Sunday, November 25, 2007

EMAW 10 PAGE 14

So, I erase all the pencils, and applied a few corrections. Then I cut the page in half, horizontally to fit on the scanner (the page is drawn at 11x14, the scanner can scan at close to 9x12). I scan each half at 600 dpi greyscale with the contrast turned all the way up. I can get pretty fine detail this way (like the driver's beard) and pretty much eliminate most any residual pencil. It also evens the blacks out, balancing the original piece's uneveness due to different applications and eraser (the nibbed lines stay pretty true in the original because of the amount of ink they lay down per mark, but the brush and the Pitt pen lose some depth when erasing).

Then I import the images into Photoshop and rotate them 90° so they are oriented properly. Next, I crop the images to remove any excess white edge and to get them as close to square as possible. Then I bump the dpi up to 1200 and convert them into bitmap files at 800 dpi with a 50% threshhold. Then I convert the images back to greyscale. This gets the files to printing size and pretty much nullifies any marks that aren't ink.




Later, I'll merge the two images into a single .psd (Photoshop Document) page, which will involve resizing them down to fit. Then I'll print it out and see if there are any digital corrections that need to be made (correcting for dust or lines crossing over the panel borders.

After that, I'll add the page to a printer spread and print it out for a dummy book. After checking the dummy book for problems, I'll get to the business of printing the full books.

9 Comments:

Blogger Marcos Perez said...

y dont u just leave it at 1200 and bitmapped?

1:51 AM  
Blogger Kenneth Belasco said...

To answer Marcos, I'd assume it's easier to do corrections in greyscale.

10:42 AM  
Blogger Marcos Perez said...

not really.

but now i look i think i know why.

you can't copy bitmap files into a

psd. i think. i forget you are

stone-aged

with no layout program!

12:11 PM  
Blogger Justin Fox said...

I KNOW I already responded to this. Wha hoppen?

First of all, you're both right!

You can't cut and paste bitmap files into psd files and you can't do corrections in bitmap.

Also, 800 dpi is easier to work with than 1200 dpi. It's faster to change and it loads faster (opening/altering/printering).

And since I'm making 72 dpi files for webs, it makes sense to already have those files in greyscale, since bitmaped jpegs are the suck.

And why should I use Quark at all? The only time I wish I did is for the text pieces. Otherwise, it's just adding like five extra steps (extra program, linking images, back and forth between programs for alterations).

7:02 PM  
Blogger Justin Fox said...

Oh! And 3 is like 5! Let's get reproductive.

7:02 PM  
Blogger Marcos Perez said...

whatever works i suppose.

1200 bitmaps are relatively small files. smaller than greyscale.

i usually do my corrections in 600 gray too, in order to copy paste move if necessary, but after i run the adjust threshold. then i change to bitmap 1200 and save. you can do more corrections in bitmap but not as involved as greyscale.

in quark i can have one file with 30 or however many pages, that is a tiny file size and it loads quickly and you wouldnt have to re-size anything. you could print one half of your book with one touch, have a donut, and comeback and do the rest.

I'll take that over 15 psd spread documents any day! And opening files to make changes is really easy.

also one day you might want to start using something like indesign if you ever make a big book, because that's pretty much all printers use. Indesign is better integrated with photoshop, being adobe and all.

but i've worked with layout programs for years and they seem perfectly logical to me, as they make bookmaking easier. That's what they're for!

Marcos "industry standard" perez

7:53 PM  
Blogger Justin Fox said...

Smaller, you say? Ok. That is better. I do also like the one file to print dealy.

I will run some tests!

8:14 PM  
Blogger Marcos Perez said...

when i get a new computer i will install this copy of indesign i have.

it may or may not work on your laptop but you are welcome to it, for i like it more than quark

marcos "bootlegs" perez

8:51 PM  
Blogger Justin Fox said...

I will try it then!

11:56 PM  

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