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Scanning & Taking Photographs of Paintings Hints Taking a good photograph of your artwork requires more care than one might imagine. If you intend to display your paintings in one of the galleries on Printpop.com then you must recognize that they cannot look better on the web site than the original photographic print. The resolution (sharpness) will be a little degraded compared with the photograph. To minimize loss in quality, it is worth taking a good photograph to start with.
*Remember: a print can only be as good as the image that we start with.
Removing minor distortions to make the picture have parallel edges and trimming to remove extraneous items from the background is easy for us to do and will give your picture a professional appearance. In theory, we can also make minor adjustments to the brightness, contrast and color balance. We don't know what your pictures should look like, unless you tell us when you upload it.
Taking the picture
You do not need to have a very expensive camera to take reasonably good pictures of your paintings since you have a stationary subject and can afford to wait for good photographic conditions. Most modern digital cameras are adequate except perhaps for the very cheapest.
Prop up your painting against a wall or chair back sloping it at an angle so that the camera is square to its surface when you are 4 to 8 ft away from it.
Fill the viewfinder or LCD screen with your painting. This is accomplished by moving a little closer or further away (or using the zoom if you have one). Don't move closer than the minimum distance for your camera even if the painting is a bit small in the viewfinder - we can enlarge it. Hold the camera very still when you press the button! We highly recommend using a
tripod if you have one. Setting your camera on a stack of books on a chair is also an effective way to keep your camera steady. While cheaper than a tripod, this route takes a bit more time, but may give better results if blurring is an issue from simply holding the camera with your hands.
Lighting conditions and reflections
Reflections
Don't try to take photographs of your pictures after they have been framed behind glass! It is almost impossible to avoid reflections not only from the main light source but from other objects reflected in the glass. Get into the habit of photographing your paintings
before you frame them (or frame them temporarily without glass). If a painting is already framed behind glass, you have no choice but to take it out of its frame to take the photograph.
Another source of reflections is the surface of the painting itself. This is not very important for watercolors and pastels which have a matt surface, but it is very important for oil paintings or any other medium that has a slightly shiny surface. In this case you are only troubled by reflections of light sources. This can be avoided by lighting the picture obliquely, at around 45 degrees to its surface. Your camera's built-in flash must be turned off except for paintings with a matte surface.
Outdoors
The best light source is the sun because film is designed to give true colors in sunlight. Therefore, it is best to take your pictures outdoors and remember to turn off the flash. Position your painting with the sunlight falling on it from the side so that the sun is not reflected from the surface of your painting directly into the camera. Take care that no shadows from foliage are falling on your artwork.
Indoors
Photographing paintings outdoors is not always predictable so indoor photographs need to be taken sometimes. A photographic flash gives correct colors but there can be a serious reflection problem from the surface of the picture, especially if the camera flash is built-in to the camera. This limits you to using a built-in flash for watercolor and pastel paintings only (without glass).
Avoid photographing by normal tungsten room lighting since this gives the painting a strong yellow caste. Daylight bulbs and photoflood bulbs can be bought at photographic shops and these give a satisfactory color balance. Some fluorescent tubes are also reasonable but others are not.
Scanning - Film - Slides
Scanning images is a great way to go since you do not need to worry about lighting. Unfortunately many
images are simply too large to scan. If you are able to scan your work, please ensure that you scan it at at least 300DPI, and do not "Doctor" the image at all before uploading or sending it to us. Many artists opt to use professional equipment to convert their work to film or slides. We accept both film negatives and slides. Please E-mail
support@printpop.com
for more details.
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