Copying artwork for reproduction, gallery submission, school admission, scholarship application etc was done for many years exclusively to transparency film (slide film). Right now we are in a transitional period where both slides and digital files may be required. Many galleries and festivals still request slides for projection, others have kept up with the times and request digital files and accept applications through the internet. This is an overview of why I choose to shoot artwork digitally and present clients with digital files rather than slides.


ADVANTAGES OF COPYING ARTWORK DIGITALLY
1. Copying digitally looks better in the end. Color saturation, contrast, sharpness, color balance, are just better. Cropping out paper edges, eliminating nasty smudges in student artwork, are quick and easy to do digitally. Juries notice details, even if subconsciously, and much is riding on the initial subjective impression of jurors. With heavy competition, every advantage is important.

2. With digital files, the artist is in more of a power position. Digital files can easily be made into prints, slides, web images, email submissions, CD submissions or DVD submissions at multiple resolutions. If the artist was given a slide he or she would still require scanning of the slide to achieve some of these other high-tech ends (at generally lower quality) that are becoming essential in the art world.

3. Cost: In a nutshell its 6's though at first glance, it would seem that shooting directly to slide film is somewhat less expensive. Shooting digitally is much faster because several concerns when shooting to slide film are no longer there. Backgrounds, exact framing in the 3:2 window, squareness of the image, dirt and dust, small specular reflections, exposure variation, are quickly corrected in the computer later and allow me to shoot digitally in half the time as shooting film. Shooting oversize art is also much easier digitally for a number of reasons - oversized artwork can create significant extra charges at photographic specialty shops that I can mostly avoid by shooting digitally. All of this benefits the artist since the fees are based on an hourly rate. On the down side, computer editing adds back some of the time saved in the shooting. Typically, for 2D flat art, total digital shooting, editing and burning costs range from 5-8 dollars per piece including oversize pieces. Generally artists will want to have slides made from these files - this can cost from 3-5 dollars for the FIRST slide (digital) and less than $1 each for additional analog DUPES from this digital slide. Artists should keep the first slide as a master to make future dupes. Of course multiple digital slides can be generated but this may not be cost effective if many are needed. Scanning a slide at high resolution can cost $10 or more so this expense is completely circumvented.

4. Student artists in particular need to be educated to the digital world because it's just a matter of time before the artworld will be 100% digital. The best way to get this education is to slog through the process.

5. Often artists require composite images, sequencial or group shots that would be impossible to set up and shoot. This is elegantly accomplished digitally though not without an investment of time.

DISADVANTAGES OF COPYING ARTWORK DIGITALLY
1. If the artist will not have the need for digital files, editable files for printing, or emailing of images - copying to slide film could be less expensive, particularly if there are few or no oversize pieces.

2. Digital copying reguires turnaround time for the computer editing, having the digital slides generated and having the analog dupes made (if chosen as a method) and could take several days. Rush charges could apply to speed the process.


ISSUES THAT AFFECT COST IN DIGITAL AND ANALOG COPYWORK
Anything that slows the process adds to the cost. Some common issues are listed below.

1. Glass: Works behind glass or plexiglas slow down the process considerably in dealing with reflections. Even using polarized light, reflections in glass are a challenge.

2. Packing : Artwork that is rolled between protective sheeting, or inserted into sleeves or taped into sheets of protective paper can dramatically slow the process.

3. Art work with reflective surfaces such as metalic or gold leaf.

4. Torn and ragged paper, curled unwieldy paper, artwork that is not flat can require extra time to secure all of the edges.

5. Extremely large pieces are much more involved to photograph.

6. Group shots and composites are much easier in the digital world but still take a fair amount of time.

7. 3-D work or flat art with relief or protruding objects require different lighting setup.

8. Flat work in large frames may cast odd shadows on the work and could require a separate lighting solution.

EXAMPLES of 3-D artwork photographed specifically for portfolio promotion....
EXAMPLES of 2-D art copied for conversion to projectible slides.....