Why Copy Shooting Instead of Scanning?
Most people think of scanning as the obvious choice for digitizing artwork — and for smaller pieces, it is. But flatbed scanners have a hard limit. The largest consumer and prosumer flatbeds handle 11x17 at most, and even professional drum scanners rarely accommodate pieces much beyond that. Once your artwork is larger than 11x17, you're in copy shooting territory whether you know it or not.
Copy shooting uses a camera mounted on a copy stand (or ceiling rig), with the artwork lying flat below it. Two studio lights are positioned at 45-degree angles to eliminate glare and provide even illumination across the surface. A calibrated color reference card sits in the frame during capture, which is what makes the whole thing accurate — it gives us a measured target to work from when we correct the file afterward.
The result is a high-resolution digital file that's color-accurate, sharp to the edges, and ready for whatever you need to do with it: make prints, submit to a publisher, archive it for insurance purposes, or hand it off to a giclée printer.
Who Uses This Service?
Quite a few different people, actually. Artists are the most obvious — if you've sold an original painting and want to keep printing editions from it, you need a clean digital file first. Copy shooting is the standard way to get one.
But we also hear from families who've inherited large estate pieces — paintings, framed portraits, limited-edition prints — and want a digital archive before anything happens to the originals. Insurance companies sometimes require documentation for high-value artwork, and a 300 DPI copy shoot file satisfies that requirement. We've also helped people who simply want to make a large print of a painting they love, so they can display it somewhere else in the house without moving the original.
If you have something that matters to you and it's larger than 11x17, this is the service for it.
How the Mail-In Process Works
Everything ships to us by mail — we're a fully online lab, and we serve customers across the country. Here's the basic flow:
Contact us first. Before you pack anything up, get in touch. We'll confirm the size of your piece, give you the exact shipping address, and talk through any special considerations for your artwork. Oversized pieces need a little extra care in packaging, and we'd rather walk you through it than have something arrive damaged.
Pack it well. Unframed prints and artwork should be sandwiched between rigid boards and wrapped in acid-free tissue or glassine before going into the box. For large pieces, art shipping tubes work for rolled items, but flat is always better for copy shooting — we can work from a flat piece much more accurately. If you're unsure how to pack something, ask us and we'll advise.
We shoot, correct, and deliver. Turnaround is 7–10 business days from receipt. When your files are ready, we send a secure download link by email. If you'd prefer the files on a USB drive or CD, those are available for an additional charge (see the delivery options above).
We return your original. Your artwork ships back to you once the job is complete. Return shipping is a flat $12.95, billed at the time we ship your piece back.
A Note on Framed Artwork
We do accept framed pieces. However, glass causes reflections that are nearly impossible to eliminate through lighting alone — so for the cleanest possible result, the artwork needs to come out of the frame before we shoot it. We handle the disassembly here, and that work is billed as an additional charge that varies by frame size. When you contact us, let us know your piece is framed and we'll include that in your quote.
What You Get
Every copy shoot includes both a JPEG and a TIFF file, color-corrected, cropped, and properly oriented at 300 DPI. The TIFF is the archival master — lossless, full quality, suitable for any future print work. The JPEG is for everyday use: email, web, proofing. Both are included at no extra charge.
If you need a specific color profile embedded (Adobe RGB, sRGB, or a custom profile for a particular printer), just ask when you place your order.
Ready to Get Started?
Use the button above to contact us, or reach out directly at info@yellowlabimaging.com. Let us know the approximate dimensions of your piece and what you're hoping to do with the files — that helps us give you an accurate quote and turnaround estimate right away.
