Skip the Scanner - Photographing Your Layouts

“I can’t scan 12X12 layouts!” a scrapbook friend said to me in exasperation.

I’ve heard this from several people. They’ve said, “It’s too much work” and “I just don’t understand how to stitch the images together.”

I understand the frustration! As an avid 12” x 12” scrapbooker, I eventually figured out how to scan and stitch large-sized layouts. Even though I could do it, I was still frustrated with the process. Some colors wouldn’t scan well or would leave off-color tinting on the scan, especially in the white areas. Additionally, bumpy embellishments created more problems. It can be frustrating!

In my frustration, I experimented with using my digital SLR camera to photograph my layouts instead. After many trials, I have found it can be done well. I want to share the method I have found that works best for me.

Tools needed:

• A Good Camera. I think the best results come with a digital camera, preferably an SLR camera like the Canon Digital Rebel. Film camera users could shoot their photos then have them put on a CD-ROM for editing purposes.


• A Good Standard Lens. It is helpful to have a camera with a standard lens, which can take good photographs in low light conditions. I use a Canon 50 mm. f/1.8 lens. The f/1.8 allows me to work in low-light conditions and the 50 mm allows me to shoot the photograph without distorting the image.


• A Well-lit Room, preferably with a skylight or other natural light. I found my bathroom to be the perfect room to photograph my layouts! The light comes in from the skylight, providing natural light. Artificial light can bounce off the photographs and ruin the look of the photographs on your layout.


• Sticky Adhesive. I prefer mini glue dots or adhesive tabs. It’s a good idea to test a small area to be sure your wall won’t be damaged from the adhesive you choose.


• Photo-editing Software. Most photo-editing software should be equipped with the few features you need. I use Adobe Photoshop. It is imperative to have a program to edit the images.

Steps:

Adhere the layout to the wall. I use my sticky adhesive to adhere the layout to the wall. I always adhere the layout to the wall, as it produces fewer shadows and prevents extra overhead light from bouncing off the photographs. Additionally, the angle is much better for taking the photograph. I place sticky adhesive on the four corners. Sometimes the layout may buckle on the bottom so I use another piece or two of adhesive along the bottom as well. I try to place the layout as straight as possible but it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Photograph the layout. I set my camera for the Auto Depth of Field setting and shoot. The auto depth of field keeps all elements equally important visually, which makes the text and photographs all stay focused. When looking through the viewfinder, I line up the layout top with the top of the viewfinder, leaving a little room between the top of the viewfinder and the top edge of the layout. Lining it up helps to keep the layout straight in the viewfinder. Then, I stand back straight on with the center of the layout. Depending on your height placement, you may have to crouch down a little to be centered right on the layout. You may also chose to use a tripod, but my location doesn’t have room for a tripod so I use a steady hand and high shutter speed. Take your photograph. Here’s a sample of what it looks like photographed in my bathroom:

Open the layout photograph in the photo editing software program you use. Choose “Save Copy As” because you do not want to change your original photograph at all. This way, if you make mistakes, you can simply bring up the original photograph and start fresh.

Crop the layout. If the alignment doesn’t seem completely straight at the top, you may wish to use the “Rotate Canvas” feature. I chose “arbitrary” and often just have to rotate it .5 or 1 degrees in one direction to get it straight. Now use the cropping tool and crop to just the layout. The cropped image may look like the following image:

Adjust the layout levels, brightness, contrast and colors as necessary. At this point you have a nice photograph but the colors will probably be off a little bit. The most common solution is to change the levels. In Adobe Photoshop, you will find “Levels” under Image/Adjustments/Levels. Often the white balance is off so a little fiddling with levels can fix it easily. For more information on Adobe Photoshop Levels see this informational page. If you don’t have Levels on your photo editing software, adjust with sharpness, brightness and contrast. Remember to work with a copy.

Save the layout. After getting the image adjusted, I save my layout as a large image. Then I will save another copy at a smaller size to share on Scrapjazz!

Note: For 2-page layouts, I take photographs of each page. When I crop the layouts in my photo editing software, I crop them to the same height. Then, I make a new window and paste the two pages side-by-side in the new window. I save the image then make any adjustments to the layout.

So, don’t hold back anymore on sharing your layouts! Try photographing your layouts for an easy way to share them on Scrapjazz!

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