How do I get a 'clean' scan?

Cosmic Average · Post by **Cosmic Average** » 2003-01-30 07:34pm

Today, in my local library, I was scanning a picture I drew to submit to the Sluggy Freelance Fanart gallery.

Anyway, the picture turned out really crappy. It showed all the erased lines, marks in the paper, along with the actual ink drawing, which kind of made it look crap.

So, is there anyway for me to somehow prevent this when I scan it again?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-01-30 07:43pm

Use a cleaner drawing.

Sorry, that's all I can think of that relates to your specific problems.

Evil Sadistic Bastard · Post by **Evil Sadistic Bastard** » 2003-01-30 07:45pm

You might want to perform some photoshopping on the pic.

Better yet, you might want to make a photocopy, scan that one, then indulge in some l337 photoshopping.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-01-30 07:46pm

Scan, convert to greyscale, and up the contrast incredibly, if its black and white.

Cosmic Average · Post by **Cosmic Average** » 2003-01-30 07:51pm

Sadly, I don't have Photoshop.. I'm a cheap bastard, that's why I was using my library's scanner.

I am trying to DL Irfanview, though.

I wish I could just up the contrast, but there's no gray on the pic. Just black and white. No in-between.

Thanks for your reply, anyway.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-01-30 07:52pm

Changing the contrast and brightness would still work, though.

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2003-01-30 08:06pm

Look at the 'tools and resources' sticky and go download The Gimp. It's basically Photoshop without the CMYK, 48bpp color support, or a price tag. Irfanview can do some limited manipulations but it can't do painting-type adjustments and therefore isn't really powerful enough for cleaning up scans.

If you need more specific advice, post the raw scan here (linked, and for god's sake not a 300dpi image.

) and the people here should be able to give you a better idea of where to start.