Scanning watercolors

[franzvanderlinde]

Do you also find that scans of watercolor drawings are kind of washed out? Adjusting is easy, but then the paper texture sometimes come up too much, not sure if there is too much light in the room or so?

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

I actually saw a hack for scanning watercolors, lemme see if I can find it... (It does require having access to image editing software like Photoshop, though...)

How To Scan Watercolor -

[franzvanderlinde]

that is an actually really simple tip that makes sense. Will definitely try it out!

[franzvanderlinde]

I am researching a bit and realized the quality of my watercolor could be a cause too. I also have issues with the watercolor layers covering the inks which always bothered me. This guide has some very important considerations on light-fastness, opacity, etc

The Best Watercolor Paints For Professionals and Beginners

I already have a tube of prussian blue from WN, so I think it's time to invest in a few more colors and try it out.

[gmaximin]

There’s an article quite useful but it’s in French (nothing online translation can’t beat). Quite useful for me on some color project I had (not much I must say).

Scanner une page de BD couleur en bonne qualité - Le Mangakoaching

Maybe it can help...

[a.g.meade]

@franzvanderlinde - What kind of scanner do you have?

[franzvanderlinde]

Merci, j'ai pas besoin de translator

[franzvanderlinde]

Brother MFC, it's a big multi-functional printer, flatbed scanner.

[gmaximin]

C’est plus pratique du coup...

[franzvanderlinde]

I used this but I found that instead of making opacity 50% I got better results by setting the layer blend mode to "Geometric Mean"

It does help with the exaggerated texture so that I can do more color adjustment. I think there is room for improving the actual watercolors (technique + materials), but it will take more time for me to get there.

[franzvanderlinde]

One problem I anticipate is that I plan to start using bigger sheets (A3 size) which need to be scanned in parts, so I don't know if I will manage to scan them in different orientations.

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

I'm glad it helps some, even if the method needs some alteration. I hadn't tried it personally, because I work on very smooth paper, but this is good information to have in the event that I do need to scan something textured.

Edit: Oooogh, yeah, scanning larger sheets is a nightmare. I have to scan my comic pages in four parts, so I feel you there.

[franzvanderlinde]

It is funny really, I pick the smoothest side of the paper, the texture is really subtle, but the scanner throws some light that highlight it. To demonstrate how the technique with geometric mean works (usually on lighter colors), see the pics:

Before:

After:

Results on this page are amazing, it is basically how it really looks in paper.

[rajillustration]

O wow, that's really amazing that it fixed that much!

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

That looks great! I'm glad it's working for you.

[maseba]

I just made a photo