"Agitate-Agitate-Agitate" by Arvie Smith, imaged by Chris Becker for the Maryland Historical Society.

Creekside Digital is proud to introduce our Fine Art Capture and Giclée Printmaking services.  At our Glen Arm, Maryland location or onsite at your gallery, museum or studio, we provide the highest quality fine art digitization and reproduction services available today, for a very reasonable price.  From artists who desire to sell multiple copies of their oil paintings, watercolors, and other original artwork, to museums and galleries seeking to preserve and / or monetize their collections, Creekside Digital can help.

Creekside Digital uses the BetterLight digital scanning back system.  But out of all the technologies available today, why choose this platform?  For one, it allows us to make use of the finest large format optics available today — big, expensive German lenses from Schneider and Rodenstock that are optimized specifically for this kind of high-resolution, flat-field copy work.  Second, BetterLight’s color-matching capabilities are only equaled by the Cruse family of scanners — but those machines only allow for overhead (vertical) imaging, so they aren’t appropriate for sagging canvas, very thick or three-dimensional items, artwork which can’t lay down flat / horizontally, etc.  Because it’s compatible with any 4×5 view camera / lens, the BetterLight system gives us infinitely more flexibility and allows us to shoot not only 2D artwork, but sculpture, historic items / artifacts, products, tapestries, architecture, you name it.  Finally, its pixel count is unequaled, even by the most recent medium format digital backs from Phase One.  If extremely high resolution and color accuracy are required, the decision is pretty easy.

In addition to the capture itself — which is responsible for 90% of the effort that goes into making a great image — we use HP’s latest 12-color pigment ink printer technology.  This allows us to create museum-quality reproductions on photo paper, watercolor paper and cotton rag, matte lithograph paper, canvas, and a variety of other art media, and ship them anywhere in the world.

Of course, having the right equipment is only part of the solution.  You need an experienced, skilled large format photographer who knows how to use it, and make the most of its capabilities.  Chris Becker is Creekside’s on-staff photographer, and he’s spent his entire career performing this type of work.  Prior to joining Creekside, Chris worked for the Maryland Historical Society, where he imaged many priceless paintings, artifacts, and historic documents and manuscripts.  Chris is well-versed in how to handle, illuminate, and digitize fine artwork, and we’re thrilled to offer his talents to our customers via our new Fine Art Reproduction services!