tsolfan,
So i finally got around and started editing the uploads you posted (thanks for that). But now I have a question.
What scanner and setting are you using, and are you "Descreening"? The reason i ask is because the scans look kinda rough and pixelated.
To understand what I'm talking bout, look at this scan I uploaded a wile back. You will see that the image is a lot smoother.
http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/raw/Sega%20-%20SegaCD/velvet396.retail.raw_segacd_road%20avenger%20front001.jpg
Now don't get me wrong.. I really, REALLY appreciate your contribution to the project, but I think we can get a much better results when making a cover if the scans are a little better quality.
Thanks for the feedback.
My scanner is a HP Photosmart C309A.
I tried a few different methods, and settled upon how I'm currently doing it (and I'm open to constructive criticism
I originally did some scans through Photoshop CS3 using the HP utility, scanning in at 600dpi with descreening turned on. I also tried scanning straight from my scanner to a USB drive (it has a USB port). Through that method, it scans at 300dpi, and I have yet to find a way around it.
After comparing the results between the two different methods, I found the scan straight from the scanner to USB produced more "realistic" results. By realistic, I mean, more akin to what I'm actually putting on the scanner to scan. When scanning at 600dpi with descreening, I did indeed get a higher resolution file, though, there was more of an artificial "blur". When zooming both files to 100%, I was much happier with the latter method.
Granted, things are going to look rough as these are raw scans in the truest sense, in that, I'm not applying any cleanup (no contrast adjustments, no level adjustments, no dust/scratch filters or rubber stamping to fix defects), and most of these games have been a great deal of play over the years, and even though I've done my best to preserve everything, everything in my collection is "used"
Also, to be honest, the way I'm doing it saves me a "huge" amount of time, especially since I do these in the morning before I go to work. My scanner is downstairs and my home office with computer and my game collections are upstairs, and I can crank these scans out straight to a USB drive in relatively short order after bringing the games downstairs (only having to do some minor cropping after the fact). Doing it the Photoshop way, I found I had to put something on the glass, and then put some weights on it to keep it flat (as opposed to just holding it down when doing it via USB) so I could run upstairs to hit the scan button, and then waiting for the preview, and then manually having to tell it to do the 600dpi descreened scan (which takes a fair amount of time), waiting for it to be sent to Photoshop, and then cropping.
I'm not someone just to write something without some proof, so here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
http://www.ratigators.com/downloads/segacd/Shadow of the Beast II (USA) (Front) (300).jpghttp://www.ratigators.com/downloads/segacd/Shadow of the Beast II (USA) (Front) (600).jpgI was much more satisfied with the crispness of the 300dpi scan, versus the larger and slightly blurry 600dpi scan (I'm looking at 100% size).
I did check out your scan, and by no means do I mean to come across crass, but where you see "smooth", I see "gaussian blur", in that, if I take my 300dpi scan and throw a .5 gaussian blur, I seem to get the same "smoothness" that I can see in a 600dpi scan. All in all, I know it comes down to personal preference.
I'm hopeful in that my raw scans can be cleaned up/touched up by whomever is making whatever use of these requests.
Now, with all of that said, there's no point in me scanning a bunch of artwork that won't do anyone any good, and if someone can find a hidden menu option in my scanner (or updated/hacked firmware) that will let me adjust dpi/descreening settings directly on the scanner when scanning straight to a USB drive, I'll be all for doing everything at anything.
