Often, we need to make digital files of our larger pieces, and a single scan just won’t cut it. I use the Epson V600 to scan my work and couldn’t be happier-it’s a budget scanner that can do powerful image capturing. But, the bed of the scanner can only accommodate 9x12” paper, so I use Photoshop’s Photomerge tool to knit together my larger paintings into one larger digital file.
Set your scanner settings to the largest it can handle while keeping the file size down. My scanner *technically* can do 6400 dpi, but I find this unnecessary. 1200 dpi is the sweet spot but be prepared to use the “heal” tool to remove random fibers and dust from the scan.
Determine how many scans you’ll need to cover the entire artwork. For a 16x16 inch piece, I’ll need 4 scans on each corner to capture the entire image.
After acquiring all scanned sections, open Photoshop, but don’t open a file yet. Go to File: Automate> Photomerge. From here, I find the “Auto” selection to be the most useful.