Many techniques exist for 3D digitization of cultural heritage objects. Paintings, manuscripts, and other near-planar objects are especially challenging to digitize because of their minute surface variations. Of the existing techniques, fringe projection profilometry (FPP) is one of the most promising approaches for measuring the surface shape of such objects. In practical implementations of FPP, one needs to understand and control various sources of error due to system hardware and environmental conditions. It is difficult to find information on this in one place in the literature, which discourages application of the technique. In this paper we present a practitioner’s guide to phase-shifting fringe projection profilometry that covers critical but often omitted implementation details required for successful application of the technique.