is this good enough/advice

[Lunchbox7985]

so after some brutal explanation of the sites guideline (i finally found the thread outlining them btw) i took a little more time with this cover. another one that isnt on the site, and i cant seem to find a good one online.

so this is what i had to work with,





and this is what ive got so far



i wont say its done, im sure theres more that can be done to help it out. i found the largest pictures i could to work with. i couldnt find a picture of the side, so i made that from the logo on the back.

you can see just to the left of the second screen shot on the back where i stopped with the dodge/burn tool trying to get the blue background to match the side a little better. i think on the real box the blue is in fact all uniform. any tips on that, short of isolating the pics/logos, pasting onto a uniform color background, and retyping all the text?

[Arseen]

Image of source material already tells us unfortunately that result won't be up to the standards for permanent place on the site.

But as a placeholder it can work, but to judge that we will need access to the full cover.

[Lunchbox7985]

well i used mediafire, but i guess the way i posted it somehow still shrunk it.

let me try this

originals
http://www.mediafire.com/download/tienzq8pdvo9cec/s-l1600_%281%29.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/download/m5zs2xwrjn61vp3/s-l1600.jpg

work in progress
http://www.mediafire.com/download/b44g60ug4uzggn7/Inspector_Gadget_Advance_Mission.jpg

[Lunchbox7985]

i think that worked, i was trying to avoid making people download them to see them.

[TDIRunner]

i think that worked, i was trying to avoid making people download them to see them.

It's usually helpful to have both a link to download and a nice preview image in the forums.  That's what I usually try to do. 

[Lunchbox7985]

well anyway, as you can see the angle of the original back shot, even though i fixed the physical perspective, the lighting is still off, it gets brighter towards the bottom left. and the spine doenst match up to the back.

is there a tool im gimp that could match that without doing it manually with the dodge/burn tool? like some overall filter that would make it uniform?

and aside from that, does the overall quality meet the standards? i mean, frankly i think it looks as good if not better than some of the covers ive downloaded from here.

[Arseen]

i think that worked, i was trying to avoid making people download them to see them.

It's usually helpful to have both a link to download and a nice preview image in the forums.  That's what I usually try to do.  

Yep you can do that directly from media fire by choosing:
Share -> more or more sharing options -> choose preview size (17" monitor is good or like I chose the biggest option) -> copy/ paste forum embed code.
Result is this clickable preview image.

[Arseen]

well anyway, as you can see the angle of the original back shot, even though i fixed the physical perspective, the lighting is still off, it gets brighter towards the bottom left. and the spine doenst match up to the back.

is there a tool im gimp that could match that without doing it manually with the dodge/burn tool? like some overall filter that would make it uniform?

I think you can only do it by scrapping everything and starting with clean blue background retype all text, insert clean screenshots and logos, using the image as reference only.

and aside from that, does the overall quality meet the standards?

Like I said source material alone tells it is not.
Only using 300DPI or higher (600DPI suggested) well scanned material can you after hard TLC and elbow grease meet the site standards.

i mean, frankly i think it looks as good if not better than some of the covers ive downloaded from here.

Please share example.

[Dr.Agon]

if you want a scan, there's a CIB European one on Ebay UK, from what i can see of the front its almost identical, just lacks the ESRB, and the Nintendo seal is in a slightly different place.

£6 buy it now...only i can't BIN 'cos i'm broke, if you can wait until friday, when i get paid, i'll pick it up and scan it as soon as i can.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371023389252?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

LMK before hand if thats ok or not...

[Lunchbox7985]

well anyway, as you can see the angle of the original back shot, even though i fixed the physical perspective, the lighting is still off, it gets brighter towards the bottom left. and the spine doenst match up to the back.

is there a tool im gimp that could match that without doing it manually with the dodge/burn tool? like some overall filter that would make it uniform?

I think you can only do it by scrapping everything and starting with clean blue background retype all text, insert clean screenshots and logos, using the image as reference only.

and aside from that, does the overall quality meet the standards?

Like I said source material alone tells it is not.
Only using 300DPI or higher (600DPI suggested) well scanned material can you after hard TLC and elbow grease meet the site standards.

i mean, frankly i think it looks as good if not better than some of the covers ive downloaded from here.

Please share example.

you tell me exactly what about this one makes it unsuitable. the file is the same resolutions as the other ones on this site. same format, are you refusing it based soley on the quality of the originals? did you even look at my work? im taking downloads from here and zooming in on them and i cant tell any difference between the one i made, and one i downloaded.

is it blurry? pixelated? are you against the fact that i made the side from scratch since i cant find an original?

im trying to contribute but you are telling me its not good enough, but not telling me why its not good enough.

[sheep2001]

It's the source material.

It's from a photo of a shrink wrapped game at a strange perspective which then had to be stretched into shape.

And you didn't 'make it from scratch', did you.  You manipulated some ok hi res photos.  Make it from scratch and it would probably be passed.

And to accuse arseen of 'not even looking at your work'?  I might point you back towards my response in your last thread and ask did you even read my advice?

You pointed out some issues yourself, which those alone would make it unusable. To improve it, you could rebuild/retype the back.  Rebuild the spine. And find a front image that doesn't have shrink wrap wrinkles and awful moire effect.  Please don't use the 'mine is better than' argument before you read/reread my comments on your last thread.

Trying to be nice here, but to be honest, the tone of your post is somewhat whiny, and you're coming across as a bit of a dick. I get it that you're frustrated, you want to contribute, and plenty of other sites would probably take what we here would consider sub standard but our CURRENT NEW site standards will not accept less than perfection.

[Lunchbox7985]

im sorry i sound whiny, and i never said i wasnt a dick, but im asking for advice and just getting judgment.

in terms of resolution, these are easily 3 times better than what i need for my personal use, so i figure that there should be plenty of people out there that might get some use out of them. hell the first thing i do when i download a cover from here is shrink it to about a third its size. i understand the need for super high quality when it comes to printing, but guarantee more than 50% of the visitors to this website are using these for emulators and using them digitally not printing them. and i guarantee if i take one that i made, and one from a 600 dpi scan, shrink them down to half the size of what you use, nobody could tell the difference

and ya i have a little bit of a problem with this mentality that having nothing is better than having something that is 90% of perfect. i really dont understand why you cant just have a cover listed that calls it lower quality. its not really fair being that this is about the only website that does this kind of thing, being so picky about what you accept. i mean is server storage such a problem that you only have room for 1 of every cover, so that oyu settle for nothing short of perfection?

i think it would be different if i were submitting random stuff, im just trying to fill in the gaps that you guys have until someone comes along with the actual box and a scanner.

[sheep2001]

Basically because the ethos of our site is about restoring and preserving the artwork.  It's not about making complete sets of differing quality for emulator sets.  We specialize in making printable quality covers.  If the site were about making any old cover, in any old quality, we would already have covers for everything, using the shit on mobygames for front/back.

You are welcome to show your work off on the forums, and I guarantee that plenty of people will download it, and be happy with it, but we won't host it.  We've seriously had hundreds of people ask the same question, but not one of those people have started their own site accepting the lower quality art. 

I really don't understand why people come to the site with the intention of changing our guidelines, rather than learning photoshop and submitting quality work.  As I said on your other thread - I made loads of sub par covers, and still do - I just showcase them in the forums.  Would you go into a bakers and ask why they won't stock roast chickens?  Because 50% of people buying bread like roast chickens.  Ok shit analogy, but you get where I'm coming from?

[marioxb]

That's just the way it is. If you don't like it, start your own site. Even the best cover makers here have "less than perfect" covers. But those covers don't get added to the site. They can be downloaded from the forums or via signatures. I'm sure if you post the mediafire share link here, some people will have a use for the cover.

[Arseen]

Yes I did download it before commenting, but I could see from the source material that cover cannot match the quality required.

Giving advice = judging.
I'm running low on battery on my laptop so I can't do it now, but if you want sure I can list the things your cover needs touched up.
I'll do it in the morning when I get home.

But: Taking photo and making cover out of it will unfortunately always result in too low quality cover.

You can freely distribute covers on the boards using Mediafire, many do so with covers that don't meet the site requirements, I included.
Just remember to post the name of the cover in the post so it can be found easily.

Quality requirements are strickt as not all want 90% quality covers (And not to sound dick but your cover was 50% max  ) but 98% at minimum, and secondary mission of ours is preservation of the artwork, especially of the games that came in cardboard boxes that get bad fast.
And thus it was agreed among site owner and Cover Admins that no low quality cover is accepted on the site.
Our quality requirements are so strickt that out of all my cover only one has been accepted and I even have power to add them if I choose so, but I uphold the requirements so I won't add cover under 98%.
Yes there are still quite a few bad covers on the database but it's because they were added before we knew what we wanted and now can't remove them.

Then your arguments:

1: I counter your bet and say that virtually 100% of visitors here who download the covers use them for casing games, not as thumbnails for emulators, as low quality arts for that can be found way more easily on Google.

2: Give me your cover and 600DPI scan shrunk to 33% and I can tell the difference easily as can any other of our Cover Admins or Cover Gurusor heck almost any user.

PEACE!!!