Fine Art Scanning

The time required to properly asses a piece of artwork or high quality digital image to determine the best approach to achieve an artist’s requirements is best accomplished during one on one, private meetings where the art can be seen under industry standard lighting or a photographer’s digital image can be displayed on our calibrated Eizo professional monitors. The artist or photographer can take their time and apply the required focus as they review our catalogues to select an appropriate paper for the reproduction of their art or digital image.

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At the same time, we do not want to keep clients waiting in line which can frustrate them and make the client who is the subject of our focus at the time feel uncomfortable, pressured and rushed. This does not work well for anyone, especially when the goal is to create a high quality scan of fine artwork for the purpose of making fine “Giclee” prints for sale or posterity. We want our clients to feel comfortable and to know that they have our undivided attention during the process.

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Every artist and serious photographer with whom we have the pleasure to work receives personal, attentive service and care.

Fine Art Scanning is the process of using extremely intricate scanning equipment to capture a very high-resolution digital image of a work of art to ensure accurate preservation and reproduction of the work.  When artists decide to market their artwork, the process of digital documentation is required whether or not they wish to sell the original artwork. From our highly accurate scans, we can print the fine digital capture of the artwork to fine art papers or canvas. A version of the scans can also be provided for display on your web site or to share your work online while maintaining its visual integrity.

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No matter the method by which the artwork is captured and digitized, in each case the goal is to respond to the aesthetic of the piece and reproduce its essence and character as faithfully as it is possible to achieve.

Colour Systems is proud to be one of Canada’s very few premium fine art scanning and artwork documentation studios. We scan oil painting, acrylic, watercolour, ink, pencil drawings, crayon, mixed media etc. and pretty much any artwork which is flat and rigid.

• Loose un-stretched canvas which is over 16” x 20” in size. Loose canvas at 16” x 20” or smaller is not an problem

• Artwork which is not flat and is wrinkled or folded
• Artwork which is in deep frames
• Artwork which is framed with glass
• Artwork which contains highly reflective, metallic or fluorescent elements

Authenticity is a priority when we are using imaging to preserve an invaluable piece of artwork. The process of creating a digital reproduction from artwork is iterative. High resolution captures are made using some of the finest available contactless scanning equipment which scans true RGB data in 48bits. The scans are viewed on calibrated, wide format Eizo monitors. 

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The process could end at the screen display of the scan. But, a digital image file is no more than a collection of illuminated pixels which serve to represent the actual image. While our high-end, monitors are perfectly calibrated for colour accuracy and tonal balance, no digital display can do more than simulate an image. Hence, proofing is an integral part of the process of creating an accurate reproduction which is faithful to the original artwork. Proofs are prints which are made of key sections of the scan of the artwork.

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Each proof  is printed on the paper or canvas which was selected by the artist at the start of the process for the printing of the final digital reproduction. Either a portion of the scanned artwork is printed or the entire image is printed at reduced size.  From the printed proofs we can accurately judge just how closely matched the digital capture is to the original artwork. The proof is compared against the original artwork under industry standard viewing conditions and any adjustments can then be decided upon and applied effectively, if required.

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On occasion only one proof is required to verify or prove the accuracy of the scan. For other work additional proofs and modifications may be required to achieve utmost accuracy depending upon the artwork and the artist’s personal requirements. Each proof which includes some general colour adjustment is $25. Local work is additional.

All work is handled with the utmost care and professionalism.

Scan resolution ranges are 6,000 x 4,000;  8,256 x 5,504;  11,649 x 8,736;  23,296 x 17,472 pixels at 48bits/RGB pixels.

The resolution selected is based upon the required documentation level. Please see pricing section for the various scan levels.

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Our art scans are extraordinarily sharp. They record every nuance of fine detail and drawing from the lightest wisps of tonality to the deepest darks for the creation of highly detailed fine art prints up to 44” x 88” and beyond.

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For film work, our HELL rotary drum scanner scans at an optical resolution of 16,980 ppi.

Of course, if proofing is not required, the scan can be reviewed on our calibrated displays in studio. They can be taken after approval or sent to you right away. If proofing is required - and we do recommend it - then once the final proof has been approved, the scan is either released to the artist or fine, 12 colour, pigment inkjet prints ("Giclees") are created on one of our fine art papers or canvas which had been selected by the artist at the start of the process.

The scanning process takes 1 - 2 days. Then, if proofing is required, proofs can be ready in 1 day. The rest depends upon the artist, in terms of their timing to review the proofs and to determine whether or not they want additional work, alterations or adjustments.

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When you have your artwork ready, we encourage you to visit our downtown studio where we can view and discuss your images and you can select appropriate papers from our catalogues. Each page of the catalogues is a different paper on which the same two images have been printed so our clients can get an idea as to how the images render on each different substrate. Each second page of the catalogue is a blank sheet of the same paper so that one can experience the texture, weight, reflectivity, tactility and brightness of each sheet.

When a digital reproduction is finished, we back up all approved scans or the print ready files as provided by our photographer clients on 6 different servers in 2 different locations. Artists or photographers can contact us at a future time to request prints on the specific paper which they had selected originally and new prints can be made as the artist or photographer makes sales of their printed digital reproductions.

If you prefer to keep the high resolution scans yourself, we provide the approved high resolution scan and a Jpeg for use on the internet.

Colour Systems is a Canson Certified print atelier. With our 2 wide format, 12 colour printers and 2 wide format 11 colour printers, we print using OEM, pigment HDX inks. We have over 30 different fine papers in stock. While we do offer a small selection of basic paper such as Epson lustre, gloss, semi-gloss and matte, the majority are true, fine art papers from mills in Germany, France, Japan and Italy such as Hahnemuhle, Canson, Arches, Awagami, Fabriano etc.