Artist/Image Scanning

[3Deep]

Question for you that are smarter than me which is everyone, I like to take as many short cuts as possible doing art to produce faster but nice clean art, I have customer that send me files 72 dpi 1x1 some 3x3 for me to work from.  I try to keep my art budget reasonable because people hate paying for art as it is, so I'm stuck scanning a small pc of art most are silhouette, some being color.  For you that handle art 100% how do you go about scan setup, size grayscale, color black& White before you take it to photoshop, I know I could just enlarge and redraw but that takes time and I'm trying to do the quick and dirty.  What I normally do is scan the art in grayscale if its a silhouette at 300 to 600 and enlarge to 10 to 12 inches then scan to photoshop where I then play with there before saving to a tiff and using the trace tool in Illy.  I'm skipping a lot of what I do in photoshop, still I think there might be a better way to scan before I get there, any and all advice....all ears here.

darryl

[kirkage]

I usually don't use any auto trace unless it is really clean from the start. People that send crap art should pay for it to be traced. Period. Only because it sets a bad standard that only gets worse. At least with this theory you can pay someone to do it if you don't have the time.

[mimosatexas]

1x1 72 dpi is not usable art and would have to be wholly recreated in almost every case.

[Boldline]

Hey Darryl,

  I think I understand what you are asking...

My first thought is to do a google image search for the images they sent you. It sounds like the file they sent you is a thumbnail image from the web (sizing and resolution indicate this). Odds are, it's a thumbnail preview off a website that leads to a larger version of the image. Google Image search is a different google browser than the standard tried and true. Type into google, "Google Image search" and then in that google window you should see the camera icon in the text box. Click on that and you can choose an image on a website or on your hard drive to search for. This has saved me many times!
If that doesn't work, read on to the next paragraph below!

From your description, it sounds like you are taking a lot of steps to avoid redrawing or tracing the existing image! You mention using Photoshop, so I am going to assume you are an Illustrator user as well (though it works equally in Corel). I typically open the image in Photoshop and convert it to grayscale and then use the layers options to eliminate extra elements and increase contrast.  I increase the size of the overall image and patch it up with the brush tool. Then I save it out as a jpeg or png. Sometimes I save it out as a bitmap image if I have a good image in Photoshop. Then I open the image in Illustrator and use the "live trace" feature. Once that is complete, I go in and use the smooth tool, blob tool, and pen tool to tighten up the design.

Usually I try to assess the live trace result before deciding if the job is worth the time to touch up the jagged edges from the raster image or if it'd just be easier and faster to trace over it with the pen tool in Illustrator!

Hope that helps some!
Mat

[3Deep]

Yep I'm trying to avoid redrawing, Mat your dead on target we get so much art stuff people send from the net or custom ink.  I like to just do it from scratch but most customers budget are small and I do a lot of free extra art just to get a nice looking print to save myself time and to make my customers happy.  Do you have any settings you like to use for scanning small images?  thanks guys

[Boldline]

I understand you trying to avoid re-drawing. It's almost like you're trying to squeeze blood from a stone. I believe at some point reality hits - there are only so many corners that can be cut without your square turning into a circle. I think you're at that circle point now. There's no great way to upscale a raster image, particularly one that begins at 72dpi and is postage stamp in size.

What is this image they need reproduced at normal size so badly that cannot be found online as a clip art piece? Can you post it on here so we can see?

I understand people find crazy stuff on the web or resort to Custom ink. With custom ink, I will go in and "create" my own shirt so to speak and then look for the items they used. (Or I type in the ID# they give me to find their existing creation)
When you find the object in the list, usually you can click on an up-close visual of it. I'd take a screen shot and then live trace that image and then modify it to make it my own.

[Command-Z]

If your customer is sending you images that small, chances are, they're getting them off the internet. Chances are, they're not paying for them and feel entitled to them since they "found" them somewhere. They don't want to pay, so they steal.

People hating to pay for art isn't an excuse. I hate paying for everything. As someone who makes his living from making art, hearing a line like that chaps my hide. No budget for it? Then just print it exactly as they give it to you and see how they like it. Stop giving away your time to keep a customer that doesn't value your time.

My 2 centavos.

[Boldline]

If your customer is sending you images that small, chances are, they're getting them off the internet. Chances are, they're not paying for them and feel entitled to them since they "found" them somewhere. They don't want to pay, so they steal.

People hating to pay for art isn't an excuse. I hate paying for everything. As someone who makes his living from making art, hearing a line like that chaps my hide. No budget for it? Then just print it exactly as they give it to you and see how they like it. Stop giving away your time to keep a customer that doesn't value your time.

Great points Command-Z. I was nodding along with everything you wrote. This thread initially had me diverting to debating the notion that people do not want to pay for art, but then I erased it and kept on topic! I will re-write it and create a new post for it.

I've found when clients bring me "Custom Ink" designs or stuff found on the internet, they are usually open to having custom art designed or applicable stock art used in its place.

[3Deep]

Command, ha getting folks around here to pay for good art is crazy cause the cat down the street will do it for nothing.  Trust me I value my time, but I still give away a little bit to certain customers, I thank you guys and looks like I'm going to take pen to paper or use the pen tool in Illy, it's a very simple pc that I was trying to fudge on for time.

[3Deep]

Quote from: Command-Z on Today at 03:46:53 PM
If your customer is sending you images that small, chances are, they're getting them off the internet. Chances are, they're not paying for them and feel entitled to them since they "found" them somewhere. They don't want to pay, so they steal.

People hating to pay for art isn't an excuse. I hate paying for everything. As someone who makes his living from making art, hearing a line like that chaps my hide. No budget for it? Then just print it exactly as they give it to you and see how they like it. Stop giving away your time to keep a customer that doesn't value your time.

Great points Command-Z. I was nodding along with everything you wrote. This thread initially had me diverting to debating the notion that people do not want to pay for art, but then I erased it and kept on topic! I will re-write it and create a new post for it.

I've found when clients bring me "Custom Ink" designs or stuff found on the internet, they are usually open to having custom art designed or applicable stock art used in its place.

Done that allso