Hacking the Digital Print: Alternative image capture and printmaking processes with a special section on 3D printing

Hacking the Digital Print: Alternative image capture and printmaking processes with a special section on 3D printing

by Bonny Pierce Lhotka
Released February 2015
Publisher(s): New Riders
ISBN: 9780134036540

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Book description

Don’t bother reading this book unless you’re ready to get your hands dirty.

In¿Hacking the Digital Print,¿artist Bonny Lhotka redefines what it means to be a photographer. For one thing, you don't always need Photoshop to alter the reality you capture through your lens. In this book, you’ll learn how to create unique images using tools you make and modify yourself. Lhotka shows you how to use analog distortion filters, custom textures, and lens modifiers to create images that look like¿you¿made them, not an app. You’ll also learn how to re-create classic printmaking techniques using non-toxic digital alternatives, including a water-based transfer solution that’s safe to use anywhere, whether it’s the studio, classroom, or kitchen counter.

Anyone can push a button and create a nice print–there is little challenge in getting a high-quality image out of a desktop printer these days. Lhotka shows you how to take your work to the next level by printing on materials such as wood, glass, plastics, and metal. For the truly adventurous, Lhotka shares her custom techniques for taking photographs and applying them to 3D-printed objects created with popular consumer 3D printers.

Part artist/part mad scientist, Lhotka has spent many hours experimenting, hacking, and tearing things apart to discover new ways to take, make, and print images. She encourages you to take the techniques you’ll learn in this book, hack them, and make them your own. With some techniques you will fail. It will be messy. You will try and have to try again. But in the process, you will make your own exciting discoveries, find solutions to your own problems, and create a body of work that is uniquely yours.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. About the Author
  5. Artist Statement
    1. Reflect on Time: Capture the Moment
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Table of Contents
  8. Preface
    1. About Ralph Nelson
  9. Foreword
    1. The Photograph as a Physical Object
  10. Section I: Basics
    1. 1. Introduction
      1. Who Is This Book For?
      2. Navigating This Book
      3. Being Singular
      4. Final Word
    2. 2. Materials
      1. Image Permanence
      2. Substrates
      3. Precoats
      4. Transfer Mediums
      5. Other Materials
    3. 3. Equipment
      1. Backups
      2. Image Capture
      3. Printers and Ink
      4. Computers and Software
      5. Other Equipment
      6. Safety Equipment
  11. Section II: Altered Reality
    1. 4. Preparing for the Shoot
      1. Unexpected Inspiration
      2. Stacking Images
      3. Custom Tools
      4. Conclusion
    2. 5. Mirrors and Mylar Reflections
      1. About the Mylar Reflector Process
      2. About the Polished Metal Reflector Image Process
      3. Conclusion
    3. 6. Distortion Filters
      1. About Making Distortion Filters
      2. Using the Distortion Filters
      3. Conclusion
    4. 7. Lens Modifiers
      1. About Camera Lens Modifiers
      2. Conclusion
    5. 8. Custom Textures
      1. About the Custom Texture Process
      2. Conclusion
    6. 9. Gallery of Work: Altered Reality
  12. Section III: Mixed Media Photographs
    1. 10. Photographic Mixed Media
      1. About Layering Paint and Photographs
      2. Conclusion
    2. 11. Mixed Media Decals
      1. About Mixed Media Decals
      2. Conclusion
    3. 12. Image Transfer to Glass
      1. About Images on Glass
      2. Conclusion
    4. 13. WonderSauce Transfer Process
      1. About WonderSauce Transfers
      2. VARIATION Using Clear and White WonderSauce on a Stained Panel
      3. VARIATION Transferring to Smooth Fine Art Paper
      4. Conclusion
    5. 14. Gallery of Work: Mixed Media Photographs
  13. Section IV: New Frontiers
    1. 15. Introduction to 3D Printing
      1. Overview of 3D Printing
      2. 3D Models
      3. 3D Printers
      4. The Printing Phase
      5. Conclusion
    2. 16. Skin Appliqué to 3D Printed Objects
      1. About Skin Appliqués
      2. Conclusion
    3. 17. Hydrographic Coloration of 3D Printed Objects
      1. About Dipped Inkjet Water Transfers
      2. Conclusion
    4. 18. Modern Lithophanes
      1. About Historic Lithophanes
      2. 3D Printed Lithophanes
      3. UV White Ink Lithophanes
      4. Laser Engraved Paper
      5. Conclusion
    5. 19. Gallery of Work: New Frontiers
  14. Index
  15. Bonus Chapter: Venetian Plaster Transfer
    1. About Venetian Plaster Transfers
    2. Conclusion

Product information

  • Title: Hacking the Digital Print: Alternative image capture and printmaking processes with a special section on 3D printing
  • Author(s): Bonny Pierce Lhotka
  • Release date: February 2015
  • Publisher(s): New Riders
  • ISBN: 9780134036540