I’ve been asked by artists who create art on large canvas, how to get their art from the canvas to the computer. Paul Brent paints on large canvas and has told me that they scan it and piece it together. That’s great – but HOW?
I have found a solution for you! You may not like it, but it’s an option that works very well for artist Adam Parsons and he has graciously allowed me to post his technique here for you.
Adam is an amazingly talented artist – I became aware of him when I saw a YouTube video of him creating a piece of art called “Taking Plants to Market” – part of his “Planting Embrace” line. I sat in awe of his detail work – it’s quite amazing to see! In the scanning demo, he shows a very different style of art.
Thank you for letting me share your knowledge with the art licensing community – we all appreciate it!
Here is what Adam has to say and show you about getting large works into a digital format.
One area that so many artist fail in is the documentation of their work, especially with larger paintings. The quality of presenting your final piece is essential for your remote viewers to fully appreciate what you’ve created.
Here’s a video documentation of a process I’ve been using for years. It is a time consuming and mundane process and if you don’t have a fairly decent computer, patience and a love for coffee then this may not be for you. The only reason I’ve been doing it this way for so long is the results that it produces at the end are incomparable to most anything I’ve seen other than full-sized commercial scanners.
The first time you do this you’ll want to quit. Guaranteed! This method isn’t for everyone. I’ve just been asked many times over the years how I have such vivid colors and detail in my online work. This is why.
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To see the finished piece, visit Adam’s blog.
Here’s to your creative and large format scanning success!
– Tara Reed
May I suggest that such a large canvas can be scanned at a lower resolution? 300 dpi for each scan of a full size 52 x 64 inch painting results in humongous file sizes, especially if layers are involved when stitching in Photoshop. If you are NOT printing your final stitched scan at a full size of 52 x 64 inches, I don’t think there’s a need for 300 ppi scans. If you are printing the final stitched artwork at half size or less you can scan at 150 dpi.
What is the recommended computer set-up for a licensed design artist to have? Mac vs. PC? What type of printer? I’m just ready to get started and want to make sure I have the right equipment . .
thanks!
Dale – Mac vs PC is totally up to you – it’s the fact that you can deliver art digitally that matters. Printer – also personal preference, as long as you get quality prints that reflect your work well. Photoshop &/or Illustrator (from Adobe) are standard programs that most artists and manufacturers use.
Wishing you much success!
This technique seems very complex, but workable if you have a lot of time and absolutely need to save money after the initial setup. I personally have sought out various commercial vendors who have the Betterlight scanning back setup, or its equivalent (there are several similar technologies), to do hi-res scans of my paintings. The cost, of late, is around $40 per scan (after hard bargaining and a promise to bring in several pictures at once); the scans can be set up for either 16 bit or 8 bit capture at 300dpi. One advantage is that these shops or individuals have invested in high quality lighting, which makes all the difference. Typically, a Northlight setup with polarizing filters provides the extremely critical temperature controlled and absolutely even lighting across the entire surface – something very hard to achieve at home. The use or non-use of polarizing can help eliminate the annoying little light flares from oil paints and surpress (or not) the accentuation of the canvas grain in the paint, which may be unwanted. It can also adjust the impression of impasto shadows, which can give a 3D viewing effect. Going the home route can be fine for just getting a photo record of a work, but for reproduction is tough to get right.
Very interesting Adam! Thanks! I haven’t stitched artwork that large before — but now I might give it a try! Thanks for the vid! It’s really helpful for us “less tech savvy” artists! (P.S. FYI…The background music was kinda loud and I couldn’t hear you sometimes!)