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[rez]

man, how in the world does cimmerian make such awesome quality scans?

[cimmerian32]

ummmm...  Thanks

I scan at 300 dpi...  no auto-corrections, while scanning (i.e descreen, gamma reduction etc. are all set to off)...
In Photoshop, I clone stamp away any cover defects (missing pieces, creases, colour loss, etc.), then use a SMALL amount of brightness/contrast, saturation, and some seperate colour correction, to make it look as if it just came from the printer to the newsstand (at least that is my goal)...
then for the interiors, I make a new Action for each book, doing colour corrections in image/adjustments/seperate colour, until it looks right, then I crop so that the outside margins are roughly equal to the inside margins, or 1/4 inch (approx.), whichever is larger, and save at 200 dpi, 1680 pixel width, jpeg quality 12 for the front cover, jpeg quality 6 for all the rest, then apply the action made to each succeeding page, after straightening and cropping each page manually...

Every book is different, page colour, deterioration, staining, etc...  so they all require something different, settings, and colour corrections wise... 

The best advice I can give you is familiarize yourself with Photoshop, learn what each tool and function does, and then apply it to your ancient paper...

If you run into any specific problems, I will always be happy to help.  PM me...

Cimm

[citaltras]

Right. Cimm's are some of the best scans available.
Not only golden age, I keep all of them together in a separate folder.
They are something to enjoy.
Check also those made by Ramcrammer and posted on this site.

[Ramcrammer]

I scan at 300 dpi...  no auto-corrections, while scanning (i.e descreen, gamma reduction etc. are all set to off)...
In Photoshop, I clone stamp away any cover defects (missing pieces, creases, colour loss, etc.), then use a SMALL amount of brightness/contrast, saturation, and some seperate colour correction, to make it look as if it just came from the printer to the newsstand (at least that is my goal)...
then for the interiors, I make a new Action for each book, doing colour corrections in image/adjustments/seperate colour, until it looks right, then I crop so that the outside margins are roughly equal to the inside margins, or 1/4 inch (approx.), whichever is larger, and save at 200 dpi, 1680 pixel width, jpeg quality 12 for the front cover, jpeg quality 6 for all the rest, then apply the action made to each succeeding page, after straightening and cropping each page manually...

Cimmerian,  What you are describing is a labor of love.  But really, no matter how you approach it, making scans look as good as Cimms is just plain dedication and meticulous attention to detail, as well as an artist's eye for beauty. 

Citaltras, you make me blush, but thanks anyway.  It always feels nice to hear that others appreciate what I'm doing.   I'm no Cimm, but I do attempt to emulate him in my own way.   

[rez]

Might anyone have any recommendations for a costwise mid level scanner to be used exclusively for scanning comics?

I'm not leaning towards having a grand to put into the tool as a previous poster in an older thread once inquired over. Wonder what he finally ended up deciding to go with.
The name slips me at the moment and the thread lies buried back in the archives somewhere.

Thanks all.

[Yoc]

Hi Rez,
BBBrown here mention two scanners to me that could scan a page at 300dpi in under 15 seconds!
Sadly the name and model of each slipped my memory.

You might try sending him a PM with the question and see if he can tell you.  One was in the $250 range and the faster one was closer to $800.

Sorry I can't be of more help,
-Yoc

[rez]

Another question regarding batch saving techniques from a newbie puter novice...

So, after saving the original large scans, it is possible to place them in all in a folder and transpose them down to the 1024 size with the desired viewing embellishments all at one time?

Thanks

[Zog]

http://www.plustek.com/product/book3600.asp

not to bad cost wise...

http://www.plustek.com/product/book4600.asp ...for around $700 is the new one, that I WANT !!!

when it comes to the UK.

[cimmerian32]

1024 is an awfully small size...  1680 is more common these days...  just FYI...

Cimm

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

My old scanner, a Umax Astra 2200, an old work horse by the way, but is to slow with only USB 1 compatibility (about 5 minutes per scan, so slo-o-w ) since I don't have a SCSI card in my new computer to make it work faster.
Here's one I'm looking into, Microtek ScanMaker i800 and it's in my price range. I do have the SilverFast SE software I use with my current scanner which I like, so it wouldn't be a problem adjusting to this scanner's software (it comes with SilverFast Ai). Anyone know anything more about it or your thoughts.
I just want something faster then I now have and work with a Mac.

[Yoc]

What?  You mean you don't read ALL the posts on GAC each day???

I cover this question in this recommendation to Darkmark in an effort to get him to share scans that aren't quite so huge...

Finally I resave all the scans in IrFranview.

You can get IrFanview for FREE from this site:
http://www.irfanview.com/

After placing all the corrected scans within the same folder I open any page in IrFanview and then type 'B' for Batch mode.
At the bottom of the opening page there is an OPTIONS button.
Hitting that lets you set the quality level as a percentage when saving.
So after choosing a new Output Folder first I try different quality levels on some test pages until I can lower the page scan size to a number in the 600-800kb range for the average page without having them look like crap.
I never save on top of the originals as you never know exactly which looks best until you've tried it a couple times.
When I'm happy with the final results of the test pages I apply the setting to the entire book.

There is an ADVANCED button as well where you can do any number of tweaks to an entire book tweaking page sizes, sharpness, colours, etc.  but use with caution.

Please give IrFran a try in batch mode - most of this is pretty self explanatory and it would help cut down on the page sizes considerably without hurting the quality of your scans very much if at all.

-Yoc

I think that sould help you Rez.
-Yoc

Another question regarding batch saving techniques from a newbie puter novice...

So, after saving the original large scans, it is possible to place them in all in a folder and transpose them down to the 1024 size with the desired viewing embellishments all at one time?

Thanks

[rez]

Ha! Well ya. In fact I have that page of data you presented printed out from the other day when you first posted it for the learning info I've been collecting.

A thing you puter guy's need to keep in mind when talking to greenhorns is everything needs to be spelled out as often times a simple sequence to you is a afore unknown thing to the first timers.

What I've been doing is keeping every tidbit of scanning info to a printed page for study. It's easy to get lost in tinytown learning this stuff and choking on complexity.

I see that Plustek OpticBook 3600 even uses the scanning of comics in their sales presentation. Most interesting especially for the price. Thanks Zog.

I mentioned  the 1024 size just as a normal presentation size for the scanning final as the example.

The ScanMaker i800 looks capable and also interesting as it is also within the similar price range as the Octicbook line.

Thanks to all for your input.

[Zog]

I see that Plustek OpticBook 3600 even uses the scanning of comics in their sales presentation.

I thought that was very cheeky of them, trying to promote piracy.

[rez]

I don't feel so bad now. Yer an administrator and still only have 6 karmas. I'm down to 5 again.snorK*

[rez]

Zog,
You get that $700 scanner yet?

[delisa]

Is there a way to straighten out a crooked scan in Irfan view.

I want to start contributing scanned comics but I can't stand crooked pages!  Or do i need to use a program like photoshop to adjust a few percentage points off 90 degrees?

[Yoc]

Open an image in Irfan and they type 'ctrl-U' at the same time.
Experiment with settings.  A plus number rotates clockwise and a minus the opposite.
You can also select the colour in the background that might appear to fill the space where the image once was.  I believe white is the default.  I've tried to match the yellow of a typical page when I've use the feature.

Good luck!
-Yoc

[rez]

I never knew that.
Thanks.

Open an image in Irfan and they type 'ctrl-U' at the same time.
Experiment with settings.  A plus number rotates clockwise and a minus the opposite.
You can also select the colour in the background that might appear to fill the space where the image once was.  I believe white is the default.  I've tried to match the yellow of a typical page when I've use the feature.

Good luck!
-Yoc

[OtherEric]

Make sure you have a newer version of irfanview.  (No reason you shouldn't since it's free.)  I found that out when I tried to  tilt something on my desktop and saw that it didn't have that function.

About all the editing I normally do is tilt and crop; the crooked pages bug me on my scans.  (I don't mind them on others, but don't like them on mine.  ) 

[delisa]

that's the answer!  thanks.

I have a large, eclectic of comics and figure I can find some unscanned comics in my boxes!

[narfstar]

eclectic is my middle name. Please find some oddities to share they will be greatly appreciated.

[rez]

I have to learn that tilt/crop feature as normally I end up trying to second guess the distance parallelling of the panels to the edge of the copier on books that have askewed margins.

Too much of that and the labor of love starts to diminish.

Make sure you have a newer version of irfanview.  (No reason you shouldn't since it's free.)  I found that out when I tried to  tilt something on my desktop and saw that it didn't have that function.

About all the editing I normally do is tilt and crop; the crooked pages bug me on my scans.  (I don't mind them on others, but don't like them on mine.  ) 

[rez]

OEric or YOC-
Could you run me thru the tilt and crop process

as I can get the tilt to show and the crop to show but when I hit the JPG Lossless crop start button the results of the finish in Documents show that it didn't work.

Make sure you have a newer version of irfanview.  (No reason you shouldn't since it's free.)  I found that out when I tried to  tilt something on my desktop and saw that it didn't have that function.

About all the editing I normally do is tilt and crop; the crooked pages bug me on my scans.  (I don't mind them on others, but don't like them on mine.  ) 

[Yoc]

It doesn't work in Jpg Lossless Rez.
Try again and then just plain save.

'Ctrl-U' to bring up 'Custum/Fine Rotation.
Use a minus to go couter clockwise, a plus for clockwise.
'Ctrl-z' will undo any change if it's not correct.

'S' to save the results.  There is a Save Option area that will open with a % slider at the top.
I find 85% results in a new file slightly larger than the original.

'Shift-S' will sharpen but don't use it more than once or twice as the image can go south fast.

Finally I suggest using a new name to preserve the original file just in case you want to try something again.

[rez]

So after saving the tilt (before crop as crop is JPG Lossless) one can notice a minute loss of detail comparing the before and after of the pretilt and the tilt.

What is the JPG Lossless Rotation option in the menu right above JPG Lossless Crop?