One of the most fun things about creating art can be sharing it with other people. If you're a member of a site like theOtaku, that means sharing it online! If you're mostly a digital artist, or if you have a scanner, that's not a problem.
Unfortunately, there are some people who draw mostly on paper, and don't have access to a scanner. If you fall into this category, you know how frustrating that can be!
One option is to use a digital camera to photograph your art.
This guide is about using digital photography (and some minimal editing) to make sure your art looks as good as possible when you upload it to theOtaku. It's aimed at people who are new to image editing—if you're an old hand at Photoshop or really know your way around a camera, it won't teach you anything new.
This will cover some basics of photographing and editing black-and-white lineart and colored artwork. (The colored artwork I used is colored pencil—pictures colored with paint or marker will require some extra tweaking of the directions as you follow along.) Shaded greyscale images have some characteristics of lineart and some characteristics of colored work. Depending on the type of shading, you may want to follow the lineart directions or the color directions more closely.
Since many people who don't have scanners don't have Photoshop either, this guide does not require Photoshop. Instead, it gives a step-by-step process of how to edit fanart using iPhoto (picture-organising software that comes bundled with Apple computers) or Picnik (a free online photo-editing service).
If you have a different photo-editing tool (Photoshop, Gimp, etc.) you'd like to use, do so! The options may be located in different places, but they'll do more or less the same thing. (I chose iPhoto and Picnik because they are the two non-Photoshop options most familiar to me.)
Image editing is all about experimentation. Remember, every photograph is different! When you edit your images, you won't be using the exact values I used to edit this one. Adjust the sliders until you find something that looks good. (Also, keep in mind that monitors are often calibrated differently, and what looks great on one computer may not look great on another. This is one of life's great frustrations.)
TIP! Photographing and editing colored artwork is more complicated than editing lineart. If you've never tried editing anything before, I suggest starting with a black-and-white image. It may be a little less intimidating!
Let's begin!
Page One: Introduction. (You are here!)
Page Two: Prepare your artwork.
Page Three: Take the picture!
Page Four: Edit your lineart with iPhoto
Page Five: Edit your lineart with Picnik
Page Six: Edit your colored work with iPhoto
Page Seven: Edit your colored work with Picnik
Page Eight: Before and after!
