Watercolor Scanning question (again)
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I know this topic has been covered several times but as I read through the discussions, most of the suggestions for getting accurate colors and removing gray casts talk about Photoshop tricks like taking a couple of scans and using the auto align feature, or using the eye dropper tool on the Levels adjustment menu. I have Krita and as far as I can see it doesn't have any of those tools. Because I rarely use Photoshop, I don't want to pay a monthly subscription for it so I was wondering if anyone know if Photoshop Elements has those tools? (Or if you have suggestions for Krita users.)
I can keep fussing with the scans manually but I'm finding it especially hard to get the gray out of the lighter areas of the paintings.
Laurie DeMott
instagram.com/demotlj -
@Lee-White has a great post somewhere about photographing his watercolors rather than scanning, just a thought....
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I hate to say you need to bite the bullet and get photoshop, but I am going to here. There is a reason that it's the industry standard and it has made life so much easier for us with the upgrades they have made in recent years. In photoshop any of the things you are struggling with would have taken just seconds and you would be on to painting instead of fussing with this stuff. Also, almost all illustration clients use photoshop so it just makes life easier all the way around. Getting good at photoshop will enable you to work anywhere in the entertainment or publishing industry.
I would recommend photographing watercolor instead of scanning. You can get a much better scan that way.
Good luck!
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
@demotlj Bummer. It’s super easy with Photoshop. I think my niece has photoshop elements. I just texted her about the tools. I’ll let you know what she says.
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@lee-white I think buying photoshop is a hard decision for me because I'm only an amateur and so I have to decide how much money to put into it when I'm just trying to improve my scans for my own satisfaction. On the other hand, as an amateur with a full time job, my time is also valuable and I wasted a lot of it trying to figure out Krita this morning
I'll think I'll try your suggestion of using a camera first.(I find that as an amateur who intends to stay an amateur but is nevertheless a bit of a perfectionist about anything I pursue, I am always bumping up against that question of how much time/money/effort to put into things I'm creating that no one but family members and a few friendly instagram followers will ever see. Now that's a question for a podcast!)
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Sorry, my niece has photoshop only. I think she got a discount because she's in college. I know it's expensive. I had a hard time convincing myself to buy it as well. I had an older "borrowed version" from an employer and after computer upgrades got too new for it I had to get Adobe CS. Fortunately at the time I was homeschooling my son and was able to get a discounted version as a "teacher". Loop holes are great
. But, eventually I will upgrade again. Even though I do primarily watercolor, I do most of my prep work on the computer because it's so fast. Color schemes are a dream now with PS. I guess you just have to weigh your priorities. Good luck. It's hard to put yourself first, when you have a family. I feel for you. 
Lisa Burvant
www.lisaburvant.com
Instagram & Twitter & SVS: @burvantill -
@burvantill Thanks for trying. I'll see how far I can go with what I've got and maybe by that time, there will be new options out there. Tech changes so quickly these days.
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Is it possible to get photoshop for only a month? Or do you have to sign on for a year? I use painter so I'm not sure myself.
However, concerning wasted time figuring things out:
When it comes to photoshop you can do anything. And everything you want to do has a video tutorial. MULTIPLE video tutorials with step-by-step instructions. Easily google-able tutorials with step-by-step instructions. They won't necessarily be adobe official or anything, but someone will have made a video detailing what you want to do with photoshop. In other words you don't need to figure much out with photoshop. Someone else already has. Just a thought
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If you haven't done it yet - if you try photoshop they will give you a month free
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Just a quick update -- after lots more searching I found a photo editor called Fotor Photo that is only $20 a year and has the eyedropper functions I was looking for. It is really just a photo editor, not a painting/illustration program, but it seems to work fairly well adjusting the pictures I took of my watercolors (this time with a camera as Lee recommended.) It has a free version that allows you to do quite a bit but I didn't think $20 was much for all of the extra settings you can manipulate.
