Can I photograph my own artwork?
This is a question we get asked a lot. The answer is yes, however for Fine Art printing the answer is typically, NO! Unless you are a professional photographer with experience in photographing artwork to avoid the common flaws we come across such as your artwork looking flat or dull or with light flares/shadows. I think it’s fair to say that photographing your art is an art in itself!
Here at Kili Arts we provide you with professional photographers that specialise in artwork reproduction photography with proven outstanding attention to detail. The most important part of the whole artwork reproduction process is the initial capture of your original images. Our team of experts can capture the most intricate details in your original artwork, the subtle hues and fine details in your original artwork. What makes this process so important? The answer is everything. Any small details missed will be evident in your final fine art giclée print.
Photography and Scanning
Your art is photographed to the highest resolution, which produces an image with high colour-depth, detail and accuracy. We will provide you with printable files at minimum 300 dpi.
Key Features:
- Art Gallery quality digital artwork reproduction photography
- High resolution artwork photography of your artwork, whether it’s oil paintings, watercolours, illustrations, acrylics, pastels or even sculptures
- All reflections removed and files produced are white point and colour balanced
- True colour digital capture
- For larger pieces or delicate artwork, an on-location photography service can be requested
Scanning for Smaller Scale Artwork
Here at Kili Arts we offer an in-house scanning service for up to A3 size. Each piece is scanned to the highest resolution possible so that you have the option to print as large as possible, we can scan up to 2400 dpi. We will colour match, which ensures they are as close as possible to the colours in your artwork. The image file of your artwork will be saved as a TIFF, not a JPG, as these are compressed files, which is what you don’t want. A TIFF file will allow you to make edits without losing information. To give you an example, we once scanned an A5 watercolour artwork at 2,400 dpi, which allowed the artist to print a reproduction of that piece at 60”x40”, without any loss of detail.
There are drum scanners available in the market that can scan larger than A3, however as the artwork goes through a roller, you cannot scan rigid pieces i.e. canvases
Adjusting and Optimising Image Files for Reproduction or Web
Calibrate Monitor: All computer screens display images differently, in terms of colour balance, brightness and contrast. You should calibrate your screen regularly to ensure colour consistency.
Colour Space: In Photoshop, you should set your colour space to sRGB and Adobe 98 colour spaces to see which is more accurate to your artwork. If you have a CMYK file, convert it to an RGB colour profile as our printers are installed with the RGB drivers allowing.
Crop Images: In Photoshop, you can use the crop tool to remove the background and any unnecessary edges. If you are trying to use several images that need to be kept at the same dimension then set the ratio.
Adjust Levels: Digital images of artwork can often look a little flatter than in real life and will sometimes need to be brought back to life. In Photoshop, the simplest and quickest way to do this is to go to ‘Image – Adjust – Levels’, bring the outer arrow sliders slightly into the middle of the line. This will add contrast and depth to your image, you’ll see the black in the image get darker and the white areas get brighter.
Save Image Files as JPGs or PNGs: As mentioned earlier, your scanned image will be saved as a TIFF, however, these are generally too large for web use.
When using our photography or scanning services, you will be provided with all the image files of your artwork, including printable files. For more information, please call 01753 542319 or email prints@kiliarts.co.uk.
