Digital Capture

General

Digital Capture (or DC) is how we duplicate originals larger then 8.5" x 11.5". These ARE NOT high resolution scans, but simply digitally altered photograph of the original. The end result will not be as high resolution as a flatbed scan, but this is the only way we can capture a large image in one take.

Process

Digital captures start in Renee's Digital Capture cave, orders should be left in there. Renee should be informed either verbally, or with a note that the Digital Capture's are waiting for him.

Renee will take a series of digital photo's of the original image using his DSLR camera and studio lighting available. He will capture several images, bracketing them with a lighter, medium, and darker light range. When he is finished he will leave the original and a separate Compact Flash(CF) card from his DSLR camera with the .CR2 (Raw) images, at the Digital Image Technician's table. (NOTE: This is Color Services Compact Flash card, and should stay IN THE LAB)

When technician is ready, plug the given card into your computer using a USB 2.0 card reader that can read CF (Compact Flash cards). Copy all the .CR2 (Raw) files included on the card to the customers designated folder on the server. I recommend creating an ORIGINALS sub-folder to keep the .CR2 (Raw) files to avoid clutter, as there may be large quantity of .CR2 files. You want to keep these .CR2 files, and leave them untouched, so we can always start from the beginning if necessary.

Select all of the .CR2 (Raw) files you wish to view, and drag them into Photoshop. This will open the Photoshop Camera Raw utility, letting you view all the .CR2 (Raw) files and make adjustments.

Scroll through all the .CR2 files you imported and select the best version of each image (use ctrl+left-click to add other individual files). Look for the digital files that are the best lit and best match their originals. They do not have to match exactly, the following steps will help you achieve a closer match.

Once the .CR2 (Raw) files are opened in Photoshop, the first step should be to save these files as Photoshop files with appropriate names.

Once the files are saved you can begin to better match the digital files to he original. You can use any methods you deem appropriate to reach your desired end result. I have included several tools/techniques I have found to be helpful. See below for the summary for adjusted Digital Capture files.

Once your files are saved in heir final forms, make sure the finals are all in the same folder titles with the customers name, and create a CD/DVD

Adjusting Files

This is the most complicated part of the Digital Capture process. When matching a Digital Capture to an original image you have to keep in mind several things: original white color, effect of the studio lights, white of the new paper, back light from computer monitor.