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How to Increase Oil Painting Effect in Digital Canvas Printing

Printing processes like giclee can be utilized to print reproductions of your paintings directly onto canvas. The canvas can then be stretched over a canvas stretcher and displayed as a painting would be. The technique allows you to reproduce a successful work. To increase the painterly effect of the printed image, and give it the feel of a real painting, there are several things you can do before and after you print the image. Once the image is printed, you can enhance it, by painting directly onto the image printed on the canvas. These hand touches, combined with the image and texture of the canvas, can make for a convincing hand-painted effect.

Things You'll Need

  • Digital camera
  • Photo editor
  • Paint and brushes.
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Instructions

    • 1

      Photograph the canvas for maximum hand-painted effect. Place the lights almost directly over the painting you are reproducing. This will make deeper shadows and stronger contrasts, emphasizing the texture of the paint.

    • 2

      Edit the digital photograph of your painting to show the details as much as possible. Use the contrast control on the photo editor to increase the contrast, making lights and darks stronger. This will bring out brushstrokes and textures. Use the "unsharp mask" command to increase the detail. Contrary to the sound of the word, "unsharp mask" makes your image crisper and sharper. This emulates the oil painting details in your painting.

    • 3

      Use hand touches to add to the hand-painted effect once it is printed. Use the same colors as the underlying print, but use impasto (thick paint) to make the digital canvas more convincing as a painting. Small daubs of paint placed in a few strategic area like a highlight or edge of an object makes the print three-dimensional and more resemble an actual painting.

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