Printing

Once your artwork has been captured to a digital file, we will edit it. The first thing we will do is screen color matching, which means that we will look at the original artwork or transparency and decide if the colors look the same. If we see differences between the original and the scan, we will use Adobe Photoshop to adjust the color spaces.

Next we will look throughout the artwork or photo at various details, once again comparing the original and the digital file to see if we have accurately captured all of the details. Line clarity is important, and we are looking for crispness of edges and line fidelity.

Next we will look for imperfections that are not apparent to the naked eye. Once a piece of art or photo has been scanned and it's being viewed in high resolution on the monitor, it's like putting the artwork under a microscope. Here we can see dust, hairs, scratches, and other minute imperfections that you may never knew existed. We will also find small errors and imperfections in brush strokes and line work that are not apparent to the naked eye. You would be absolutely amazed what we find in this step.

Lastly we do any editing that was specifically requested by the artist or photographer, such as signature removal or other editing. In some cases artists and photographers will also ask us to perform major digital edits on their work, such as changing color spaces, color replacement, fixing errors in a painting or Photograph, and other Photoshop enhancements. The artist may have also requested gallery edges on a painting, in which case we either create a solid edge around the artwork for canvas stretching, or clone the painting out two inches so it can be wrapped around the canvas. (note: At this point any work we do is done in layers in photoshop so as to not permanently alter the original scan. This allows us to always go back to the original if necessary.)

Now we're ready for printing.

Next we will select the paper or "substrate" and load a test sheet into the printer and print a section of the painting or photograph so that we may proof the artwork. Here we want to make sure that the final output will look good on the chosen substrate, that color matching was done well, and that the final output will be up to our standards and the artist's standards.

After the artist has agreed to the proof, we're ready to print. If the artist has waived the proof portion of the job, then we will judge the proof in-house, and we will then move on to the final printing.

The last step in the process is finishing. In some cases there will be none, and the work is ready for the artist or photographer to pick up and sign. If there is finishing to be done, it can include the following: