Hi everyone,

I do traditional illustrations : I use crayons and colored pencils on paper. Most of my work so far was used on web pages so it was easy enough to retouch colors but as I am starting to work on print projects, I came across the problem of color accuracy on prints. Basically I would like my printed illustrations to be as close as possible in terms of colors, as the one I drew on paper.

My process is the following: I draw my illustration on paper, then I scan it in at 300-600dpi, then open it into PS and save it as a cmyk color mode file. Then I do my edits but when it comes to color edits, I am not there yet!

For those who use paint/ink/crayons/etc on paper to do their illustrations, how do you ensure color accuracy when your illustrations are used on printed materials such as postcards, posters, magazines, etc?

Do you do it by eye? Because I am afraid I cannot trust my eyes :-)
Do you send your original illustrations to the printer and get them to do the color adjustments? I know some illustrators for children's books do that.
Do you use tools like the colorchecker passport for photographers?

As a graphic designer, I am aware that color accuracy is difficult when work has to be processed digitally. I used to rely a lot on color swatches (e.g. CMYK, Pantone) when I did graphic design jobs for print to ensure the final product would print in the right colors. But I have the feeling that with traditional illustration work, it might be different!

Anyway, I would love to hear what other illustrators do. I honestly feel it is really my biggest blocker at the moment but I really love traditional illustration work and I want to keep going at it before I try digital illustrations.

I apologize if it is a silly question.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Charlotte.