Start with a Scan (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Janet Ashford (Author), John Odam (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The art of mixed media has taken on new meaning in the digital production environment, and the second edition of Start with a Scan guides new artists through the maze of image acquisition, hardware, and software toward the goal of final output. This is not just a book on scanning and creating art, but about the art and science of scanning, editing, and tailoring an image to your needs, too.

Beginning by explaining how scanners work, the different types of scanners that are out there, and why it's important to know how the scanned image will be used, the book quickly digs into the meat and potatoes of editing, altering, tracing, and otherwise changing a scanned image to suit a project.

Arguably the most interesting chapters are "Creating Textures and Backgrounds from Print and Paper" and "Transforming Photos into Graphics." One of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks that a designer faces is finding and creating background elements and graphics. In these two chapters, which probably are worth the cover price alone, Scan explains how to use scanned photos or raw elements (cloth, paper, and so on) to create the element that you need.

Although the book deals with digital tools (e.g., scanners and computers), it hardly could be called a computer graphics book. The goal is teaching how to scan and alter images, and Scan never loses sight of that. The authors deserve a great deal of credit for creating what is an educational and inspirational book on a form of visual art that happens to use computers as tools, instead of a computer book that happens to talk about digital graphics. This is how books of the genre should be written. --Mike Caputo

Review
Start with a computer scan of almost anything, from an engraving to a photo, and use it to turn out high-quality, original works of art through a guide which tells how to browse illustrations for scanning potential, how to tinker with visual images, and how to bypass the camera for optimum results. An essential guide for any who would use scanning in the course of creating art. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 2 edition (September 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201710978
• ISBN-13: 978-0201710977
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #620,642 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The secret of great graphic design, March 30, 2001

By	Alijazz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Start With a Scan: A Guide to Transforming Scanned Photos and Objects into High Quality Art (Paperback)

I have already reviewed the first edition of this book. There is a second edition with *all new* graphics and more about making art for the world wide web. It is so good that I was moved to come back here and say this... here goes...

This book is the best book I have ever read about scanning. It is also the best book I have ever read about the principles of GRAPHIC ART itself. Everything that I learned formally about graphic design in years of study I found expertly summarised within these pages. This book must be the bargain of the century. Most artists would jealously guard these great secrets, tips and tricks. Look carefully at every illustration (I am still making great discoveries) analyse the appeal, reproduce in your own way and reap the artistic and financial rewards. Real insight freely and abundantly given into how professionals make the grade.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raising scanning to an art form, July 23, 1999

By	Alijazz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Start With a Scan: A Guide to Transforming Scanned Photos and Objects into High Quality Art (Paperback)

Enthralling. That's a pretty strong word to use about a technical manual, but this is no ordinary book about scanning. Everything in here is an utter delight. The history and theory of scanning are clearly explained. Yes, it may well start with a scan, but it ends with rekindling your enthusiasm for computing and graphics in a very big way. If you read it with your system booted up and immerse yourself in the chapters, you can see why these guys are so passionate about their work. Wonderful value for money. Apart from revealing hundreds of ways to turn lacklustre clipart and other sources into money-making graphics, it doubles as a handy guide to the features and versatility of Photoshop. This is a tour de force from two very generous authors. Arriving in the same package as Lynda Weinman's excellent "<designing web graphics.3>", I can't remember when I was last so happy just reading. Thanks!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scan For Fun, Profit, And To Expand You Creative Abilities!, March 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Start With a Scan: A Guide to Transforming Scanned Photos and Objects into High Quality Art (Paperback)

A number of computer data input devices have come on the scene in recent years to allow computer users to import a variety of data into computer graphics applications. One such input device that has gained popularity for importing artwork for Website designing is the scanner. Janet Ashford and John Odam have teamed up to produce Start With A Scan to actively promote the use of scanners to create impressive artwork that can be used for a variety of purposes including Website design.

This book serves as an excellent guide for taking scanned images and converting them through the use of filtering and other image editing tools to create outstanding graphic images. Consider adding effective shadowing, extruding 2D scanned images into 3D images, combining images, adding coloring and patterns, cropping, and special edging effects, to name a few. There are almost an endless number of ways that images can be creatively edited. These talented authors will show readers how they too can start with a simple scanned image and apply graphic image editing to achieve cool special effect results!

Besides offering an impressive array of options open to graphics artists to convert scanned images into wonderful works of art, Ashford and Odam also demonstrate just how easy it is to scan a variety of objects such as paper, fabrics, food items, flowers, toys, household items, office supplies, tools, photos, patterns, symbols, and yes, even my favorite Ramen noodles! Custom-made backgrounds, textures, and clipart are yours for the scanning! Consider the number of items you can scan and how they can be put to creative and productive use!

The large 8 1/2" by 11" format of this book makes for easy reading and viewing. Exceptional illustrations used throughout the book offers a breathtaking view of how someone can scan simple objects and turn them into useful Web graphics. This book is an essential reference guide highly recommended for serious Web graphics use by those who also want to have fun and expand their creative abilities. "To scan or not to scan" is a question now left up to you to decide!