Question about quality?

[warmsignal]

I am a newbie to all of this, I have read all of the FAQS and Guides and am still a bit unclear as to what it is I might be doing wrong.

Even though I shouldn't have been, I suppose I was expecting next to original insert quality with these print-outs. To my understand, the quality of the cover ultimately depends on the scan, is that right? Or is it simply that realisticly priced printers can't reproduce that kind of quality in a print? There is also the possibility that I'm not quite doing something right, while the normal result usually is of that quality.

All the scans I can find on the web of a lot of the games I'm looking for are 300dpi, it seems harder to find anything above that. Again, I'm assuming that a higher dpi would mean a clearer, crisper result. I don't know a lot about this stuff.

In my case, I printed out a scan from the site and instantly noticed a couple of things. Maybe I'm too picky, I think I probably am. But two things I noticed were the color being a bit darker than the original (which I could live with), and what really bothered me, the copyright text. It's almost too blurry to read, as where the original is perfectly clear (as long as you have good eyes). I was using Photoshop (as shown in the guide), a $300 Kodak printer, and the highest grade of photopaper.

Is there maybe something I'm not doing right here? With the software? The printer? The paper? Do I need to find a scans with a higher dpi, or am I just expecting too much?

Any information is appreciated.

[Doom]

That's something that bothered me too. I hate how blurry/unreadable the copyright text is from a 300dpi retail cover.

[Zelimpdna]

It could also depend on the specific cover you're printing.

The quality, especially when it comes to small text, varies greatly depending on whether the cover is using the original scanned text [and also then what sort of condition the original scanned cover was in] or whether it's been re-created, as is the case with most of the custom covers.

All the custom covers I've printed have perfectly clear and readable copyright text, as do most of the retail covers. But some, which had to work with poorer-quality scans, or that I've got from other websites, are unreadable.

The darker issue could be down to a number of things. The cover might just have been made a little darker, either on purpose or accidentally. Or your printer, if it has a darkness/contrast setting, might be set a little too dark.

What cover specifically did you have the problem with?

[shenske]

In my case, I printed out a scan from the site and instantly noticed a couple of things. Maybe I'm too picky, I think I probably am. But two things I noticed were the color being a bit darker than the original (which I could live with), and what really bothered me, the copyright text. It's almost too blurry to read, as where the original is perfectly clear (as long as you have good eyes). I was using Photoshop (as shown in the guide), a $300 Kodak printer, and the highest grade of photopaper.

A lot of the problem with a dark print is most people using photoshop unknowingly use the CYMK colors. Most printers print in RGB colors so the colors are converted resulting in a darker set of colors.  There is also the fact that our computer screen is much brighter than what comes out on the print.  There are a few covers i have made that have dissappointing results from the print being too dark. Its just one of those win some loose some 

[tiktektak]

There are also quite some covers on our site which were uploaded prior to our installement of rigorous quality rules.

This means that almost everything is 300dpi but only covers uploaded in the last 2 years have been really really throughly checked. Please also never forget that we are no robots but humans so there can alyways be an bad qual cover uploaded by accident!

[tiktektak]

Most printers print in RGB colors so the colors are converted resulting in a darker set of colors.

Really? Don't most photo printers use multiple ink tanks? Mine for example uses two black and a Cyan, Magenta and Yellow tank....

[Grumbleduke]

I find paper makes the biggest difference for me.My printer struggles with fine white print on black backgrounds (as in PS1 template legals) Using an expensive paper had terrible results, which i took to be a printer problem at that time. Switching to ASDA (Walmart for UK  ) own brand paper returned a better result, not perfect but at least legible. I always find covers print darker than when they are on screen, no matter what paper i use. I normally brighten them up a little in PS now if i think there is going to be a problem.

[shenske]

Most printers print in RGB colors so the colors are converted resulting in a darker set of colors.

Really? Don't most photo printers use multiple ink tanks? Mine for example uses two black and a Cyan, Magenta and Yellow tank....

I might have it the other way around, i couldnt remember which was which. But i do know that the darker colors often do result from the switching of the two color wheels.

[warmsignal]

It could also depend on the specific cover you're printing.

What cover specifically did you have the problem with?

As my luck would have it, it does appear to be one bad apple in the bunch with that particular scan. The scan is of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (NTSC) for PS2. I just realized that the cover is much darker than the uploaded PAL version. I tried downloading a cover for a different game, and with closer inspection and comparison in Photoshop, I found that it was that particular scan of THPS3, the quality is a bit off. The copyright text is pretty poor, and a lot of the finest lines are of low quality as well in comparison to other scans.

I guess I just instinctually thought I had a bigger problem on my hands. I'm assuming that was a cover that slipped under the radar, or maybe was uploaded a while back?

[KaiserWAVE]

Oops, my bad

Yes I uploaded it a while back....waaaaaay back actually    And to make matters worse it was not my scan but a cover I found on the net. I thought cleaned it enough to work unfortunately it seems I was wrong. Sorry!

[AppleQueso]

Haha, I was going to say that my scanned cover prints aren't quite as sharp as my customs, but aren't really TOO bad and actually flush fairly well on a shelf. My only two scanned prints are Disgaea and Magic Pengel, which do indeed have a slightly blurred look, but are otherwise perfectly readable, even the copyright text. Darkness isn't at all a problem.