How (and Why) to Digitize your Artwork
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What does it mean to “digitize” your artwork? It doesn’t mean scrapping all of your art supplies and creating digital art on your iPad… It doesn’t mean losing the hand-made look and feel of your original paintings... It doesn’t mean heavily editing your art to the point where it looks nothing like the original.
So, what does it mean to digitize your work and why is it important for you and your art business?
Digitizing your artwork is the process of scanning in your work and turning it into a digital element so you can reproduce it onto art prints, greeting cards, stickers, magnets, surface design, and more, without needing to create additional work. Simply put: it’s an essential part of scaling your art business and allowing your work to get maximum exposure with minimum effort. Keep reading for more details, or check out my new class with step-by-step instructions for digitizing your work!
Quick story time here: before I started my Etsy shop in 2020, a friend of mine suggested I should start selling my artwork and designs. The thought of actually selling something I created with my own hands was thrilling, but also came with a lot of anxiety and unknowns. One of the most daunting fears running through my head was how I could possibly create enough work to have a consistent inventory to sell. How could I possibly paint 50, 100, or even 200 Christmas cards? What if more than one person wanted to buy my latest painting of a rose? All of these thoughts and fears almost had me running the other direction… until I did some more research and came upon the topic of “digitizing your artwork”.
The more I learned about it, the more realistic my business goals became. I realized I could paint one holiday wreath and sell it as both wall art and Christmas cards (as many as I wanted!)
What are the benefits of digitizing your artwork?
Allows you to create multiple product types with one piece of artwork - If you don’t digitize your artwork, it will be gone forever once you sell it. Digitizing allows you to retain the design, and use it on any product you like. In terms of efficiency, being able to reproduce your paintings time and time again gets you the biggest bang for your buck.
Allows you to touch up mistakes and make color corrections in Photoshop - This step isn’t always necessary, but while you’re digitizing your art, you can touch up any mistakes and make color corrections if desired. For example, you can brighten, add contrast, increase vibrancy, or simply clean up extra paint splatters or smooth harsh lines.
Gives you the potential to generate multiple revenue streams in your art business - Not only does it allow you to create multiple products, it also gives your business more options for generating revenue. For example, once you learn how to digitize your artwork, you can explore other industries like surface pattern design and art licensing. The possibilities are endless!
Now that we know how important it is to scaling your business, let’s talk about how to actually do it. I’ll give you the quick overview below, but I highly recommend watching my 45-minute class Digitizing your Artwork: The Quick & Easy Way to Scan and Edit artwork in Photoshop. This class walks you through my exact process for turning paintings into digital elements, with step-by-step instructions for beginners.
Here are the basic steps for digitizing your paintings and artwork:
Scan in your artwork - First, you’ll need to scan your work in order to edit it on your computer. The scanner I use is the Epson Perfection V39. It is lightweight, compact, and has been amazing quality for the past 2-3 years I’ve used it! If you don’t have a scanner, you can use a high quality photo of your painting instead; however, I highly recommend investing in a scanner if you’re able to do so.
Import your work into Photoshop - Next, you’ll start the editing process by importing your scanned image into Photoshop. If you don’t already have Adobe Photoshop, click here for a free 7-day trial.
Remove the paper background from your artwork - The most important part of digitizing your artwork is removing the textured, gray-ish paper background. There are many different ways to do this (I teach my favorite ways inside my class - watch it here!)
Fix any mistakes and make color corrections if needed - If your scanner accidentally picked up any dust speckles or hair, or if you had any harsh paint lines or errors in your artwork, now is a great time to touch up mistakes. I like to use the clone stamp tool and the spot healing brush in Photoshop. Both methods are also taught more in-depth inside the class.
Save it as a digital element with a transparent background - When you’re done editing, you will save your artwork as a PNG file with a transparent background. This allows you to place it onto any project in the future, no matter what color background!
A more in-depth, step-by-step video tutorial is available inside the class once you’re ready to put it into action. As a bonus, the class includes a project where you will get to create a greeting card or thank you card design using your very own piece of artwork!
I hope you found this blog helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email or DM me on Instagram @petals.by.priya. Happy painting, and happy digitizing, from me to you!