Creating a Digital Master 

Every Giclée print starts with a digital image file that we call the digital master. We call it that because it is the digital original from which all prints are created regardless of size or materials they are printed on. It shares many similarities with photography where the film negative is the master and all prints come from it. This article describes the many ways that a digital master can be created and how they effect the quality of the digital master.

First, here are the primary methods for creating a digital master:

• Digital camera
• View camera with digital scanning back
• Scanning a transparency, negative, slide or photograph
• Scanning with a flatbed scanner

We'll take a look at the different methods and what kind of digital masters we can get from them. Each has pros and cons and some had distinct limitations that can result in a less than crisp giclée. In all our examples we are using 270 dpi as the print resolution for high quality Giclée prints. It is possible to get acceptable Giclée prints at resolutions as low as 180 dpi for images printed on watercolor type papers.

Digital Cameras

Consumer Digital Cameras: Today's consumer digital cameras are sensational for home use, and a 5 megapixel camera can produce Giclée prints up to 8"x10" that look excellent. There are ways to enhance the image and produce acceptable Giclées slightly larger, but if you have a choice in the matter, you should use another method. There is one other key point with regards to quality: Consumer digital cameras typically use a single CCD chip to separate the three colors of red, green and blue. This can lead to color distortions that are very difficult to correct using software.

Professional Digital Cameras: The movement to digital is having the same dramatic impact on professional photographers as it has had on amateurs. The big difference is that they are working with cameras with much better optics capable of capturing much larger images. Digital SLR cameras like the Kodak DCS or the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II are capable of capturing images with up to 16.6 million pixels. This produces a 50MB image file which will produce beautiful Giclée prints as large as 12"x18" without interpolation. Even larger sizes are possible if the image is printed on watercolor type fine art papers with more dot gain. If you have an unlimited budget you can move into medium format digital camera backs like the Phase One P25. This back can create 22.2 million pixel images that will produce 15"x20" prints at a print resolution of 270 dpi.

View Camera With a Digital Scanning Back

A view camera with a digital scanning back like the Better Light Super6K-HS is the top-of-the-line when it comes to capturing original artwork. Instead of exposing the whole image at one time like digital cameras, they use continuous lighting and scan the image through the optics of a view camera. This allows them to capture images with 48 to 80 million pixels for tremendous detail. Digital masters created with a digital scanning back can produce Giclée prints up to 30"x37". With their Enhanced Resolution™ feature, the Better Light scanning backs can boost resolution resulting in images with up to 180 million pixels and a file size of 540 MB. Unlike post-capture interpolation, the Enhanced Resolution settings record additional image information during the scan for sharper, more detailed images. A 540 MB file will produce a Giclée print up to an astonishing 44"x55"!

There are a number of reasons why capturing original artwork with a scanning back has advantages over film:

Direct To Digital: By capturing direct to digital, we eliminate steps that can introduce problems and degrade the quality of the digital master. For example, even if you have your artwork photographed using 8x10 transparency film, variables are introduced because of the color balance of the film and the film processing. Then the film has to be scanned which adds another set of steps where something can go wrong or the image can be further degraded. Scanning direct to digital means a pure first generation capture for the highest quality digital master.

Cost: When you use film to capture your artwork, you have both the cost of the photography and the cost of scanning the film. With a direct to digital scan, you only have the cost of the scan so you save money.

Quality: Ultimately, the best reason to use a scanning back system like Better Light is for its uncompromising quality. Film grain is a thing of the past and colors or subtleties that are sometimes lost with film are all picked up using the Better Light system.

See Art Scanning Services for more details.

Scanning Slides, Transparencies, Negatives, or Photos

Many great Giclée prints start with film. Whether it is fine art photography or using photography to capture original artwork for reproduction, film has always been around and will be for a very long time to come. Assuming a sharp quality image, we can create very large digital masters using our Howtek HiResolve 8000 drum scanner.

Slides and Transparencies

There is no difference between a slide and a transparency except for its size and how it is mounted. Slides are basically 35 mm transparencies that are mounted in a rigid holder. When people refer to transparencies, they are typically talking about larger sized film such as 120, 4x5 and 8x10.

35 mm Slides: Assuming a nice sharp image, a 35 mm slide or negative can be used to reproduce prints up to 20"x30" with excellent results if they are digitized with a high resolution drum scanner. Prints larger than that can start to lose some of their sharpness. Depending on your needs, you may be completely satisfied with larger sizes. If you are using 35 mm film to capture your artwork for reproduction, there are a number of points to keep in mind. We need a very crisp shot with correct color balance. That means great equipment and lenses; the right film, exposure, and lighting; and great film processing. It is also a huge plus if a neutral gray scale is included if the shot is for artwork reproduction.

Tips when submitting a slide:

• For extra protection it's a good idea to send two copies of the slide in case there's an emulsion or scratch problem on one.
• Make sure the color balance and exposure is representative of what you expect. Would you be happy with a giclée print that looked just like it?
• It should be an original exposure of the original and not a duplicate.
• Avoid submitting a slide that has been subjected to the heat of a slide projector. It causes the film to curl causing slight scanning problem.
• If you can, enlarge your slide using a projector (for just a moment) and look at its sharpness. If it looks terrific then there is an excellent chance we can get a great digital master from it.

Medium and Large Format Transparencies: These large sized transparencies are ideal for digital masters. Their larger size captures an extraordinary amount of information that can be digitized. It's also our preferred alternative if you can't send the original for a Better Light camera scan as described above. Drum scans of large film transparencies can produce image files of 500 MB or more. Since view cameras are generally used by knowledgeable photographers, you are more likely to get a shot that will work great for scanning and reproduction. What we like most about film scans is the natural smoothing of colors and the beautiful gradation within darks and lights.

Tips when having large transparencies shot for artwork reproduction:

• Ask the photographer to include a gray scale in the picture. This helps us with exposure compensation and color balance during the proofing stage.
• Make sure they fill the frame with the artwork.
• Emphasize the importance of ultra sharp focus. It is a little harder to do with a view camera than it is with a 35mm camera. Our scanner will pick up everything and focus problems can severely limit the print sizes we can get from the digital master. The quality of the lenses will have a direct impact on sharpness as well.
• For artwork with a shiny surface, they need a method for reducing glared. Cross polarization is always preferred but a soft light system will sometimes produce acceptable results.

Negatives

Negatives come in all the same sizes as slides and transparencies and have almost all the same characteristics when it comes to creating a digital master and Giclée prints. They don't deliver as much detail in the shadows and highlights as transparencies which may or may not be a consideration for you. They are also more of a challenge when it comes to the proofing stage. With a transparency, we can cross-match color with a Giclée proof or on our color calibrated monitors. With a negative, we have to rely heavily on your feedback as to the correctness of the color. Including a neutral gray scale in the shot is a huge help with getting exposure and color balance correct.

Photo Prints

This is one method you should avoid, unless there's just no other way. A photographic print has far less dynamic range than the film it was printed from so we've lost some of the fidelity of the original. Print processing can also introduce color casts and a host of other problems that won't make you very happy. If the photo stands on it's own and you would be happy with more that look just like, we can scan and produce a digital master that you'll be satisfied with. Many photos have scratches or other imperfections that will need digital retouching. This is charged at our standard digital editing rate. We work fast, so unless there are significant problems, this service should be reasonable.

Flatbed Scanners

Flatbed scanners have come a long way. Today's professional models are capable of producing scans that make them a viable alternative to drum scanners for many jobs. Because of the differences in technology, drum scanners are still the choice for maximum quality because of their higher resolution, better dmax, and sharper focus.

Consumer Flatbeds: Flatbed scanners in the under $200 consumer category typically have resolutions of 2400 dpi or less. They will produce good scans but they are missing many of the features of professional flatbed scanners. Some have film attachments so you can scan slides or small negatives. They tend to have a higher amount of noise in the scans caused by voltage fluctuations and leakage between the light sensors. Artwork or film scanned using a consumer flatbed can produce digital masters suitable for Giclée printing but it is rare, requires significant digital adjustment, and can only produce modest print sizes.

Professional Flatbeds: Top flatbed scanners like the Creo iQSmart line, the Aztek Plateau and Fuji FineScan are prepress workhorses that can produce wonderful digital masters. They have all the bells and whistles and some even support oil mounting similar to drum scanners. With resolutions up to 5000 dpi, they can produce digital masters large enough for the largest Giclée prints.

Summary

I've covered a wide variety of ways that a digital master can be created and I still haven't covered them all. I didn't talk about the process a digital artist goes through to create a digital master from scratch or some of the dedicated film scanners from companies like Imacon, Nikon, and Canon. In our experience, there are two methods that stand above the rest: when it is possible to work with the original artwork, scanning with our Better Light system will produce superb results. When sending the original it isn't feasible, drum scanning a medium sized or larger transparency is a great alternative.