Photographing your Handmade Jewelry with a Scanner

One of the most important skills for a jewelry artist to master is

photographing your jewelry. While this skill doesn't directly have

anything to do with your skill as a jewelry artist, you need to be able

to take great pictures in order to sell your work. This is an easy

skill to master with just a little time and patience. You do not need

fancy equipment, in fact, you can take professional, creative photos of

your jewelry using a flatbed scanner.

The scanner works best with small, flat pieces, the more two

dimensional, the better. Using a flatbed scanner to photograph your

jewelry is fairly straightforward, however, they need not be boring,

you can be as creative as you want.

First, you want to eliminate the problems that can be involved in

scanning your jewelry. First, make sure the scanner glass is

spotlessly clean. Next, line the scanner glass with a clean, clear

sheet of plastic. I use a sheet protector from an office supply store.

You want to do this so your jewelry does not scratch the scanner

glass. When the plastic starts to get scratched, just replace the

sheet protector! You will want to clean and polish your jewelry and

then wipe it clean with a lint-free cloth. Next, arrange your pieces

on the glass (covered by the sheet protector). In order to keep the

top of the scanner from pressing against your pieces, place a small

jewelry box on the scanner glass out of the way of the jewelry. Close

the lid so that it rests on the box. Finally, cover your entire

scanner with a dark blanket, so no outside light gets in. This is most

important.

Now you need to think about how you want to design your photos. I have

found that it is best to just experiment. Also, don't think that your

jewelry has to look perfectly symmetrical. Most often, it looks better

if it is not.

When your pieces are arranged as you like them, choose a background for

the shot. You can use just about anything, fabric, paper, leaves,

flowers, use your imagination.

When the shot is set up just how you like it, close the lid against the

small box and scan. When the image comes up on your computer screen,

give it a close look. Does the jewelry look as good as it possibly

can? When you are happy with the look of the scan, use your scanner's

software to crop the photo. Try to crop as close as possible without

cutting out any part of the jewelry or the slight shadow that it casts

against the background.

Be sure to make your final scan at no less than 100% resolution and a

100% scale. Send the scan to hard drive or disk, however do not remove

the jewelry just yet, you still may need to make some adjustments after

your see your photo when it has been opened in your photo-editing

software.

Use these simple tips to create beautiful photos of your work. There

is really no limit to the creativity you can attain when using a

scanner to photograph your handmade jewelry creations. Just have fun

with it and remember there are no wrong answers here.