What do you use???

After discovering my Epson Scanner is no longer compatible with my iMac (since upgrading to Mavericks) I was just looking up some info on new scanners, and read where some people are just using digital cameras, and I was wondering what gives the best results? This would be mainly for pencil sketches that I would like to scan in. And if it's not asking too much, if you do you a camera, what's your best technique. I know I've used them to do this before, but never really set up anything to do it, just simple took a shot of the image. But I did notice the lighting played a big part of getting detail to show correctly.

Thanks in advance...

I'm still using my Espon 2450 scanner despite having to kind of hack the driver in order to run it on windows 7 (it must be about 12 years old now). I think you would get better results using a scanner than a camera, but I guess it depends on what you are trying to get into the computer and what quality you really need it before you can make use of it.

(Mine is about that old too, if not older - even has a 35mm film flip up, that allows you to scan images directly from negatives which I thought was cool) But yeah, that's what I was wondering. Figured for simple line work, a camera would be sufficient. But wasn't sure if there's a benefit to using a camera over a scanner for more detailed sketches, with a variety of tonal ranges? I've been thinking about doing some full worked up pencil sketches, and not bringing them into PS to be worked. So was hoping to get something that would scan them in the best.

With a camera you can take pictures of much larger drawings, after which you could focus on a detail.

That seems to be the only difference between the two techniques.

I have a hack for my old Epson 3200 scanner to work on Windows 7 as well, though I rarely use it now.

For my larger images I photograph them with a Canon 400D (reactively old now) with a fairly good zoom lens from a tripod. I find it's nearly impossible to take a good image without a tripod if you zoom. Too much hand shake results in blur and frustration. The most important thing with photographing your images is the lighting, which needs to be even or you'll get dark/light spots over the image. Ideally it should be taken in daylight, but out of direct sunlight (northlight). I can never manage that, so set up my work with as many light sources as possible to make it as even across the surface as I can. I wish I had good lights, but since they're expensive (and I don't do it enough to justify the cost) I usually resort to anglepoise lamps pointing from as many sides as I can - those reflective photography shield thingys might help to bounce the light, but I don't have them either.

I also try and use daylight bulbs to stop the light getting too yellow - tho there is always a colour cast of some kind, but I find a bluish filter in photoshop is good at correcting the colour. The photo is better a taken a little dark than washed out, as you can lighten it digitally, but you can't add back in something that's faded out. Also, if you can, I find it's better to get your camera a little further away and zoom in to the image (if your camera is good enough) as it helps with the edges distortion, though it's easy enough to fix with the Warp tools in PS, the less work you have to do the better. Light use of the dodge/burn then to irradiate light/dark spots - tho you have to be careful as those tools do effect the saturation and colour as well as light/dark.

What about camera distortion? www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/10/12/le...tographer-must-know/

A scanner while not enabling you to scan larger images does at least copy the image into the pc as it should be.

edtuckerartist wrote: A scanner while not enabling you to scan larger images does at least copy the image into the pc as it should be.

Scanners can also produce lens distortion. While it isn't as extreme as a camera, it is still there.

learn something every day new do.