Scanning Artwork: How to Go Your Art on Your Computer

scanning artwork a simple guide

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Throughout the Contrado website, you are likely to find multiple references to uploading your artwork or designs to our design interface. Simply what does this actually mean? If your piece is a painting in your studio, how practise you even make it a file on your calculator to upload, let alone a high enough quality one? Enter, the scanner. Usually, people think of scanners as simply flappy bits at the acme of their printer that they might occasionally use to scan their passport, driving licence or proof of address to send off for some kind of insurance or application. However, things accept come a long manner since the nascence of the scanner, so nosotros're hither to try and assistance articulate some things up for you so that you lot can beginning scanning artwork yourself.

Why is scanning artwork of import?

If you want to print your artwork onto any of the selection of fabrics, vesture or homewares on the Contrado website then you'll demand a digital version of your artwork. If yous simply have a photograph and upload it, you aren't going to go a high enough resolution version for digital print. Check out our handy tips for buying a scanner specifically for scanning artwork beneath, and start printing your pieces on the Contrado product range.

Scanning Artwork – Buying a scanner

At that place are a large number of scanners on the marketplace. They range in price, quite dramatically. A quick online search shows that they start at around £11.99 and go up to equally much as £xix,995. So, with that much choice, how do you know which one to get for?
There are 2 different types of scanner, and by this, we mean two scanner technologies. CIS and CCD. There are pretty major differences betwixt the ii – so which is the best for scanning artwork?

scanning artwork buying a scanner

CIS Scanners

CIS scanners use a engineering science called contact image sensors. This is somewhat self-explanatory. Basically, the matter existence scanned needs to be in contact with the pane of the scanner for it to option it upwardly. That's why when you scan your passport yous stop upwardly with dark lines and shadows where the centrefold is.

CCD Scanners

CCD stands for charge-coupled device, which is much less self-explanatory to say the to the lowest degree. This type of scanner uses mirrors to bounciness light to a sensor which remains stationary. In simple terms, a CCD scanner works very similarly to the fashion that a digital camera does.

So, which is best for scanning artwork?

Well, to be frank, that depends on the type of fine art. If you're an illustrator or an animator, then a CIS scanner would exist sufficient, as your pieces are likely to be flat. Equally long as there are no creases in your artwork then it should browse just fine.
For scanning artwork with a niggling more texture to information technology, such every bit paintings, specially with acrylics, or even sketches that are held inside a sketchpad, then a CCD scanner is the style to go. They are a fiddling more expensive, starting at around the £50 price point, simply will become a much meliorate scan, especially when the work isn't a completely flat piece.

Other of import considerations for scanning artwork

Information technology's non just the blazon of scanner that you need to consider, or the upkeep when you are buying equipment for scanning artwork. There are a number of other things too, file format, color systems and resolution. It may all appear a footling overwhelming with the facts and figures that are thrown at yous, but as long every bit yous know what to await out for then you should find ownership a scanner much less daunting.

scanning artwork other considerations

File Formats

For years the most popular file format for saving images in has been JPEG (pronounced jay-peg). A lot of digital cameras utilise this, too as various computer software. Other mutual formats are bitmap (.bmp), which Paint (the 1 that comes on your computer equally standard in the accessories folder) normally saves in past default, and Portable Network Graphics (.png – pronounced as ping). Another file format which is becoming more and more popular is the TIFF file. Some software uses its ain file format, Photoshop uses .psd, Adobe Illustrator uses .ai, in that location are so many different file formats and extensions and not all of them are compatible with all software.

So, which to employ? In most cases, a JPEG will do, but sometimes there is a loss of quality with this file format, and non even just when you first save it only when you open, edit so resave it, over again you volition feel the loss. For scanning artwork, editing it and ultimately printing it, TIFF is a fantastic option. It tin can exist saved and stored in a lossless format, and it uses the CMYK colour system, which I'll explain in a moment. Both JPEG and TIFF are pretty much universal file formats.

scaning artwork file formats

Colour Systems

So, this one is a tricky one, because we have been taught different things near colours throughout our lives. To begin with, we are taught all the colours of the rainbow, and then we learn about browns and greys and golds. And so we are taught about chief colours and how they all go on to brand upwardly other colours. Subsequently in life, things alter again. We learn nearly the master colours of low-cal, crimson, green and blue.

RGB

RGB is the term we use for the aforementioned red, green and bluish. They are the chief colours of light and are virtually usually used in things similar calculator monitors, digital cameras and televisions. The colours are shown in varying proportions and will and so display a different shade or colour on the screen.

CMYK

The second term that you are likely to come across is CMYK. This refers to the primary colours of paint. Needless to say, this is the one that is most normally used in printing, whether that be material printing or standard from-your-computer-onto-paper press. This stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key. Cyan is a shade of blueish, magenta is pink, yellowish is, well, yellow of form, and key refers to black. (For those of you who are interested this is because 'cardinal' is a shortened term for the printing term 'key plate'. The key plate impresses the creative detail of an prototype, and this is normally washed in black ink. A much simpler explanation that has often been considered is considering black, and no other colour begins with 'K'.)

scanning artwork colour systems

DPI

DPI stands for dots per inch – and it'south literally just that. Information technology's important when scanning artwork to ensure the file (before whatsoever editing) has a adept DPI. Aim for at least 300DPI when scanning.

scanning artwork 9DPI

Say this is an inch of your artwork. You scan information technology at 9DPI. That means that within the inch there are 9 dots used that make up that piddling role of your prototype. Kind of similar a mosaic when you recall most information technology. If your piece is a foot squared (12 x 12 inches) then it volition be made up of 108 piffling dots of varying colours to make your movie. 108 mosaic tiles, if you will.

scanning artwork 36 dpi

This is also an inch of your artwork. Although this has been scanned at 36DPI. For every square inch of your art, 36 little dots make up that image. This is obviously going to be much more detailed. It's harder to tell in these examples every bit they are blackness, merely it will make things like color changes smoother, equally well every bit fine lines and curves. For the same 12 x 12-inch piece of art, you'd take 432 dots – or 432 mosaic tiles. Much more detailed.

scanning artwork 36 dpi upscaled

So what happens when you use software to increase the DPI? Put only, the computer doesn't know what colour to brand the extra dots that it'south adding. See the original nine blackness dots? Well they become white at the edges, so when the 'artificial' dots are added in-between, information technology just takes a guess at what color it should be. Hither information technology mixes the black and the white, ending up with grey.

Don't scan something in at 100DPI, and then use software to upscale to 300DPI. 100DPI will likely make your image appear pixelated or blurry, and increasing information technology with software will cause distortion. This is because the computer doesn't know what to put in those other dots.

Scanning Artwork – In summary

Now we have all of this information nosotros can consider information technology all carefully when we are ownership equipment for scanning artwork. To summarise, here is what we take found:

  • CIS scanners only really work for flat mediums but have a lower outset cost
  • CCD scanners are more expensive merely improve for textured work
  • JPEG files experience some loss however are universal and mostly fine for impress purposes.
  • JPEGs use RGB, so will be displayed the same on all screens, just may impress differently
  • TIFF files are lossless and are likewise pretty much universal
  • TIFFs employ CMYK so the colours will exist truthful to print, just may wait different on some screens
  • The higher the DPI that your scanner will scan in, the clearer the image will be
  • Where possible, avoid upscaling your scans using calculator software

When your images are in a digital file format you tin can hands upload them onto a variety of fabrics, garments and homeware items across the Contrado website.

scanning artwork onto products