Photograph, or scan it?

[Scorpya]

I wondered if anyone had any tips for getting traditional media onto a computer with reasonable success. Do you find a scanner, or photo better?

With the help of Photoshop, I've found that it's possible for even pencil to look decent. However, my Photoshop has recently decided to die. Now, I'm a bit stuck..(I'm on a Mac, btw.)

I'd love any and all suggestions! ^^

[Lukias]

If you're talking about pencils and working in A4 then scanning is the way. Scanners vary but they can all do rediculously high resolutions(not that you want to) and they're pretty cheap these days.

You can photograph your sketch work aswell but you want a decent consistant lightsource(outside) otherwise you get a gradient effect across the page, especially with tweaking levels etc later on.

With paintings unless you're working small(scanner size), photography is your obvious option, watch your lightsource.. again, outside either under cover(away from direct sunlight) or under overcast skys. The trick is to find a spot where there is least reflecting on the surface of you painting. This can be a pain in the ass.
There are slightly more elaborate ways to successfully photograph your work.. twin lightsources etc but I'm not the person for that.
:)

[Wooly ESS]

I tend to agree with Lukias. The top image is a scanned pencil drawing. The lower image is an acrylic painting photographed outdoors. I'm not terribly satisfied with the results, but I think the only way to improve the copy is to go to a studio setup, which I don't have, or go professional.

[Extent]

The key to scanning is making sure that your scanner supports 48bit output. That gives you enough dynamic range to let you "tune out" the paper grain as much as you want and still maintain the subtler pencil strokes without giving you nasty looking clipping. I find that I don't really care much about resolution, since I only scan at 300 dpi for general use stuff.

[Lukias]

I've used about 4-5 scanners and results differ a bit. I'm pretty sure my scanner from 6 years back wasn't 48 bit but it managed a nice scan(in fact a spanking new one I purchased gave terrible results). Alot depends on the scanner software and what tweaking options it gives you. Do your homework before buying.
Again, the quality of your camera will have massive impact. Your cheap point'n'shoot digi may not capture all those subtleties and values. Either get it done professionally(expensive) or get a fairly decent camera. Shit, last generation dslr digi's are cheap now anyway and take stellar shots.

[Scorpya]

If you're talking about pencils and working in A4 then scanning is the way. Scanners vary but they can all do rediculously high resolutions(not that you want to) and they're pretty cheap these days.

You can photograph your sketch work aswell but you want a decent consistant lightsource(outside) otherwise you get a gradient effect across the page, especially with tweaking levels etc later on.

With paintings unless you're working small(scanner size), photography is your obvious option, watch your lightsource.. again, outside either under cover(away from direct sunlight) or under overcast skys. The trick is to find a spot where there is least reflecting on the surface of you painting. This can be a pain in the ass.
There are slightly more elaborate ways to successfully photograph your work.. twin lightsources etc but I'm not the person for that.
:)
I've had a lot of hit and miss when photographing paintings. I find overcast days the best.

I attempted tweaking the scanners software once, with reasonable results. I had a bit of a loss of fine detail, but the picture wasn't gray at least.

I have a decent camera, but once again, getting fine detail is.....a chore.

Thank you so much for suggesting looking at the scanner itself! I may need to do a bit of shopping. A bit of smart shopping, rather. ^^

[Scorpya]

I tend to agree with Lukias. The top image is a scanned pencil drawing. The lower image is an acrylic painting photographed outdoors. I'm not terribly satisfied with the results, but I think the only way to improve the copy is to go to a studio setup, which I don't have, or go professional.
I think the photo on the painting is just fine! (but I haven't seen it in life..XD)

Hmmmm... I haven't thought about a professional place yet. (I'm thinking for scanning, and editing.) If I don't have my image editing back up, that may be a good option. Thanks!

[Scorpya]

The key to scanning is making sure that your scanner supports 48bit output. That gives you enough dynamic range to let you "tune out" the paper grain as much as you want and still maintain the subtler pencil strokes without giving you nasty looking clipping. I find that I don't really care much about resolution, since I only scan at 300 dpi for general use stuff.
That sounds very, very interesting. I need to take a closer look at this scanner. (it's still new)

If this doesn't support 48 bit, I think I seriously need to find one that does. It would solve the problem of a messed up imaging program. Thank you!!