Advantages of digitising your artwork
We live in a digital age. While physical works are still the essence of an artist’s portfolio, digitising your work opens up new opportunities for collectors to interact with your work. One key example is social media. Digitising your work means your can easily share your latest works on Instagram, add them to your online shop, or promote your next event. Additionally, digitising your work allows you to sell unlimited prints of your artworks.
How to scan small works
Many works A3 or smaller can be digitised using standard flatbed scanners. The most important feature of a scanner is its DPI (dots per inch). To ensure the scan picks up all the fine details of your print and so your work can be scaled in almost any size, you’ll want to use a scanner with at least 1200 DPI.
How to scan large artworks
If you require a scanner to digitise your oversized works and paintings, you’ll need to use a large-scale professional scanner. Our Hackney-based studio is home to our professional scanning lounge, fit with the best equipment available. Our top range Canon scanner is built for large works, accurately scanning images as large as A0. Speak to our team today!
Editing you images
While there are many image editing suites out there, the most popular remains Photoshop. While not always the most intuitive, you can easily make adjustments to get your digital image just right once you’ve played around. Photoshop, GIMP and Canva are all fantastic tools for adjusting colours that may not have been scanned correctly or removing any marks or imperfections from your work.
Layers are your friend
Using layers allows you to make adjustments to your work without permanently changing it and starting from scratch. Layers are your friend, so pile them on. You can always hide or delete them if you don’t like what you’ve done.
Hue/Saturation
Sometimes scanners don’t quite get the colour right. For example, some images can have a slightly yellow or blue shade from the reflected light from scanning. Luckily there is a simple way to change the colours of your digital work. Try adjusting the Hue/Saturation layer. When you use this layer, you can adjust the hue, saturation and lightness of your image. You can select specific colours to make your yellows brighter or your reds deeper or get your colours back to their intended shade.
Curves
The curves tool is fantastic for adjusting specific highlights. For example, it allows you to brighten white backgrounds without affecting after colours in your work. Select the dropper tool, then the areas you want white, and you’re done!
Once you’re happy with your digital image, remember to save it as a photoshop file, so you can come back and edit it if you want to. Also, save your image in high resolution (+300DPI), so it can easily be scaled and printed in any size. Lastly, we recommend saving your work as a TIFF or other lossless file type.
Scan your work today
Are you ready to digitise your artwork? Stop into our Hackney studio and check out our top of the line scanning lounge. Sprawling over 650sq ft, we have one of the UK’s best negative film scanning rooms and use only the latest equipment, like our Epson 12000XL Pro A3 scanner and Hasselblad X5 scanner. The lounge is decked out with plush couches, complimentary refreshments, and old-school arcade games, creating an inviting, comfortable hub to digitise your art. Contact our team by phone or live chat to set up an appointment today. Beyond Print is here to bring your art into the digital sphere! Get in touch today!
