What to put in the note you send your judge

The short answer

Write two or three plain lines: what you want her to look at, and what tone you can take. That is the whole job of the note on a judge order. It is optional, and a short, specific note beats a long story every time.

The note travels with your order, alongside the photos you attach. It is the one place on the order where you speak in your own words instead of picking from a menu, so it is worth using for the things the menu cannot say.

What a note is for

Everything else on a judge order is a choice between fixed options: which judge, which medium, which photos. None of those tells her what you actually want from the rating. The note does.

The useful content falls into two kinds. The first is focus: the thing you would like her opinion on. "Mostly curious about shape from the side" gives her a starting point that "rate me" does not. The second is tolerance: how blunt you can stand it, or whether you want it gentle. That second kind matters more than people expect, because two judges can read the same photo and give back very different registers, as why two judges give different scores explains.

A note is not a place to negotiate. The price you saw on her card is the price you pay, and a note does not change it or turn one medium into another. If you want something other than what she has priced, pick a different judge or a different medium.

Three lines that do the work

A good note usually answers three questions and stops. What do you want looked at? How direct should she be? Is there anything you would rather she skip?

Here is the shape, with made-up content: "First time doing this. I would like to hear about shape and overall impression more than anything else. Honest is fine, but please keep it constructive." That is under thirty words and gives her all three answers.

Notice what it leaves out. It does not apologise, it does not explain why you are ordering, and it does not try to pre-empt a bad score. Lines that tell her what to look at are easier to act on than lines about you.

Match the note to the medium

What you write should fit how she will answer. A written verdict has room for specifics, so a focus request fits well. A video or audio answer is delivered in her voice, so a note about tone is the part that shapes it most. Text, audio, video or live call covers what each medium gives you, and it is worth settling that before you write anything.

The profile helps too. Her bio and intro clip show how she talks, and reading a judge profile is the quick way to check whether the register you want is one she offers. If you ask a blunt judge to be gentle in the note, you are working against her style. Choosing the right judge does more than any amount of instruction in the box.

What to leave out of it

Keep the note about the rating. You do not need your name, your workplace, your city or a way to find you elsewhere, and none of it improves the verdict. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre puts the habit simply in its social media guidance: think about what you are posting, and who has access to it, and consider which detail is unnecessary but could be useful to criminals. A free-text box is exactly that sort of place.

The same goes for anything you would not want repeated. Photos are handled by the order itself; the note is just text, so treat it as text you are handing to another person.

Also skip anything that is a request for contact outside the order. If something goes wrong, the route is the "Report a problem" link on the rating card, which opens a ticket already attached to that order, and what happens after you order a rating walks through the rest of the path.

When you have nothing to add

Leaving the note empty is fine. The field is optional for a reason: if you have no particular focus and any tone will do, the photos and the judge you chose carry the order on their own.

If you are unsure, a single line is plenty. "No particular focus, honest feedback welcome" is a complete note. You can always say more next time, once you have seen how a judge responds and what you wish you had asked her to cover.

A worked example, start to finish

Say you have picked a judge whose profile reads warm and a little dry, and you have chosen a written verdict. Your photos are attached. The note could read: "Please look at shape and proportions first. I can take straight feedback, but I would rather hear what works before what does not." That is two sentences and it sets focus, tone and order.

Now say you picked a video verdict instead. The same note still works, but you might drop the order-of-points request, since she is talking rather than writing and will structure it her own way. What stays useful is the focus and the tone, so keep those and cut the rest.

A note is also a fine place to say what you do not want covered. If there is an area you would rather not hear about, one short line saying so costs you nothing. Phrase it as a plain preference, not an apology.