:: digital capture ::

 This is the first entry of a a new tech blog to answer various questions that come up about digital capture of paintings and other two dimensional artwork. I'll endeavor to expand and update it regularly. I often am asked  about various services and repeated questions come up which I hope to answer here. I can then refer your questions to this blog as it grows.

 As many of you know I employ a digital stitching technique to produce high resolution files of paintings up to 6' in width. All digital capture files on my pricelist at $20.00 and above are created by combining between 2 &15 and sometimes more precisely aligned multiple raw captures of your artwork. These multiple images are then stitched seamlessly together in Photoshop.

This is why I need to know what the largest size file you'll need as the process expands and turnaround time lengthens as the file size grows.  So to estimate what size files you require, you will need to know the size of your artwork and the largest size you would want to reproduce (print) the file at. 

One of these days I will document the stitching process and post a photo series to better explain for those who are perhaps confused by the process or just want more info. This will also help illustrate why for example large captures of gold, silver and other sparkly media can be problematic and very time consuming  when combined with stitching. I rarely have charged extra for this but will need to soon.
 My price list shows approximate file sizes in MB along with the approximate maximum output size at 300 ppi at each price point. 
After stitching the multiple capture files together I then do multiple pass sharpening (Capture, Luminance and Output if printing), color correction, sometimes canvas skew correction and touch up if needed/requested. The master files I provide are optimized to leave headroom (shadow and high light detail) for final level adjustments for printing to a particular paper. I output your files to DVD in multiple formats 16 bit PSD masters (when applicable), 8bit TIFF & JPEG, 800 pixel web files and 1920x1920 Zapp format also used by CaFÉ™ for image submissions. I usually email web proofs and can upload full size files for you as well. If you ask nice I'll make a simple webpage for gratis of your paintings with a link to pass along if you need a quick web presence.  Remember  that a large file can always be downsized for web or smaller prints but the reverse is far less satisfying. You can only up rez a file so much with anything close to satisfactory results. So if you think there is a chance you might in the future need large high quality prints I recommend ordering larger files. See pricelist

Old tech page for some additional info:
 http://perceptualintent.com/Technical.html

:: emailing files ::

There are various issues that can arise when sending digital files via email.
First off sending large files often needed for print production can often exceed the file size limits restrictions of your email client application or program. Gmail has a  20 MB file attachment limit which is among the highest provided by popular email and I highly recommend signing up for a free Gmail  email account if you have issues sending files. For very large files see links below.
Do not drag files into the body of your email message, while this will indeed attach the file for sending, it will also probably compress the file to make it smaller for quicker web uploads which will seriously degrade the image quality.
If you are dragging a JPEG file into your email it is quite possible it was already  compressed and re- compressing it will just exacerbate the issue of degrading your files.
If you are in the habit of dragging files on to your email then its time to switch to "attaching" your files (though if you drag a file into a GMail email rather then attaching you are given the option of attaching at original size which is what you want).
If your email client or application/program does not give you the option to attach files then its time to switch your method of email to the totally free Gmail or alternately YahooMail (Yahoo now makes it very easy to send files up to 100MB via a yousendit option built right in)!!
For files over 20MB or if you are unable to email a particular file try FTP.
Visit the  link below for more information:
http://perceptualintent.com/News/Entries/2011/8/3_ftp_server.html

A viable alternate to FTP IS provided by these great free online services:
https://www.yousendit.com 
or
https://www.dropbox.com

digital capture blog

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