Articles
Image Capture for Your Original Art
Getting a high resolution digital file of your original art can be one of the most important investments you can make as an artist to preserve your copyright and maximize your profit potential from each original you create.
This is an important step to undertake before art leaves your hands. It is not necessary to commit to file prep or printing to get a digital image capture of your originals with Old Town Editions. Even if you have not decided what you are going to do with the file, it is important to digitize your artwork. You will regret not having a record of your work once it is gone.
An image capture is not the same as taking a snapshot with any point and shoot camera or even with a professional grade DSLR camera. Most professionals photographers selling art photography are using at maximum a 30MP camera. This is just not the same as getting a high resolution image capture of your original with our 216MP system. You will be greatly limited with just a 30 MP photograph of your original. You may have saved a few dollars but gained much heartache when you learn that the shot the “professional” took will just not suffice for quality reproductions. Most professional photographers don’t have the need for a $40,000 image capturing system that an art reproduction studio or museum will have to pick up all the detail and subtle nuances of your originals.
Old Town Editions offers a stand alone image capture for $75 per original artwork. We discount this cost to $60 each when given 10+ pieces at one time. These prices are below industry standard. Many places only offer scanning at $1 per MB. We will give you the largest digital file we can make of your original every time we make a capture of your original. You will receive a 200-315 MB image file of every piece of art you submit for image capture. The size of the final capture just depends on the proportions of your original art. This image capture service has a usual turnaround time of 2-3 days. You will be given a disc with large, medium, and small/web sized files for your use.
Artist: Mike Petty
An image capture is essentially a hybrid of a photograph and a scan. It is not just a snap of the shutter. It is made using a digital scanning back in a traditional medium format camera. It actually scans the original from top to bottom through an open camera aperture. This is the best form of digital preservation possible for your originals. This “preservation” image capture can be used for digital fine art printing, portfolios, web sites, printing, promotions, insurance records and every other digital need you will ever have. All the best museums and galleries utilize this form of photography for their originals.
Artist: Teresa Oaxaca
An image capture with Old Town Editions is created using the top of the line Better Light Digital Scanning Back Model Super 6K. This scanning back has the the equivalent resolution of 216MP. This digital scanning back technology replaced the transparency or film step in art reproduction. Now the scan goes directly into the computer and there is literally no information lost from the original painting like there used to be with film. An image capture takes anywhere from 5-25 minutes to “digitally capture” the detail of your original. This kind of image capture is the very best kind of photography you can have of your originals.
Commonly, artists forget or do not think to get an image capture before parting with their original artwork. Once the art is out of your hands you may never have the chance to get that high resolution image capture to archive. It is necessary to have a record of your work, and a high resolution file offers you the most possibilities for future use. Do not limit your ability to make prints and bring in extra income in the future. If the original is sold you still own the copyright. Just because you sold the original artwork you created does not mean that you can’t make reproductions.
Some artists borrow their artwork back from the buyer for image capture and return it as soon as they have it captured. Most art collectors don’t mind lending the original back to the artist for image capture. Some artists provide substitute art to fill the void in their clients’ wall until their original is returned. This has also led to more sales because a client gets exposed to another one of your paintings that they otherwise may not have. We usually find that the original art owners are thrilled to find out there will be prints available of the original they own. Having prints available often increases the value of the original art.