You spent an hour on your drawing, but the photo came out with a noticeable shadow in the center? Or does your scanner distort the area near the spine? That’s a binding issue, not your work. Here’s how to get rid of it once and for all.
Why it’s important that the sketchbook opens fully (without a “shadow” from the spine)
A tablet scanner presses the object against the glass with the same force on all sides. There’s a problematic area—the center of the notebook/sketchbook. If the page isn’t lying flat, you get a shadow, distortion, and blurriness.
The Manuscript sketchbook with an open binding lies flat on the scanner glass. The page is pressed to the glass with no effort. Result: even lighting, a crisp black line without any definition across the entire page.
Benefits of an open binding for scanning and mobile photography
Tablet scanner: the page lies flat on the glass—no shadow in the center, no warping. The scan is clean the first time.
Phone photo: a flat spread gives a clear horizontal line and even lighting on the left and right.
CamScanner / Adobe Scan / Microsoft Lens: if you use apps to straighten perspective and boost contrast—an even page gives a significantly better incoming frame.
Apple Doc Scanner: built-in scanning functionality via iPhone. Details on the Apple website.
Adjusting light and angle for phone photos
Light: even, diffused lighting is the best option. Direct sunlight from a window is acceptable, but it creates shadows from the frame. A side lamp creates a shadow on one side.
Angle: shoot strictly from above, perpendicular to the page. From a corner, you introduce perspective and get trapezoidal distortions at the edges.
Background: neutral (white or gray surface). Manuscript cream paper doesn’t require aggressive white-balance correction—this shade is natural and warm.
Processing: basic contrast and color correction to preserve the look of real paper
The goal of processing is not to “make it prettier,” but to preserve what’s there.
- Contrast: raise it slightly—the ink will become sharper, while the paper will remain creamy.
- Color neutrality: Don’t overdo saturation. The paper’s creamy tone should read as creamy, not as cold white.
- Lightroom / Snapseed: pull up the “blacks” (pencil), and reduce warm tones if they’ve been intensified.
How to prepare your works for Behance, Instagram, and a designer’s portfolio
Instagram: square formats convey detail well. A photo of the spread or a single page—depending on the content. Add a liner or another tool into the frame—this adds context.
Behance: use high resolution (300 dpi for print, 150 dpi for screen). Show the process: a photo of your hand with a pencil + the result + a scan. This tells the story of the work.
Designer’s portfolio: PNG or TIFF for archives, JPEG at 70% for the web. Save the originals separately—editing can be done again later. If it’s for your own website, then better to aim for WebP or AVIF formats.
See how your work looks in real hands: #manuscriptkyiv on Instagram.