Scanner ruins my life!!

[gnaeus]

Hi I have a big problem!
My scanner keeps messing up my watercolored drawings. They always come out much lighter and less bright on the screen than they are in real life.
Does anyone have a solution on that?

Greetings X

[fineart23]

That happens to me too. I always end up darkening it with a pastel or colored pencil. Just make I darker than you think It should be. Also remember that watercolors dry lighter than when they're wet.

[dvandom]

Heh. My scanner always scans things a little dark, so I have to tweak the contrast in editing. Scanners, especially ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, aren't eyes. Plus, the light source they use makes a difference. For instance, I have a LIDE scanner, which uses LEDs for light. The LEDs are missing strength in the purple range, making anything purple come out more faded and bluish. And they don't trigger any day glo fluorescence, so those colors come out flat and icky. Sometimes I just need to take a picture outside and use my digital camera under sunlight to get the right color balance.

---Dave

[gnaeus]

Thanks, I'll do it with my camera. well, the thing is, my scanner did cost quite a lot so I'm really frustrated it only works as good as less expensive one. Oh and Dave I was wondering, are you a manga artist for a living too, like Mark?

[dvandom]

Nope. I'm a college physics teacher. I'm not fast enough or good enough (or driven enough) to make it as a professional artist.

---Dave

[gnaeus]

Ah OK, thanks for the quick reply

[fantasydove]

Try pushing down your art work to the scanner and see how that works!

[tasblue]

or just darken it in photoshop or some editing program, would we be able to see this art?

[gnaeus]

You can see my art at my deviantpage:
gnaeus1.deviantart.com
I've been using more paint now. The colors come out a little better that way, still not perfect though...
xx

[mangafr3ak]

I would not make the pic darker in real life
I think that you should edit the pic on your computer to make it seem darker than it really is

[fineart23]

I see your point mangafr3ak, I hasten to remind you that unless you're a professional artist, not a lot of people will be seeing the actual drawing. Most will be viewing it on the internet. Darkening it in photoshop might make the drawing seem artificial, like there's a mask obscuring the work. Or something like that (I'm not a pro I'm simply stating my philosophy, I could be dead wrong : )