Take your art to a professional to be scanned on a drum scanner, or save money and try it at home.
Scanning artwork is a simple process, until you start getting into pieces of art that are larger than your scanner. Large pieces of art have to be scanned in quarters and then reassembled in a program like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. While taking a photo of your artwork is also an option, it will likely skew the image. If you want to turn your artwork into a digital file to be put onto a T-shirt, scanning is the best method. Before beginning, wipe the glass of your scanner with a wet cloth to avoid getting dust on your art.
Instructions
Art Larger Than Your Scanner
1. Place your art face down on the scanner.
2. Line up one-quarter of the piece to be scanned. Make sure it is straight by lining it up with the sides.
3. Press the "Scan" button to start the scan. If you have the option, set up your scanner to scan the piece at 300 dpi or higher.
4. Scan the other three-quarters of the artwork, making sure to align them with the glass so they scan straight. It doesn't matter if some are upside down as they can be rotated later.
5. Open up a photo editing program and open each scanned picture.
6. Rotate the images if necessary.
7. Open a blank document and paste each quarter of your art work onto the new document.
8. Line each piece up so the picture looks exactly like your artwork.
9. Save your image.
10. Upload your art image to a custom T-shirt website to have it printed onto a T-shirt or save it to a disc and take it to a custom T-shirt shop.
Art Smaller Than Your Scanner
11. Open your scanner and position the piece face down onto the glass. Line it up with the edges so it is completely straight.
12. Close the lid and press "Scan."
13. Allow the scanner to finish scanning and then open the picture on your computer.
14. Save the image.
15. Upload your art image to a custom T-shirt website to have it printed onto a T-shirt or save it to a disc and take it to a custom T-shirt shop.
