Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Photograph or scan?
Should you use a flatbed or film scanner? Or should you photograph your work? The best
way to bring your work to the computer will differ based on its exact type.
Garden variety flatbed scanners are great for flat, low-contrast images. That makes them
extremely useful for printed art and illustrations but less effective for images with a broad
value range. If you scan to hold shadows, you'll lose the highlights, and vice versa.
If you have strong highlights
and shadows and compara-
tively few midtones, you may
lose detail at both ends, as
happened in this image. The
bright foam is too bleached
out (center of the image)
and there is no detail in
the rock shadow in the lower-
right corner.
Although you can scan prints on a flatbed, if you are a professional photographer you
should try to go direct from film. You should also look for a slide scanner. Flatbeds market-
ed as photo scanners have better dynamic ranges than standard ones, but even with trans-
parency attachments most can't complete with a good film scanner. Use them only if you
print on special paper or make post-developing changes to the print.
What about not-quite-flat art, like topics? Your ideal solution is a large-sized flatbed scan-
ner for page spreads (an option at some service bureaus and schools). But if you can't find
one, taking photographs using a copy stand (see “Shooting 3D and oversized work”) and
some non-reflective glass is usually better than trying to graft two scanned pieces together
in Adobe Photoshop.
