How to scan needlework
August 8, 2011 6:00 AM   Subscribe

How can I make a print of a piece of needlework?

I have a large piece of cross-stitch art that is framed. Someone has asked me for a print of it. Is it possible to scan such a thing and have it printed? The piece is about 2 feet by 3 feet, so it would need to be a large scanner. And can you get a good scan if it's in a frame already or would I need to take it out of its frame? Any suggestions or experience in this area is welcome. once i have the scan, would you recommend I print it on canvas or what?
posted by chickaboo to Media & Arts (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Perhaps it would be a good idea to have it professionally photographed, rather than scanned. And once you have the jpeg, you could take it to a print shop and have them do just about anything you wanted with it.
posted by orange swan at 6:19 AM on August 8, 2011


when i worked at a mall portrait studio i did lots of shoots like this. seamless white background, good lighting, and a great camera. the place i worked would sell you a single image on cd (high-res) for $25 or an entire session (9-12 shots) for $100. you can then take that cd anywhere and have it printed to your specs.

i would take it out of its frame and put it back on the stretcher frame (the wooden hoop or whatever).
posted by nadawi at 6:23 AM on August 8, 2011


Is it possible to scan such a thing and have it printed?

Yes, but I'd just take a digital photo under diffused light, probably clean it up in photoshop, and have that printed. (You can upload the file to a photo printer online and get the photo printed onto canvas at many places, including many department stores if you want to pick it up locally instead of get it mailed to you)

It's a case of how much money and time do you want to put into it. More will get better results, but reasonable results can be obtained fairly quickly and cheaply. (And its also a case of time and money being interchangeable, because you can do most of this yourself, but if you don't know how and don't want to spend time learning, it might be easier to pay someone else to do it)

Generally when I use a camera as a scanner, I use the (optical-only!) zoom so I can get the camera as far from the object as possible, because this reduces distortion. (If a camera is very close to a flat surface, the edges of the surface will be noticeably further from the camera than the center, which can make things a bit wierd. If the camera is a long way away, this is generally not an issue, but you want a tripod because the camera needs to be more motionless)
posted by -harlequin- at 6:24 AM on August 8, 2011


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