Scanning and Pre-press Services"So what's the big deal?", you ask concerning scanning images for your company. With scanners becoming so incredibly cheap many clients ask me why I offer this service. In response to their question, I simply state that it's not in the scanning process that the true quality of the scan is achieved. What I mean is that anyone can learn how to scan a photograph that's acceptable for the internet. What I do is properly prepare them for the printed page. Whether it's for a newspaper ad or an annual report each image demands critical attention in order to reproduce a consistent result. For this reason I choose to use a negative scanner for most of my jobs. I can get a much sharper scan by taking the image directly from the negative or slide. I offer scanning from a flatbed scanner if a photograph or original artwork is all that is available, but I prefer the original negative or slide.
There are two reasons for my decision to offer this service. First, if you have read my "Story Behind the Business" page, you know I am very experienced in the B?W area. I am simply taking my knowledge in the darkroom and applying it to the digital world of images. The result is that I am producing images on the printed page that rival the quality of the original photograph. In preparing a scan for press, many of the same techniques I use in the darkroom are used to properly prepare your image for the printed page. Usually in the 10 minutes of computer time that's included in the price of the scan, I properly adjust the contrast level, dust spot the image, and adjust the high resolution scan to its correct dpi to print without jaggies. I also dodge and burn localized areas on the image to increase image detail just as if I were printing the image in the darkroom. Finally, I add a sharpening tool to increase the detail of the final image so when the job comes off the press everyone is usually very pleased. After explaining in brief these preceding steps I ask you, "Do you have the knowledge and the time to do this to every image you need scanned?" If the answer is yes, then I commend you for taking the time to learn all of these steps. If, however, the answer is no, then I ask you to consider my services. I will do my best to make your project look great.
The second reason for offering this service is that it is an overflow service that stems from my desire to make my own images look as good on the printed page as they do on the original slide. For years I have had to suffer with the fact that the quality of my images were ultimately in the hands of the graphic designer or the printer. They had the final say as to how my images looked on the printed page. For the most part, I have been very disappointed with their results because of their lack of concern for the images. It seemed more attention was given to the layout and any misspelled words or names and by the time that was finished there was no time allotted in the budget to enhance the photography. Many of my images were not properly represented on the final step of the job. Out of frustration I decided to learn this aspect of the printing industry to further increase the quality of my images. After five years of studying and testing my images, I feel confident that I have a scanning service that is very pleasing.
Marc Carver Photography v 2818 North 79th ST v Kansas City, Kansas 66109 [ Home Page ]