[rez]

It would be interesting to see before and after pics or maybe inbetween shots of the different steps taken when doctoring a scan before sending it to site.

I mean, say someone wants to scan a decrepid fair/poor copy of a book that maybe survived a mudpuddle somewhere in it's life, or the remanants of a breakfast some many years back with the jelly and coffee stains.
Or the one too many times in the back pocket of a kid on a bike making his way to a buddy's campout and it's torn to bits but still there enough to call it a comic.

So now enter Photoshop, Microsoft paint or what have you and the book can be transformered into an acceptable image worthy of the site. Blend the colors, fix that wrinkled crease, fix up the missing corner etc.

Would be advantageous to know the different techniques and steps possible to rework a comic into a presentation piece.

Just thinking outloud.

[Yoc]

It really depends on the software and Version of it being used Rez.
Followed by how much 'good' is still left of the book.

I've never worked on a book that was that destroyed.  For covers I often look on Heritage for a better version or if a book is missing a cover.  It's a lot easier than restoring one.  Just IMO.
http://comics.ha.com/

Note you have to register to see the archives but I've never had a problem with them in the four years I've been there and the cover scans are HUGE.  Here's an example:
http://tinyurl.com/4zq2km

I'm sure everyone has their own techniques.  I'd be interested in hearing about them myself.  But it can be a very very VERY involved process and might take more time to type out than some here than many want to take.

-Yoc

[cimmerian32]

36 hours of clone stamping...  and just flat brush work...  this has been one of my hardest edits to date...

[narfstar]

Awesome Cim but ya gotta do it outa love for the challenge when you could just pull a Heritage or GCD cover.  BTW sorry I missed you at Heroes I was only there Sunday.  Maybe next year.  JIM

[rez]

yea man, that's what I'm talking about!
May I inquire what all the term 'clone stamping' involves and what programs you are using?
I'm sure some of us have or on occasion run across fairly obscure books that may not have readily available covers or have interior pages needing work whicht could use the helping hand of a doctor.


be an old copy of MD

36 hours of clone stamping...  and just flat brush work...  this has been one of my hardest edits to date...

[Yoc]

Clone stamping would be on PhotoShop Rez.
A Very Expensive application to buy unless you are in the know.  Powerful as all heck but it takes a while to get your head around all the bells and whistles.  Sometimes years!

[cimmerian32]

Actually, I don;t pull Heritage covers because they are huge pictures with low res...  nice enough if you are actually missing the cover entire, but if you have MOST of a cover, you will end up with a better result using PS...  and even Heritage covers need editing, usually...  remember they are scanned with the intent to offer a view of an item for sale, not with the intent that they will be part of the book itself in a digital environment...

Guess I am just an OCD freak with delusions of artistry 

Cimm

[Yoc]

Bless you Cimm for your artistry!  I always grab your scans - even when I'm not a fan of the title.  Just to enjoy a superior scanning job.  And I know I'm not alone in your fan club!


Yep, Heritage scans aren't perfect and do need some tweaks as they usually are taken from books already inside those lame ass GCD coffins.  So they usually are overly blue.  But in a pinch they'll do.  I always look for the 'unslabbed' covers first.

-Yoc

[narfstar]

Paint.net is a free source forge program that offers clone stamp and many other photoshop like abilities.  Still would like to know what clone stamp is Cimm

[rez]

I'm thinking it might be a way to contain a certain area and reproduce it to another place.
Which got me to thinking about a cut and paste of a background color area to a chipped corner and then blur any distinction. Might be easier than attempting to duplicate a color tone with a brush.

An example is this Firehair5 I'm readying to scan with a chipped upperright corner.
I'll try to cut a piece of the cover and paste it on that corner and see how that works.

gee, I'm feeling like a madscientist but the trouble is I like itsnorK*

Paint.net is a free source forge program that offers clone stamp and many other photoshop like abilities.  Still would like to know what clone stamp is Cimm

[rez]

dang man, that was too easy! And I couldn't find a blurring tool.
heh heh, by george I'm think I'm on to something here.

and it was there all the time in simple microsoft paint. Just think, no more short cropping the edges of the cover to hide the chipping.

you are witnessing the birth of a modernday Dr.Frankinstein

[Yoc]

The cloning tool in Photoshop lets you select a 'nib' size in points then you first select the area you would like to clone that matches the spot you would like to correct.  Finally you start clicking on the area that needs fixing.  PS will 'clone' the better spot pixel for pixel over top of the damaged area.
You can also tell P.S. how opaque to paint and how fast the flow is in a scale of 1-100.
So this means you could slowly paint over the same spot until you get the effect you want.

There are also 1000s of 'filters' that will give you various tools to work with out there.  3rd party companies that have produced specialized filters to produce various effects on a picture.  Whatever you can dream up someone has likely produced a filter.  Of course they charge money for their filters.
I was lucky enough to have a tenant 'lend' me a copy of P.S. years ago and I know I still haven't scratched the surface of everything that this amazing application can do.

I bet if you did a Google on "Photoshop+techniques" or "+tutorials" you would find no end of online stuff to give you a better idea of just how the application can be used. 
There are entire sites devoted to people displaying galleries of their work for people to comment on and enjoy as well.  Deviant Art being a big one I used to frequent.  A HUGE amount of work is on display there.
http://www.deviantart.com/

But I sure wouldn't fixate on it Rez.

Part of the beauty of these old gems is they aren't all 'Cindy Crawford' Photoshoped models.
They have blemishes.  They are old and yellow and they were usually printed off register.
With Photoshop you could go in and spend days fixing this that and the other and put together a book that never actually existed in the real world.  At least never in the era that these books were printed.
Cimm is an artist in what he does for sure.  He's got the tools and skills to produce the perfect book but I'm sure he spent a long time (years maybe) perfecting his subtle technique.
But there is also no shame in sharing a book as it appears in your hands - warts and all.

As a buddy of mine liked to say - a low grade comic doesn't mean it's been abused - it means it was READ and LOVED by many hands.

Might I suggest if you are going to start trying more advanced scanning manipulations on your covers or certain interior pages that you include both the before and after scans in your files?

Just a thought.  I certainly admire your enthusiasm and desire to better your scanning techniques.
Good luck for sure as we all stand to benefit from it in the end.

[rez]

Can't be too time consuming so no need for concern of Cindy Crawford and all the myriad of available techniques. I like something simple and to the point.

But I'd rather have a clean look to a book than chips with grease and grime, but stop short of lip gloss and spray plastic.

Like everything else it's all a matter of balance.

Cheers

[Yoc]

Funny thing.
Just last weekend the local Toronto Star had a feature on how 'Cindy Crawford' doesn't even REALLY look like 'Cindy Crawford' we get on the magazines.
It sounds like masters like Cimm are the real stars of the fashion industry.  Heck, Cimm might be making serious bucks doing his magic erasing cellulite and pumping up bust lines instead of doing his wonders on these old comics!   

RETOUCHING REALITY - Pixel Perfect
http://www.thestar.com/article/446384

[narfstar]

Well I just scanned, yes scanned not snapped, Sparkman.  My nephews scanner is faster and easy to get to and use.  I fought hard to not split the book at the spine but I made it.  I downloaded a great free photo editor called photofilter and had the scanner send it to the app.  I used the same pattern  of light and contrast and saturation which it has a batch processing capability.  The scans are not Cimm quality but I think everyone will be pleased.  The bad news is it will be a couple weeks before I get to my dsl to upload them.  My Terry and the Pirates was aleady completely split at the spine with crumbling edges so I was not afraid to scan it at all.

[Yoc]

Congrats Narf!
Looking forward to seeing them.

Just last night BBBrown was telling me about two scanners ($250-750) that could do a 300dpi page scan in under 10 seconds!!!   
After I got up off the floor I told him how my lame HPScanjet 4370 needs about two minutes a page at 300dpi.  I got what I paid for I guess.

[rez]

That is a very impressive work. Compliments to the chef!

Having now been introduced to scanning thru this site and the fine folk that hang their hat or roam here I admit I've got the bug. Already thinking about a better grade scanner. oh gawd

Recalling years back in the late 70s/early 80s when I first re-entered comiccollectordom (heh heh how's that for a word) and walked dazed among the aisles of dealers,

after viewing row after row of old comics I'd never even heard of yet alone seen

a little voice inside warned me not to go there or I might never come out.

Remembering that event and what the costs were back then compared to now, ownership of some of those books is an impossibility but the readability is there, I now realize, in the offering of scans

so the opportunity to fulfill that age old lust is now presented and I'm thinking of adding a separate HD bank via the USB port just to house comics. help me help me

So I got playing around with the meager tools I am presently operating with and discovered that just a few minutes time can bring a comic up to a better presentation by opening two identical cover files in MSpaint and using cut/paste segments between the two.


Not near the caliber of work as you displayed but if planning on a mass scanning of books I think the few minutes were well spent in preparing a cover.
IMHO

Cheers

36 hours of clone stamping...  and just flat brush work...  this has been one of my hardest edits to date...

[Yoc]

Hi Rez,
Please do yourself a favour and be sure to keep a backup copy of your original raw scans as is.  Preferably in a lossless format like TIFF or PNG.  (Jpgs lose quality with every subsequent save)
This way when you one day find yourself with a proper photo editing software application you can go back and really do the kind of job I have no doubt you'll want to do now.  Practise and the proper tools are the only things holding you back at the moment.  As I'm sure all scanners have found - when you look back on your first few scans you cringe and are almost embarrassed to admit they were yours.  I do!

Now I've never heard much good being said about MS Paint.  But I have heard some people have found GIMP to be pretty good.  And the price is right - Free!

http://www.gimp.org/

Good luck!
-Yoc

[rez]

Ya, free is good! Roar!

I've been thinking of redoing my first KO KOmics #1 scan but might wait 'til I get a few more miles under my belt.

Thanks

Hi Rez,
Please do yourself a favour and be sure to keep a backup copy of your original raw scans as is.  Preferably in a lossless format like TIFF or PNG.  (Jpgs lose quality with every subsequent save)
This way when you one day find yourself with a proper photo editing software application you can go back and really do the kind of job I have no doubt you'll want to do now.  Practise and the proper tools are the only things holding you back at the moment.  As I'm sure all scanners have found - when you look back on your first few scans you cringe and are almost embarrassed to admit they were yours.  I do!

Now I've never heard much good being said about MS Paint.  But I have heard some people have found GIMP to be pretty good.  And the price is right - Free!

http://www.gimp.org/

Good luck!
-Yoc

[John C]

A word of warning:  GIMP is a monster.  If Photoshop seems "a little big," do yourself a huge favor and find something that won't melt your brain.

I haven't looked at it from the perspective of cleaning up scans, but if you're on Windows, Paint.NET seems to me like a good balance.  There's a lot of functionality, but the interface isn't overwhelming.

Let's see...ah, if you ignore the bits about farting around the Windows registry, this has five candidates with a quick description of what they can do:

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2008/03/25/how-to-change-windows-default-image-editor-and-find-a-good-freeware-replacement/

The comments may also be worth reading for further advice.

[Yoc]

Thanks JC.
I should have stressed I've only 'heard' good things about Gimp.
I've never actually used it Rez.
Perhaps a 'Google' for 'graphics editor' and 'free' might find some other possible candidates?

-Yoc

[narfstar]

Because paint.net required a 93meg microsoft.net to work I went to sixfiles.com's freeware section and photofilter.  The scans of Soldier and others will have been batched filtered with photofilter.  It is neat to watch it bring up each page in its original and magically turn bright and pretty one after the other.

[John C]

Just so I'm not confusing anybody, GIMP is great software for a variety of purposes, and it can easily go toe-to-toe with Photoshop...But it's going to scare the daylights out of most users.  It pops up multiple windows for everything, openly tells you about the scripts it's running "behind the curtain," and makes you learn a lot about images and processing just to function.

When I have any major graphical work to do (rare), I usually download the latest version to play with.  For a programmer, the fact that you can automate all sorts of tasks is great, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't need that kind of flexibility.

On that topic, some of you might want to take a look at ImageMagick.  It's a command-line (DOS-based) system of commands.  I mention it because I know a few of the people currently scanning have mentioned problems with consistent sizing, format conversion, stretching, and so forth.  This might be a good tool for things like that, because you can find a command line that'll do all your standard processing in one shot.

But, like GIMP, maybe you have to be a programmer (or DOS junkie) to love it...

[Yoc]

It can be nice Narf but please don't make the common mistake of over correcting things producing a high contrast 'gaudy' book when we all know the original scan is likely just as readable and truer to life.  I'm not a fan of those DC Archive looking scans with their super bright colouring on pristine white backgrounds.  But that's just IMO.  I just posted Weird Comics 7 which is my first work on paper scans (from Rolster, not mine) in months.  It's an example of a book that still looks 70 years old but is very easy to read.

-Yoc

Because paint.net required a 93meg microsoft.net to work I went to sixfiles.com's freeware section and photofilter.  The scans of Soldier and others will have been batched filtered with photofilter.  It is neat to watch it bring up each page in its original and magically turn bright and pretty one after the other.

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

Here's another one for you to look at rez and compare the two of them (these are from a file we do have online here). Click on pix to see full size images.

The original file:


Color Corrected file:


I didn't finish it up totally so you can see some of the editing I did on it. It just goes to show that even poor grade comic can be brought back to life to almost a NM looking copy with enough work, (the second pix was about two hours of total work invested, and no I don't use/have Photoshop to do this, I use 'GraphicConverter' a Mac program and NO, I'll never/ever be as good as Cimm is, he is the man. And now I'll get back to reading the latest Clive Cussler/Jack Du Brul book "Plague Ship" to relax a bit before getting back to working on the scans I've got done.

Geo