A link is often the first thing a booker opens, and frequently on a phone. A simple personal site or agency page does the job if the photographs come first and the text stays short: name, base city, the categories you work in, current measurements and a direct email or agent contact. Grouping images by category keeps commercial and editorial work easy to tell apart.
Gaps in the book are usually filled through test shoots, collaborations in which the photographer, the model and often a stylist or makeup artist work for portfolio images rather than a fee. Settle the terms in writing first: who may use the photos and where, and how many edited frames you will receive. Check a photographer's references before you go, and anyone under 18 should have a parent or guardian on set.
When an agency asks you to pay for photos
Legitimate agencies earn commission on the work they book. Some will arrange test shoots for newly signed models and recover the cost later from earnings, which should be spelled out in a contract. Paying upfront to be represented is a different matter.
In Ontario, the provincial guide to modelling and talent agency rights says legitimate agencies do not require you to buy photos or use a specific photographer, and it lists pressure to buy photos on the spot, or to keep adding more, among the signs of a photo-mill scam. Contracts covered by the rules must set out every fee, and you can cancel within 10 days of receiving a written copy. Models in other provinces should check their own consumer protection office before signing.
Keeping both current
Treat the book as a working document rather than a finished one. After each paid job, add the strongest frame; when your look changes, retire the pictures that no longer match and shoot new digitals, whether the change is hair, weight or skin. The comp is cut from the book, so update the two together. An agency can only send you out with confidence when both show the person who will turn up.