laura_seabrook | Scanning in Artwork (Reply)

I was answering a query on web_comics about how people scan their artwork in. This was my reply.

Scanning in Artwork

I have a mild problem with arthritis and rheumatism and have set my technique and procedure up to work around that, so my work looks a bit "clunky".

For one reason or another, I draw my drafts on 110 gsm Cartridge paper (normally an A3 sheet cut into two A4 sheets) using a HB pencil (after first drawing a 1 cm margin around the cut sheet). This tends to be a tad messy, as it leaves various smudges after I erase. I "ink" using: Bic GripRoller fine pens; Artline 750s, and cheap big nib whiteboard markers to fill in the blacks (they work best on cartridge paper). In any case I consider the drawn art just the initial draft, and scan it into Paint Shop Pro (I'm still using version 9, as I have an older PC) using a Mustek 1200 USB Plus A4 scanner in colour at 150 dpi (I tried 300 and 600 dpi but my slow PC stalled).

I find that the colour setting is more sensitive than either greyscale or line-art. I crop the result to match the pencilled in margin. I then use curves (see image below) to remove most of the pencil mark crap I left on when drawing it.

Then I create a new image with all the standard layers that I use, resize the scanned image to fit the width of the standard image, copy it, and paste it into the new image as the top layer (which is then set to Multiply). Most of the layers underneath are there to lay down colour, or add shadows and hilights, and I just add an extra layers to paint in colours at different depths to the camera.

I have an A3 drawing tablet, and will probably experiment with it more once my (upgraded) PC is a bit faster than 330MHz - at the moment the result skips if I draw too fast. Recently I bought a copy of Imagine FX and found a whole pile of workshops/tutorials on their site of interest. Page 43 of the April 2007 issue uses a different technique to get rid of "noise" from scans - they use the histogram dialog instead. I just tried this (see image below) and it seems to work much the same as curves.