Didn't know I could do this with my XTi

I do alot of renderings of custom cars for clients. I have always used Photoshop to edit and add details to my renderings, especially for print ready art for magazines. I usually take my drawings to a local print shop and have them scanned, so I can edited them. I used my XTi to photograph my latest rendering of my 37 Ford project today and I was able to to do a decent edit in photshop off the photo I took. I was actually very suprised with the results! The original image is dark and a little on the yellow side, but I was able to clean it up in Photoshop. Is there anything I can do the clear up the orignal image to make editing faster and easier? Both images are below.

original:

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Set the right WB, possibly using custom WB (Frank will probably post a link sooner or later for you). Also, apply some exposure compensation to brighten the image up.

have a bright florescent lamp shining on it, angle the camera at a slight angle and turn off flash and you should have good results.

gotta question, why did you draw the car so the paper is a diamond shaped?

RadAL wrote in post #5273462
gotta question, why did you draw the car so the paper is a diamond shaped?

I didn't ! The paper that I use is called Vellum. It is 100% rag and transparent almost. The paper that is at an angle is an underlay sheet under the Vellum. My drawing table has a green mat and it is hard to see color blends when I'm working with the Vellum, so I use a white underlay to see my blends better.

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I set white balance to custom and used a photo I took of a over exposed white piece of paper to set it to.

I then tried another shot. The set up for this one was:
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/10
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation +1 2/3
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Focal Length 22.0 mm
Image Size 3888x2592
Image Quality Fine
Flash On
Flash Type Built-In Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Red-eye Reduction Off
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync
White Balance Mode Custom
AF Mode One-Shot AF
Picture Style Neutral
Sharpness 0
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB
Noise Reduction Off
File Size 2233 KB
Custom Function C.Fn:01-0
C.Fn:02-0
C.Fn:03-0
C.Fn:04-0
C.Fn:05-0
C.Fn:06-0
C.Fn:07-0
C.Fn:08-0
C.Fn:09-0
C.Fn:10-0
C.Fn:11-0
Drive Mode Single-frame shooting

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maybe a stupid question but why dont you try scanning it?

edit:
wait nevermind I read the op too fast.

sumyungviet wrote in post #5274382
maybe a stupid question but why dont you try scanning it?

edit:
wait nevermind I read the op too fast.

It's cool but I'll answer it anyway! As stated I usually do scan them, but they are rather large! I do not have a scanner large enough to do it so I have always had to pay to have them scan. Hi res scans at the local print shop are $17.00 each. Paper is 24x19 and image is 19x7 1/2. To big for my flatbed scanner!

liquorboxracing wrote in post #5274465
Paper is 24x19 and image is 19x7 1/2. To big for my flatbed scanner!

you could scan it in sections and stitch the parts in photoshop.

I think you could have luck if you used the paper and velum for the base of your custom color balance. That is use the same background that your drawing is on, but without a drawing. This should brighten up your pic quite a bit.

Don't overexpose it for WB.
Need an exposure crutch?

Nice work on the rendering. I fooled around with a line drawing once.
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ive used my camera as a scanner in a pinch. Took photos of photos to post on the web. silly, but they couldnt tell.

I should set the exposure of the white paper to center it on the meter, then use it as my W/B custom setting? Do I or can then over expose the image if needed? Or will this cause a loss of detail ( blow out the image making it to bright in areas ) ? I will try the tips you listed in the link and see if I get better results. Oh! Should I use a flash? If so do I need to set flash eposure comp to keep from blowing out the image? Let me know! Thanks PhotoGuy!

Thats what I did when I set the white balance on the first image. I also tried a piece of printer paper, but the original paper the art work is on with the white underlay looked brighter so I used that one.

Here is an updated Photoshop editusing the photo I took in post number 4.

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I don't know if you've ever thought of this, but you should try using the blur brush in photoshop and setting it to darken. I find it really helps soften out textures, giving it a more realistic look.

I work in the prepress dept of a commercial printer. While I understand there is a cost savings involved in your approach there is a HUGE sacrifice in quality especially if it's going to printed publications. $17 is a bargain and money well spent.
Or learn to use your flatbed and splice the images together. This is common practice and the good photoshop artists can do this seamlessly.
Please take this as constructive advice from someone who has had original Dali, Picasso, and Chagall pieces on their flatbed scanner.

Bob Tilton wrote in post #5314359
I work in the prepress dept of a commercial printer. While I understand there is a cost savings involved in your approach there is a HUGE sacrifice in quality especially if it's going to printed publications. $17 is a bargain and money well spent.
Or learn to use your flatbed and splice the images together. This is common practice and the good photoshop artists can do this seamlessly.
Please take this as constructive advice from someone who has had original Dali, Picasso, and Chagall pieces on their flatbed scanner.

I'm begining to believe that over size scanning is by far the best option I have. It is a good price and it saves me a huge amount of time in final processing. I have pieced scanned images together but it is very time consuming. I was just hoping I could make this work in a pinch!

Yes.

Over expose the above reading so the white is white.

It shouldn't. You can always back off 1/3 stop if you have some glare from uneven lighting.

I'd expect that a good RAW image taken with a good lens in good even lighting would work well for magazine repro. Have you run any tests on that?