Hi, Folks:

Today, I’m going to talk about scanning your line art into the computer.  If you are not a stickler for getting crisp, clean scans where the blacks are black and the whites are white, and all the details are saved, then you can skip this episode.  As you can probably deduce by my statements, I am indeed concerned in getting the best possible scan.  When you’ve inked your page, the inks are not going to be uniformly black (rather, they are usually a range of dark grays), and, if you have a dry-brushy style, like I do, then all sorts of details will tend to drop out. 

The prevailing wisdom on getting a good scan is this: Scan your art in bitmap or lineart mode, at twice the dpi that it will be printed in, and then convert the resulting scan to grayscale in Photoshop.  Use the pencil tool to white out dirt and image fragments, and the black pencil tool to fix mistakes in the ink.  Since the picture will probably be printed at 300 dpi, you should scan at 600 dpi and then reduce the resolution at a later stage.

I did this for years, and struggled for a result that worked for me.  Then, in “How To Make Webcomics,” in the Image Preparation chapter by Brad Guigar, I found another method for scanning.  It wasn’t long before I made modifications to this process to fit my own needs and workflow.  (So, if you don’t like my method, don’t blame Mr. Guigar!)

To begin with, I scan my pages at full size (11” x 17”) in Grayscale mode, at 600 dpi.  This gives me more raw data to work with than Bitmap would have.  Leaving the picture at full 11” x 17” size, I go to Image, Adjustments, and Levels.  In Levels, I turn the black arrow up about 100 points, the white arrow down about 100 points, and leave the gray arrow as is.  I’m not specific here, because each scan will be different, and you’ll need to play with Levels to find what works best for you.

Now, I go to Filter, Sharpen, and Unsharp Mask.  In my case, I usually turn the amount, radius and threshold to 500, 70, and 30.  By now, your scan should be getting very clean and sharp.

I go to Image, Adjust, and Threshold, and run this at 50%. 

Now, you are ready to reduce your image to working size, which will usually be 6.875” by 10.5 for full bleed, clean up any dirt with the pencil tool set to white at 100%, and fix any weak spots in the inking with the pencils at 100% black. 

There you have it!  If you follow these steps, then you should have exceptionally clear, clean inks made of true blacks with all the details intact!

Scott.