Quote from Marilee_140894 on Jan 31st, 2011, 7:54am:Hi Karen,
I had the same problem trying to scan a watercolor. I have an HP all-in-one as well, which is generally a darn good scanner, but totally washed out watercolor. I ended up taking a picture with my digital camera and after several tries - got it to look at least "okay". Randall's advice is really good but got a little technical for me!
So from a complete photography novice, here's what worked for me...
On a bright but slightly overcast day, I found the brightest room in the house and laid the watercolor flat on a table. I also turned every lamp/light in the room just to balance out the sun and create more light. I took the picture as close as I could from straight up above it, without creating a shadow (tricky!). Randy's right about a tripod, would have made it a lot easier. I tried it both with and without flash - without looked much better. I still did have to tinker with the coloring in Photoshop.
Hope this helps a bit! I'm always for a DIY solution before hiring a professional or buying a new scanner.
That's a pretty good method Karen. It is a little easier with a tripod and an easel and a level (inexpensively purchased at hardware store). You can also use some white paper or a sheet or white cardboard to make light "diffusers" - they'll cut your reflections and spread the light around. A cloudy day also diffuses the light and minimizes shadows.
Some of the newer cameras ( particularly the little ones) have some settings you can use for cloudy, sunny, tungsten, florescent, etc. That can help too.
Pages: 
