Equipment

Guiding Questions

Anjuli's Process

1. Your digitisation process is going to depend on:

   • The nature of your assets
   • Your access to equipment

   
   There are a number of ways you can digitise a handmade asset. 

   The most common are:

   • Scanning - flatbed scanner
   • Photographing - smartphone or digital SLR

   
   Remember to have a little fun with playing up certain characteristics of each process - like layering works with a scanner or experimenting with shadows when photographing.  

   

   Anjuli's workflow

Instructions

1. 1

   Figure out your equipment

   What do you have access to and how does it work? Access some tutorials to get yourself started. Type the make and model into Google and see what pops up.

   Note: there are some examples below that will go over scanning and photographing your assets.

2. 2

   Get your head around file types and resolution

   Read the blog posts and start to develop an understanding of what file is used when. Figure out the file types you are able to create with the equipment you have. Watch a few clips about resolution, pixels and file types. Having a base understanding of how things work always results in a better outcome.

3. 3

   Do some testing

   Digitise one asset and record the process so that if it’s successful you can repeat it. Chances are you will need to change settings/set up etc. to get it right. Remember to make notes so that you can repeat the process!

4. 4

   Digitise those assets!

   Suggestion: write a list of everything you are going to digitise and the technical info needed. This kind of note keeping is really helpful in future projects. Make sure you are saving all the files to a common SD card or cloud based folder (keep all your files together).

5. 5

   Retrieving, checking and storing your files

   Naming files and folders is really important, think of your device as a library, naming files and folders makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for, rather than tirelessly sorting through folders. Taking time to think about the ‘information architecture’ of your digital assets is crucial.

   • Create a folder on your computer and label it something obvious. We suggest ‘Digital Handmade Project’. This is going to be your master folder where all files will live.
   • Create another folder called Digital Assets. Inside this folder create folders with the names/descriptions of each asset you have captured (e.g. Ink Drawing). This is so you can find each asset or element quickly in the future.
   • Locate/download all of the files you have created and place into the appropriate folders. This could mean moving the scans that are already on your computer or downloading images from an SD card.
   • Open each folder in a programme such as Bridge, Lightroom or Preview.
   • Have a look through your files to get an idea of how the images have turned out. Now is the time to delete anything that isn’t going to be useful. You need to be systematic and a little ruthless - you don’t need a trillion images.
   • Start to select your favourites by starring or changing names (for this sorting stage I use Adobe Bridge, which allows you to ‘star’ images. I go through the images from the shoot, giving a 1 star to the images I like and want to edit). If renaming be careful not to delete the file extension, and to give your file names a title that will help you locate it later. Something vague like ‘test scan’ really isn't helpful in a blind panic. 

Scanning your assets

1. Scanning physical work onto a computer using a flatbed scanner is a great way to easily ‘transfer’ your work into a digital format. It usually involves placing something flat (drawing, print, photo) onto a bed of a scanner. This process flattens the work, which is usually good for 2D illustrations and other materials. Scanning can also be an interesting tool to try things such as collage. 

   It is important to keep in mind, scanning can sometimes create a lot of visual ‘noise’ which makes parts of the scanned image slightly fuzzy. However, this can be fixed and removed when the work is digitised through programs such as Photoshop or Pixelmator. 

   You can scan physical objects as well, however, that’s more for artsy experimental files … watch the clip on how the scanner works to see why.

   Scanners are the best way to capture the above types of assets because despite advances in digital camera (and cell phones) technology, if new, they produce files that are consistent and high resolution.

   Each scanner has different settings but there are a few SOPs (standard operating procedures) that you should aim to follow:

   • Ensure your work is as clean and ‘perfect’ as possible - you don’t want to scan data such as smudges and unnecessary lines that could have been rubbed off beforehand!

   • Check your line weight - is it so light the scanner won’t even see it?

   • Clean the scanner bed before and after use

   • Check the file format the scanner is set to capture - you want the format that won’t compromise your work later

   • Check the resolution - it should be as high as possible and no lower than 300ppi

   • Check the density setting - if your lines are light you may want to adjust the density

   • Check ‘document type’ setting - you may want to adjust to ‘photo’ as opposed to ‘text’

   • Check the scanned image before moving on! It needs to be the best scan possible BEFORE you hit the editing phase. Sometimes you have to ignore the ‘rules’ and experiment to make sure the scan is the best possible for your project.
     
     
     

Photographing your assets