How To Make A Painting Into A Print: Easy Guide

Can you turn a painting into a print? Yes, you absolutely can! Making a painting into a print is a fantastic way to share your artwork with more people, offer affordable options to collectors, and preserve your original piece. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from capturing your artwork digitally to the final printing stages.

Why Make Prints of Your Paintings?

Creating prints of your paintings offers numerous benefits for artists:

Wider Audience Reach: Prints allow you to reach a broader audience who may not be able to afford an original painting.
Increased Income Streams: Selling prints provides an additional revenue source alongside original art sales.
Preservation: High-quality reproductions act as a backup in case of damage or loss to the original artwork.
Versatility: Prints can be produced on various materials and in different sizes, catering to diverse customer preferences.
Accessibility: Affordable prints make art accessible to a wider range of collectors and art lovers.

The Essential First Step: Capturing Your Artwork Digitally

Before you can create prints, you need a high-quality digital file of your painting. This is often the most crucial step, as the quality of your digital file directly impacts the quality of your prints. There are two primary methods for this: scans and photographs.

Method 1: Using Scans for Art Reproduction

Scanning is ideal for smaller, flat artworks, like watercolors, gouache paintings, or works on paper. It captures incredible detail and color accuracy without distortion.

Types of Scanners

Flatbed Scanners: These are the most common type. You place your artwork directly onto the glass surface.
- Pros: Excellent for detail and color accuracy on flat pieces. Relatively affordable.
- Cons: Limited by the scanner bed size. Not suitable for textured or three-dimensional artworks.
Drum Scanners: These are high-end, professional scanners that rotate your artwork around a drum.
- Pros: Unparalleled detail and color accuracy. Can handle larger originals.
- Cons: Very expensive and not typically accessible to most artists. Require professional operation.

How to Scan Your Painting

Prepare Your Artwork: Ensure your painting is clean and free from dust or debris.
Use a Clean Scanner Bed: Wipe the scanner glass with a lint-free cloth and glass cleaner.
Set Scanner Settings:
- Resolution (DPI): For prints, you’ll want a high resolution. A good starting point is 300 DPI (dots per inch) at the actual size of your painting. If you plan to enlarge the print significantly, consider scanning at an even higher DPI (e.g., 600 DPI).
- Color Mode: Scan in RGB color mode for the most accurate color representation.
- File Format: Save your scan as a TIFF file. TIFFs are lossless, meaning no image data is lost during compression, preserving the highest quality for future editing and printing.
Align Your Artwork: Carefully place your painting flat on the scanner bed, ensuring it’s straight and centered.
Scan: Preview the scan and make any necessary adjustments to the framing. Then, initiate the scan.
Save: Save the scanned file.

Method 2: Using Photographs for Art Reproduction

Photography is the most versatile method, suitable for all types of paintings, including textured oils, acrylics, and large canvases. The key is to achieve a flat, evenly lit, and distortion-free image.

Essential Equipment for Art Photography

High-Quality Camera: A DSLR or mirrorless camera is recommended for its control over settings and image quality. Your smartphone can work in a pinch, but professional results are harder to achieve.
Tripod: Crucial for keeping your camera perfectly still, preventing blur.
Lighting:
- Natural Daylight: Diffused daylight (on an overcast day or near a window with sheer curtains) is excellent. Avoid direct sunlight, which creates harsh shadows and glare.
- Artificial Lighting: Two identical lights set up at 45-degree angles to your painting, flanking the camera, can provide even illumination. Use softboxes or diffusion panels to soften the light and prevent reflections. Avoid using your camera’s flash.
Aperture Priority Mode (Av or A): This mode allows you to control the aperture (f-stop) while the camera chooses the shutter speed. A mid-range aperture (like f/8 or f/11) is good for depth of field.
White Balance: Setting the correct white balance is vital for accurate colors. Use a gray card or a custom white balance setting.
Remote Shutter Release or Timer: To avoid camera shake when pressing the shutter button.

How to Photograph Your Painting

Prepare Your Artwork: Ensure the painting is clean and free of dust. If it’s framed, consider removing the glass to avoid reflections.
Set Up Your Space: Find a wall or large flat surface where you can hang your painting. Ensure the area is free of clutter that might appear in the background.
Position Your Painting: Hang your artwork as straight and flat as possible.
Set Up Lighting:
- Natural Light: Position your painting near a large window. Place your lights (if using) at a 45-degree angle on either side, ensuring even coverage and no harsh glare on the painting’s surface.
- Artificial Light: Set up your two lights at a 45-degree angle to the painting, one on each side. Adjust their distance and intensity to eliminate shadows and reflections.
Mount Your Camera: Place your camera on a tripod directly in front of the painting.
Frame Your Shot: Position the camera so the painting fills the frame, and all edges are parallel to the camera’s sensor. Ensure there’s a small buffer of background visible around the painting.
Camera Settings:
- Resolution: Shoot in RAW format. RAW files contain all the data captured by the camera sensor, offering the most flexibility during editing.
- Aperture: Set your aperture to f/8 or f/11 for a good balance of sharpness and depth of field.
- ISO: Keep your ISO as low as possible (e.g., 100 or 200) to minimize digital noise.
- Shutter Speed: This will adjust automatically in Aperture Priority mode to ensure proper exposure.
- White Balance: Set this manually using a gray card or a white surface in the same lighting conditions.
Take Test Shots: Take several photos, adjusting your lighting and camera position as needed. Zoom in on the images on your camera’s display to check for sharpness and evenness of lighting. Look for any glare or distracting reflections.
Capture the Image: Once satisfied, take the final photograph.

Digitalizing Your Artwork: Editing and Preparation

Once you have your high-quality scan or photograph, you’ll need to edit it to ensure it’s perfect for printing. This process, known as digitalization, involves several crucial steps.

Software for Editing

Adobe Photoshop: The industry standard for image editing. Powerful and versatile, but has a subscription cost.
Adobe Lightroom: Excellent for organizing and making global adjustments to your images.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program): A free and open-source alternative to Photoshop, powerful but with a steeper learning curve.
Affinity Photo: A one-time purchase alternative to Photoshop, offering professional-grade tools.

Essential Editing Steps

Cropping: Crop the image to remove any background or excess space. Ensure you’re cropping to the exact edges of your painting. If you want a border on your prints, you can add that later in the printing process or by extending the canvas in your editing software.
Straightening: Make sure the painting is perfectly straight. Most editing software has tools to help you align edges.
Color Correction: This is vital for accurate reproductions. Your goal is to match the digital file’s colors to the original painting as closely as possible.
- White Balance: Adjust the white balance to ensure whites appear white and colors are neutral.
- Exposure: Correct any under- or over-exposed areas.
- Contrast: Enhance the contrast to bring out the vibrancy of your painting.
- Saturation: Adjust color saturation to match the original’s intensity.
- Color Balance: Fine-tune individual color channels (red, green, blue) if needed.
- Tip: Work on a color-calibrated monitor for the most accurate results. If possible, compare your edits against your original painting under good lighting.
Sharpening: Apply sharpening to enhance detail. Be careful not to over-sharpen, which can create artificial-looking edges. A subtle sharpening effect is usually best.
Noise Reduction: If you notice any graininess or digital noise (especially from photographs taken in low light), apply noise reduction sparingly.
Resizing and Resolution:
- For Printing: Your file should be at least 300 DPI at the desired print size. If you scanned or photographed at a higher resolution, you can resize down. If you need to enlarge, do so cautiously, as excessive enlargement can lead to pixelation.
- Saving: Save your final edited file as a high-resolution TIFF or a high-quality JPEG. Many professional printers prefer TIFFs.

Choosing Your Printing Techniques

Once your digital file is perfected, it’s time to select the right printing techniques for your art reproduction. The quality of the printing process significantly impacts the final appearance and longevity of your prints.

Common Printing Methods for Art

Giclée Printing: This is the most popular and highly recommended method for fine art printing. The name “Giclée” (pronounced “zhee-clay”) comes from the French word for “to spray,” referring to the inkjet printing process.
- How it Works: Giclée printers use specialized inkjet technology with multiple ink cartridges (often 8-12 or more) to spray microscopic droplets of pigment-based inks onto archival paper or canvas.
- Pros:
  - Exceptional Color Accuracy: Capable of reproducing a vast range of colors, often exceeding the gamut of traditional printing methods.
  - High Detail and Smooth Gradations: Produces incredibly sharp details and smooth transitions in color and tone.
  - Archival Quality: When combined with archival papers and pigment inks, Giclée prints can last for 100 years or more without significant fading.
  - Versatility: Can be printed on various surfaces like cotton rag paper, watercolor paper, canvas, and even metal.
- Cons: Can be more expensive than other printing methods, but the quality justifies the cost for serious artists.
Offset Lithography: A traditional printing method commonly used for books, magazines, and high-volume poster printing.
- How it Works: Ink is transferred from a metal plate to a rubber blanket, and then to the paper.
- Pros: Cost-effective for large print runs. Good color reproduction.
- Cons: Requires creating printing plates, making it expensive for small editions. Less color gamut and detail compared to Giclée. Not typically considered archival quality for fine art.
Digital Offset Printing: Similar to offset lithography but uses digital files directly, eliminating the need for plates.
- Pros: More flexible for shorter runs than traditional offset. Good quality for commercial use.
- Cons: Still generally not as nuanced or archival as Giclée for fine art.

Selecting Your Printing Material

The material your artwork is printed on greatly affects its appearance and longevity.

Popular Printing Surfaces

Material Type	Description	Pros	Cons	Best For
Cotton Rag Paper	Made from 100% cotton fibers, often textured and heavy (e.g., 300gsm).	Archival quality, luxurious feel, excellent detail reproduction, absorbs ink beautifully.	Can be more expensive, might show texture that wasn’t in the original painting.	Watercolors, gouache, drawings, paintings with subtle textures.
Fine Art Paper	Acid-free papers with various textures (e.g., smooth, watercolor, matte).	Good color rendition, archival quality (if specified), wide range of textures available.	Quality varies by brand; ensure it’s acid-free and archival.	Versatile, suitable for most painting mediums.
Canvas	Cotton or polyester canvas, often coated to accept ink.	Mimics the look and feel of an original oil or acrylic painting, durable, can be stretched.	Can sometimes have a sheen that needs consideration, texture can affect fine details.	Oil and acrylic paintings, works with prominent brushstrokes.
Photo Paper	Coated paper with a glossy, semi-gloss, or matte finish.	Vibrant colors, sharp details, generally lower cost.	Not typically considered archival quality, can be prone to glare.	photographic prints, or if a specific photographic look is desired.

Finding a Professional Printing Service

For the best results, especially for fine art printing, it’s highly recommended to use a professional printing service that specializes in art reproductions.

What to Look for in a Printer

Specialization in Fine Art: Ensure they have experience printing artwork, not just general commercial printing.
Giclée Printing Services: Confirm they offer Giclée printing with pigment-based inks.
Archival Quality Materials: Ask about the types of papers and inks they use and their archival certifications.
Color Matching: Inquire about their color correction process and if they offer custom color matching services.
Print Resolution and File Handling: Understand their minimum DPI requirements and how they handle your digital files.
Sample Prints: If possible, request a small sample print of your artwork or a test strip to check color accuracy and quality before committing to a large order.
Customer Reviews and Reputation: Look for testimonials from other artists.
Turnaround Time and Shipping: Understand their production times and shipping options.

Working with Your Printer

Provide Clear Instructions: Communicate your desired print size, paper type, quantity, and any specific finish requirements (e.g., border size).
Submit Your High-Resolution File: Provide your edited, high-resolution TIFF or JPEG file. Ensure it’s named clearly.
Discuss Color Proofing: For critical projects, consider paying for a color proof. This is a small print of your artwork that allows you to see the colors on paper before the full print run. This is part of color correction.
Approve the Proof: Carefully examine the color proof and provide feedback to the printer if any adjustments are needed.

Finishing and Presentation

Once your prints are made, you might want to add some finishing touches.

Options for Finishing

Trimming: Prints can be trimmed to the exact size of the artwork or left with a white border.
Giclée on Canvas: Canvas prints can be stretched over wooden stretcher bars, ready to hang, or sent rolled for the customer to frame.
Protective Coatings: Some canvas prints may receive a varnish or protective coating for added durability and UV protection.
Signing and Numbering: You can sign and number your prints to indicate they are part of a limited edition. This adds value and authenticity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is the best resolution for art prints?
A1: For high-quality prints, a resolution of 300 DPI (dots per inch) at the final print size is generally considered the standard. If you plan to enlarge your artwork significantly, scanning or photographing at a higher resolution (e.g., 600 DPI) can be beneficial.

Q2: Can I make prints of paintings with thick texture?
A2: Yes, but photographing is the best method. When photographing textured paintings, ensure your lighting is even and at a 45-degree angle to minimize harsh shadows and highlight the texture accurately. Avoid scanning these types of artworks.

Q3: How do I ensure my print colors match my original painting?
A3: Accurate color correction during the digital editing phase is crucial. Use a calibrated monitor, adjust white balance, exposure, and color saturation carefully. Working with a professional printer who offers color proofing can also greatly help in achieving accurate reproductions.

Q4: What is a limited edition print?
A4: A limited edition print is part of a set number of prints produced from a single digital file. Each print is usually signed and numbered by the artist (e.g., 5/50 means it’s the fifth print out of a total of 50). Once the edition is sold out, no more prints are made in that size or on that material.

Q5: How long do Giclée prints last?
A5: When produced using high-quality pigment inks and archival quality papers or canvas, Giclée prints can last for 100 years or more without significant fading or color degradation, provided they are properly displayed and cared for.

Q6: Do I need expensive software to edit my artwork?
A6: While professional software like Adobe Photoshop is powerful, free alternatives like GIMP can also achieve excellent results. The key is learning how to use the editing tools effectively for color correction and preparing your file for printing.

By following these steps, you can confidently transform your beloved paintings into beautiful, lasting prints, expanding your reach and offering your art to a wider audience.