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 Up loading paintings, advise please

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Linus




Posts : 131
Join date : 2010-02-01

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PostSubject: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 10:29 am

I'm looking for some good advice. My usual method of up loading a work is as follows. I take the piece to Walgreens and scan it and have a CD made at the same time. These are Jpeg images of course. Then I put the CD in the computer and save the images I want. Then I up load them to my web site or any other site I want to send them to. I am not satisfied with the results. The saved images and the up loaded images lack sharpness and clarity. Is this because they are in Jpeg or is something lost in the process? My hosting site will not take TIFF so I am stuck with Jpeg there. Would I get better images if I went to a photographer who has a better scanner? I don't have photoshop or anything like it, and don't see how that would overcome what seems a fundamental flaw in the image making process to start with. I see so many fine up loaded works that it makes me think there is a secret some where that I have missed.
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Callie
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Callie


Posts : 1233
Join date : 2009-11-21
Location Location : St. Louis, MO USA

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 11:32 am

I've had the best results taking my own photos with a digital camera. I'm no photographer, but the pictures came out better than professionally done slides. Up loading paintings, advise please Icon_biggrin

As for scanning, do you have any choice there over the quality settings? On my home scanner I usually use a 600dpi setting to get a high-quality picture. Then I can make any needed adjustments and re-size it for the web in an image-editing program. Are you scanning your art - or photos of your art? If you scan photos at a low-quality setting, they're probably pixelated (blurry).

It might be worth a visit to a camera shop. Explain what you're trying to do and see what they have to say. Most of them offer photography classes - which cover how to put your photos online. So someone should be able to give you some advice to set you on the right track.
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Linus




Posts : 131
Join date : 2010-02-01

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 3:46 pm

Thank you Callie. As for choice, Wallgreens has some adjustments on their scanner but nothing for pixels. I think you are right about being " pixelated. " The only thing I can say about that is that on the one image I still have saved is that the image is 1.80 MB, which means nothing to me but may to you. You may be right about talking to a photographer. I have used several. One charges $75.00 for a scan. I forget what the other charges but he does have a 9800 scanner. He told me before that their high resolution images were 300dpi. But again he charges about $20.00 for a scan. Eventually I may stop uploading images because of the cost. We all have to watch the cost of things these days, at least I do. That's why I was going to Walgeens. I can scan up to 25 images and get a CD for about $10.00. But the size is limited to 8x10 images. You can do 9x12 or larger but then you loose several inches of the image, which isn't usually desireable.
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Callie
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Callie


Posts : 1233
Join date : 2009-11-21
Location Location : St. Louis, MO USA

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 5:45 pm

Sounds like it's time for a digital camera! So much easier, and no on-going cost after the initial purchase. Do you have any camera stores in your area? Start there for some advice (about scanning, image quality and cameras), rather than talking to a pro photographer. Then you can decide if it's worth it to pay someone else, or if you'd rather do it yourself.
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judyfilarecki
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judyfilarecki


Posts : 2685
Join date : 2009-11-16
Location Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 6:32 pm

Good Advise, Callie,

I'm always grabbing my little digital camera my son gave me for Christmas several years ago. When I don't have that with me, I take out my cell phone (a new one I just got) which has a camera. With either camera, I can download it to my computer.

Many times the images need adjustment to make then look good on the computer, but I put them into Photo Shop and do an auto adjust. Sometimes I have to reduce the brightness a bit after the auto adjust, but that is easy enough.

Photo shop can be a little expensive, but there is a free progam called GIMP which works just as well. Janet uses that a lot and could probably tell you more about it.

Hope this helps.

Judy
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Janet
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Janet


Posts : 2050
Join date : 2009-11-15
Location Location : North Bay, Ontario Canada

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 7:51 pm

I agree that a digital camera would be the way to go and you can purchase one fairly cheaply and get a really good resolution. You can take as many photos as you want and delete the ones that don't turn out without paying anything extra.

Gimp is a good one but for something even more straightforward and I think easier to use I find Fast Stone Image Viewer excellent. I use this one more then GIMP for cropping, resampling and adjusting brightness, contrast and saturation. You can grayscale a photo easily as well. If you've never used a graphics program I think I'd choose this one.

Fast Stone Image Viewer can be downloaded here: http://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-2192_4-10324485.html
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Linus




Posts : 131
Join date : 2010-02-01

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyMon Feb 01, 2010 9:38 pm

Thanks Janet, Callie, Judy, Just wanted to let you know I read your comments. I'm not going to make any sudden moves on any thing. Next time I want to scan or photograph I think I will talk to the photographer. I know you advised to talk only to camera shop folks. But I don't know of any around here and the one I used most has the big scanner. I think I may just need to ask the right questions. Even that can be a problem.
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judyfilarecki
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judyfilarecki


Posts : 2685
Join date : 2009-11-16
Location Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona

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PostSubject: Re: Up loading paintings, advise please   Up loading paintings, advise please EmptyTue Feb 02, 2010 12:04 pm

Maybe you could download the free link Janet gave you and experiment with some of the ones you all ready have as jpegs. It would at least give you a feel for how the program works in helping you improve your photo.
Judy
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