Digitally Capturing Artwork
For Giclée Prints

Digitally capturing your original artwork is the most important step in making a high-quality giclée print. Poor capture cannot be "fixed" in the computer, and results in poor prints. Therefore, we give special attention to this step. There are several ways to digitally capture (or “scan”) your artwork.

Direct Digital Capture
We have found that using direct digital capture produces the best giclée reproductions. This process uses a high-end digital scanning back in a 4x5 view camera, which makes a digital capture that retains the highest levels of detail and color accuracy possible from your original artwork. Direct digital capture costs $125 per original.

Any 2-D or 3-D artwork can be captured with our process including but not limited to paintings on canvas, pastels, watercolors, and graphite pencil sketches.

Copy film of your artwork
Before direct digital capture became widely available, many artists had slides or transparencies made of their original artwork.
Direct digital capture produces a better reproduction, however, there are many cases where you only have transparencies and no longer have the original artwork. If this is the case, we will scan your film on our Tango Drum Scanner at our list prices. The best results come from 4x5 and larger film. 35mm copy slides generally produce poor results, unless you are making small prints.

4x5 and Medium Format scan to 300 MB $79.95

35mm scan to 100 MB $39.95

If you can't bring your artwork to WCI for digital capture
If you are having your work photographed in your local area, it is important to take the time to find a very qualified photographer. At your request, we will be happy to provide feedback on any copy chromes or files you submit to us.

It is important that the artwork is lit properly to ELIMINATE glare. Glare is extremely difficult, time consuming, and expensive to remove. It is best to eliminate it at the capture stage. It is also important that the image is in focus across the entire plane, and that there is adequate depth-of-field for raised, textured, or three-dimensional work.