Imaging Your Artwork

There are three ways in which your original artwork can be converted into a suitable digital format for printing.

If you already have a suitable original photographic negative or transparency of your work, we can usually scan this to produce the necessary digital file. However, unless the photographic image has been professionally prepared to the highest technical quality and with due consideration for colour matching, the results can be unpredictable or unsatisfactory.

For small, unframed originals up to a maximum of A4 in size and having no pronounced surface texture, such as watercolours, direct scanning of the original on our professional flatbed scanner is often the most convenient method of digitising the artwork.

For all larger pieces, and for anything with a heavy texture or impasto, the preferred alternative is to photograph the original with our latest-generation high-resolution digital camera. This also enables us to tailor the lighting sympathetically and in keeping with the artist's vision, either to retain impasto or brushstroke detail in the finished print or to subdue the texture of the original medium as required. Maintaining the philosophy of a fully colour-managed workflow, our camera is custom-profiled together with our studio light source to ensure the closest possible match of the digital file to the original artwork, thereby minimising the need for additional post-production colour matching.

Where possible, we prefer to photograph artwork in our own studio, as this gives us maximum control over lighting conditions and permits accurate colour matching of the digital file to the original artwork. However, where this may not be either possible or convenient, for example in the case of large, delicate or particularly valuable pieces of art, we can now offer you the option of photographing your artwork in situ in your own studio for reproduction, cataloguing or submission for gallery exhibition. Please contact us for further details and a quotation.