Prints, Printers and Technology

Didn't do any drawing or painting at all today unless you include 30 minutes or so when I added a few extra strokes onto Bruno the Boxer dog - my latest commission and a current work in progress. I just couldn't give it, or anything else for that matter, my full attention as my head has been spinning all day thinking about PRINTS.

If you have had the chance to look at my website you may have noticed that it's my intention to offer Limited Edition Prints of my artwork for sale in the near future. Well I have given myself until November to have this up and running - mainly because I have promised a client they would be ready then!

The 2 options open to me were (a)find a reputable printer who did good giclee prints at a reasonable price or (b)do them myself. Although option (b) did not look good in the beginning (the need to buy a good printer costing lots of money) my husband and I agreed it would be a good investment so could get one. Great news - I even have a model in mind that I want - I thought it was just a case of ordering, waiting for delivery and then printing. Not so!

In order to get a good crisp, clear print I would need to have a high resolution photograph or scan of the picture to start with. Up until now I have been photographing all my work for showing on my website and for my records. With the help of a fellow artist who has given me invaluable advice I have since discovered that although suitable for that purpose or for printing cards the file sizes were too small to work from and detail and quality suffered as a result the larger the print.

So to cut a long story short - if it is not too late to do this - I need to either change the image recording quality on my camera or scan my portraits instead. Scanning would however involve me using parts of Photoshop I just cannot get to work no matter how hard I try. I've followed step by step instructions till I am blue in the face with no luck - I'm sure I have a faulty programme!

All in all a long, stressful day trying to fathom Photoshop and learning more about what my new camera is capable of - something that has been on my to-do list for ages. Why cant technology and me get on?

Back to painting tomorrow I think.