does anyone have some experience with importing scanned drawings into photoshop or illustrator for coloring and touching up
i know it is so much simpler and better when you can import a digital image as pdf or eps, but in the case where you don't have the original digital image (dwg file) anymore, what is the best way of importing these scanned images (from print outs)
what file format shd i use when importing? any tricks to make this work and life a lil' bit easier
depends on the size of the drawing. up to 8.5x11 or 11x17, no problem you can do them yourself or go to a copy center type place (i found office max is chhheap). bigger than that and you have to scan sections and bring them into photoshop. bmp or tiff, dpi depending on the size it will need to be printed. true color or grayscale, never b+w.
keep drawings super flat when scanning - use a small stack of white paper to help compress the drawing on the glass.
there are plently of little tricks in p.shop to make recomposing the sections come out perfectly, if you're not too hip with the 'shop ask and i'll give you _detailed instructions_
oh and there are large format scanners - but price per scan sucks
pay attention to the gamma curve when scanning- if you don't adjust it, it comes in as a straight x=y line, and this often the reason for drawings that scan a bit yellow or with red or grey lines. Play with the gamma until things that are supposed to be black are clearly black and things that are supposed to be white are clearly white. My gamma tends to end up looking like the nike 'swoosh' after I'm done playing with it.
It's actually better not to adjust the gamma on your scanner and tweak the curves or levels in photoshop. The controls are more precise and you will get a better end result if you do the color control in photoshop. Think of it like drawing with a marker freehand vs. drawing with a parallel bar and technical pen.
yoiyoi, I'm not exactly sure what your specific question is.. Are the images already scanned? I agree with ADD, I'd import them as a tiff, that way you won't lose any information.
scanning drawings can be really hard. i draw really faint, and scanning my own has given variable results. adjusting the levels in photoshop is your friend, and how much will depend on the drawing. the hardest to scan are drawings with heavy pencil - 9B lead is really shiny, and the scanner reflects off it. i agree with not adjusting anything on the scanner. scan a raw image, and adjust in PS.
scanning piecemeal and patching together is really time consuming. if you value your time and you have an A1 drawing, you might be better off getting the drawings scanned at a print-shop. otherwise, scan in each section, paste into a new layer, and put the layer into 'darken' mode. this makes it easiest.
even for a b/w image, colour scanning gives a better tone (pencil isn't straight black), but your file sizes will be about triple.
reduce the large drawing in sections on the photocopier, past back together with magic tape then scan with A3 scanner (TIFF image at between 300-600 dpi). Touch up everything including gamma correction in PS.
Make sure you get the contrast right on the photocopier especially if your drawing is in pencil.
Its old school but it's quick and cheap - we do it all the time.
Mar 31, 05 4:44 am ·
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scanned drawings
does anyone have some experience with importing scanned drawings into photoshop or illustrator for coloring and touching up
i know it is so much simpler and better when you can import a digital image as pdf or eps, but in the case where you don't have the original digital image (dwg file) anymore, what is the best way of importing these scanned images (from print outs)
what file format shd i use when importing? any tricks to make this work and life a lil' bit easier
thx for responses and suggestions
depends on the size of the drawing. up to 8.5x11 or 11x17, no problem you can do them yourself or go to a copy center type place (i found office max is chhheap). bigger than that and you have to scan sections and bring them into photoshop. bmp or tiff, dpi depending on the size it will need to be printed. true color or grayscale, never b+w.
keep drawings super flat when scanning - use a small stack of white paper to help compress the drawing on the glass.
there are plently of little tricks in p.shop to make recomposing the sections come out perfectly, if you're not too hip with the 'shop ask and i'll give you _detailed instructions_
oh and there are large format scanners - but price per scan sucks
pay attention to the gamma curve when scanning- if you don't adjust it, it comes in as a straight x=y line, and this often the reason for drawings that scan a bit yellow or with red or grey lines. Play with the gamma until things that are supposed to be black are clearly black and things that are supposed to be white are clearly white. My gamma tends to end up looking like the nike 'swoosh' after I'm done playing with it.
It's actually better not to adjust the gamma on your scanner and tweak the curves or levels in photoshop. The controls are more precise and you will get a better end result if you do the color control in photoshop. Think of it like drawing with a marker freehand vs. drawing with a parallel bar and technical pen.
yoiyoi, I'm not exactly sure what your specific question is.. Are the images already scanned? I agree with ADD, I'd import them as a tiff, that way you won't lose any information.
we've got a larege format scanner at school, its awesome and free.
scanning drawings can be really hard. i draw really faint, and scanning my own has given variable results. adjusting the levels in photoshop is your friend, and how much will depend on the drawing. the hardest to scan are drawings with heavy pencil - 9B lead is really shiny, and the scanner reflects off it. i agree with not adjusting anything on the scanner. scan a raw image, and adjust in PS.
scanning piecemeal and patching together is really time consuming. if you value your time and you have an A1 drawing, you might be better off getting the drawings scanned at a print-shop. otherwise, scan in each section, paste into a new layer, and put the layer into 'darken' mode. this makes it easiest.
even for a b/w image, colour scanning gives a better tone (pencil isn't straight black), but your file sizes will be about triple.
reduce the large drawing in sections on the photocopier, past back together with magic tape then scan with A3 scanner (TIFF image at between 300-600 dpi). Touch up everything including gamma correction in PS.
Make sure you get the contrast right on the photocopier especially if your drawing is in pencil.
Its old school but it's quick and cheap - we do it all the time.
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