I am interested exploring darkroom printing with AR/VR. Today I downloaded an Anna Atkins cyanotype to edit and create into an AR artwork.

Anna Atkins cyanotype of a leaf. A cyanotype is blue with the outline of the image being a lighter white colour.

I used Adobe Illustrator to edit the print.

1. Use the image trace tool to turn your image into a vector

2. Use the 3D & materials tool to inflate the vector into a 3D shape

3. Used the eyedropper tool on the original blue colour on the print and added this as the material

4. Export the shape as an .obj file

5. Uploaded to Abobe Aero

Screenshot of Adobe Illustrator with me editing the print.

If you have the Adobe Aero app you can scan the QR code below to see the work in AR. Sadly the material hasn’t transferred over and so I need to learn how to keep the colour when exporting from Adobe Illustrator.

QR code

Edit…

I used Vectary to add the colour and I also used Vectary to create into AR.

Screenshot of my work in Vectary.

Please find another QR code to see the work in Vectary. You do not need to download an app for this.

QR code
Photo of the work without the material in the Adobe Aero app. It is a white leaf on beige carpet with a small indoor plant behind it.
Photo of the work without the material in the Adobe Aero app.
Photo of work in Vectary with its blue cyanotype material. The blue leaf is in front of a door with a window looking at a garden.
Photo of work in Vectary.
Close up photo of work in Vectary with its blue cyanotype material. The blue leaf is in front of a window looking at a garden.
Photo of work in Vectary.

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