Scanning Problems

[crackpr0n]

I have a bad habit of carrying around ridiculously large sketchbooks, and I can't seem to get any of my sketchbook art onto the computer because the drawings are too large for the scan bed.

http://www.digikitten.com/playhousev2/files/kappaz/example.jpg

You see, the drawing is nearly 4 times larger than the scanner, so i can't just scan 2 halves. What should I do?

And also, what kind of settings are the best for scanning up pencil illustrations? And what kind of Photoshop adjustments can make the picture better?

[whoreable]

Cut your drawing in half, or maybe even 4 pieces. scan them individually, then save them. Open photoshop and create a new document, and place the images back together like a puzzle. Just use the 300dpi for your scanner settings, you shouldnt need to many adjustments in the picture if you have a good scanner.

[crackpr0n]

I really don't want to cut my drawing into 4 pieces.
Is there another way without having me cut my drawing?

[mtomczek]

use a digital camera and take shots of it. otherwise work smaller.

[Johannes]

Yes, a digital camera is a good suggestion.(Or a real camera and scan the film or the prints - it depends on what U got).

The main thing to remember when photographing drawings is lighting, color temperature and angle.
The real easy way to do this is to buy yet another thingie, called a "reprostativ" in swedish... A reproduction tripod???
Its a boaud with a sturdy mounting to place the camera (screw it in place - be sure to get a camera that has one of those standard screw holes in the bottom). Then theres also usually a set of lamparms mounted on this board, 2 or 4. Theres even extra super expensive ones that got flashheads instead of lamps.

Well, aim those lamps at the drawing, about 45 degree angle is good, U want to light it, but dont want any light to bounce right into the camera, making a reflection and whiting out totally that area.

Buy a big piece of glass (that can cover ur book) and use that so it dont fold all the time while photographing.

Use 100 watt lightbulbs - they make good light and fine pics in B/W.
BUT!!! they make excessive yellowish pics in color... Therefor, either buy the expensive flash thingy... Or invest again in some blue filters to filter out the yellow. Place theese in front of camera lens (adjusting for the loss of light - theese heavy filters take a lot of light).
Start out by trying a combination of maybe blufilter 80a (very blue) topped with maybe filter 82a (slightly blue) to make almost natural pics.

The board and arm takes almost automaticly care of the angle so theres no problem.

All this is very costly...
So I have another technique too :)
Tape or hang the book on the wall, in the morning or evening in a slightly naturally lit room (no lamps on whatsoever!!!) - ideally is to have those thin white windowcurtains hanging in front of the windows.
Or if its a cloudy day - hurray - clouds are Ur best friend - do it outside :)
The way U see if the lighting is good, is there should be one of those days without shadows, test if ur hand for instance makes a shdow on the wall or something - no shadow, good repro-photography day :)
Then have a regular camera tripod, aim it carfully so U dont get weird perspective effects and shoot :)

Oh, U want to use about 50mm lens for this job, to get minimum distortion, and make in about 5.6, most lenses are bmost sharp there.

Good Luck :D

[soul8o8]

hmm, you could scan in passes and then reassemble the drawings photoshop.. surely you don't have to cut it up to scan a part of it?

i could present a technique for doing it i photoshop but i don't want to write it unless i know you need it ;)

[fletchgirl]

yeah, you totally don't have to cut it, as long as your scanner has a top that can be removed... you'll have four overlapping images... yeah, i do this all the time with my images... it's way better than cutting them, because then you don't have to worry about the edges not lining correctly, and slight light/color differences and all. anyway, if you know how to put the two halves together, in photoshop, then you can figure out the four of them. put the drawing vertical, scan the top right quarter, top left quarter, then flip the drawing over and scan the bottom two quarters.