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Sleeve pics question


geist

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This is my second question for today. I sent in some label scans to the rolldabeats gmail address the other day. The label scans are no problem - I have a scanner that will scan anything that is up to 8.5x14".

 

However, I can't scan a record sleeve as it is too big. With most of my submissions this did not matter because the sleeves were generic, but with the one release I took some (what I think are) decent photos with a digital camera.

 

My question is, should I bother? The pictures aren't perfect. I'm not a professional photographer, and the one glaring problem (pun intended) is, well, glare spots. If I turn the flash off the camera, the light that is behind me, or to the side of the sleeve always has a glare spot. If I leave the flash on, the picture has a distinct glare spot. The best I can do is photograph with the sleeve at a slight angle so the glare lands on a part of the sleeve that isn't so interesting. But this is less than professional and if people out there are planning on doing a better job instead and I shouldn't bother, then let me know. The submissions I make are of records that I'm recording to computer, then putting away for good in sealed mylar sleeves so if I don't photograph them now, somebody else will have to or else nobody.

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Good question and to that extent, I was thinking of getting an A3 scanner, but unlike bog-standard A4 scanners that they pratically give away these days, A3 scanners can cost an arm & a leg.

 

However many scan results don't seem to be ideal either, and I do think photography is probably the most effective method for capturing these images. But probably needs things like special vertical tripods & proper lighting (although with tripod, lighting can be poor - just decrease shutter speed - can you even do them things with these new-fangled digital cameras or is that still the exclusive domain of SLR's?)

 

Would like to hear other peoples input on this matter.

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Can you post up examples? Would be easier to comment that way.

 

If I were to do a cover I'd scan it and then paste together the resulting images in Photoshop. I'm happy to do this if people wanna send them through. I reckon that's the way to get the best results.

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I have run into all sorts of problems photographing my labels and sleeves ... here are some tips ...

  • Use daylight if possible and no flash. Stand your camera on something sturdy (tripod I guess is the ideal solution) and take the picture with a slower shutter speed. Mine is often around 20th of a second. The can give you a blurry result if you hold the camera in your hand .. you just need a steady hand :smile: Mounted on something, the results should be just fine.
     
  • If you use a flash, then a tip to avoid flashspot ... aim your camera down at around a 20 degree angle rather than standing front-on .. this will make the flash spot appear somewhere around the run-out groove above the label. The best results come when you get the flash to hit the spot where the label stops and the vinyl starts .. this can be achieved easily if you have red-eye reduction on .. just point the red light to where you want the flash spot to land!!
     
  • Using the above method for sleeves results in the image not being square ... so with Photoshop just use the perspective filter to adjust the vertical perspective to make it square again. Do this before you scale your image down though otherwise you will get very jagged edges.
     
  • Colour correction and contrast correction can also be done easily in Photoshop .. auto-contrast is normally sufficient.

Cool

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I would use a strip/tube light if you have one as they give me great light , nice and soft as long as its not to close as a spot light is too harsh and you get a glare. I know they aren't cheap and I only have one in the kitchen so all mine are taken in there. failing that scan them in two halves and paste the two together in photoshop as haste says which may not be easy without practice but it gets better detail than a photo will
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Good comments iamdek, very informative

 

Can you post up examples? Would be easier to comment that way.

 

Do you mean me? My experience with a lot of scanning is and a lot of scans in general is reflected light. Don't think I need to give examples for that. Other problems are things like bad color pickup, fadings on different areas.

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Good comments iamdek, very informative

Do you mean me? My experience with a lot of scanning is and a lot of scans in general is reflected light. Don't think I need to give examples for that. Other problems are things like bad color pickup, fadings on different areas.

 

 

wow those are a lot of good tips. I just don't have a tripod though, or photoshop skills, or the means for altering my home lighting situation much.

 

i can scan labels no problem, just not record sleeves: Haste are you saying that if I scan the top half and then the bottom half of a sleeve in my standard scanner, then send it to you (at the rolldabeats gmail address), then you'll frankenstein them together for me? If you're happy to do that part I'm willing to do the scanning part.

 

let me know

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Do you mean me?

Sorry, meant geist, should have that clearer

Haste are you saying that if I scan the top half and then the bottom half of a sleeve in my standard scanner, then send it to you (at the rolldabeats gmail address), then you'll frankenstein them together for me?

Yup! :smile:

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Sorry, meant geist, should have that clearer

 

Yup! :smile:

 

 

alright well since making this post, I've sent a couple of image submissions of record sleeves and labels to the rolldabeats email address

 

what I realized is my scanner is fairly poor. It bevels in a concave fashion at the edges of the scanning area. What this means is that a sheet of paper rests in the dipped area and scans fine, but a record or sleeve inevitable rests on the higher area outside the bevels, dips slightly, and hence gets fuzzy

 

so I got a matte white sheet of nonglossy cardboard (the kind I stick in my mylar record bags), attached it to a piece of wood, and set up a little 'photography area' behind my left turntable against the wall. I set up my girlfriend's digital camera on the mini-tripod on top of the turntable (plus a book), center the pic, set it to no flash, slow shutter, and timed 2 seconds, and presto! a jitter free, decent image

 

I'm happy with the results - they're not professional but I think they are fairly decent, and now that this is set up the way it is the process of photographing is fairly quick. I guess I'll label these accordingly, keep em on my harddrive, and emal them to rolldabeats from time 2 time. thanks for the tips. this has now taken my record collecting to the next level of obsessive compulsiveness :blink:

 

 

 

 

p.s. and haste this is why i won't be sending scans of sleeves that are half and half. that just didn't seem to be working out right. i think this camera way is better now that I have a tripod and set the lighting about right. not like these pics could be used to, say, reproduce the sleeves for a repress or anything, but they are clean nice pictures of what the releases actually look like

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another tip if scanning sleeves or records is push down on the top of the scanner lid as it makes more contact with the scanner glass and it will come out better with less shadow. if it takes ages to scan (like mine) it can be boring but it makes a hell of a lot better scans that way.

also dont push down so hard that your crack whatever your scanning as I have done that as the sides of my scanner lid are quite raised :cry:

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p.s. and haste this is why i won't be sending scans of sleeves that are half and half. that just didn't seem to be working out right. i think this camera way is better now that I have a tripod and set the lighting about right. not like these pics could be used to, say, reproduce the sleeves for a repress or anything, but they are clean nice pictures of what the releases actually look like

 

I'm pretty certain that photography is the way that professionals would use to reproduce images that otherwise have their source materials lost.

 

Do it well enough and I'm sure they could be used to reproduce sleeves for a repress!

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  • 4 years later...
  • 5 months later...

I have a decent camera & tripod at my disposal. I even have a reflector to add a little natural light if I'm having problems. I'll shortly (Within 2 months) be sitting down, tripod & remote at the ready & just click away at every sleeve I have, front back, vinyl centre (Both sides), release sheets for Promos & both sides of picture discs. I might even have a go at macro shots of etchings that are different (i.e. the Pacman etching). With the whole tripod & remote as well as a 'groove' to place the records in, this shouldn't take long at all. Place, click, turn, click, place, click, turn click.

 

It's gonna have to be done during the day time, as someone mentioned, to get natural light to do the work there.

 

For me though, I have another problem. Since I started buying records around 12 years ago, I've labelled them with a sticker in the top right corners to help me file & locate my tunes. I'll be able to edit out the sticker from sleeves with a single colour background, but the busier sleeves will be tougher meaning the overall timescale will be later still.

 

In the next month (Tops), I'll add everything I have to my collection so you'll all be able to see which tracks I'll be working on so you don't have to duplicate the work.

 

FuZion.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Awesome stuff...in the new version of the site you'll be able to upload all these images yourself and get named credit on the site as well.

 

I wouldn't worry that much about editing out the sticker if it's any hassle. Sounds like too much work to me!

 

Also remember that any snaps you take of picture discs and coloured vinyl would be equally welcomed on the other site I run, 12inch - http://12in.ch

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Thanks Haste,

 

Now I don't wanna sound like Mr. Questy-Questionson but shall I upload promo sheets. You know, the A4 or A5 printed sheets of paper to accompany a promo before fully colourful release? If so, how should I tag that, just as artwork?

 

FuZion.

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No worries about the questions!

 

I wouldn't bother with that. The artwork tag is there mainly for releases that have interesting artwork. For instance:

 

http://12in.ch/2010/07/millie-andrea-black-hammer/

http://12in.ch/2010/06/alice-cooper-billion-dollar-babies/

http://12in.ch/2010/06/pet-shop-boys-miracles-remixes/

 

But, if you're uploading a picture disc or coloured vinyl and it happens to have nice artwork as well then feel free to upload pics of the sleeve and tag it with the artwork tag. Promo sheets aren't much to look at and, while I'd like them to appear on release galleries on RDB, I don't think they fit in on 12inch. If the promo sheet looks really cool, though, please add it!

 

Also, if you have a load of pics then best not to upload all at once but maybe spread them out over a few weeks. Did you create an account on the site yet?

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Not yet, but I will do.

 

Should I upload everything here (Apart from non-interesting promo sheets) & the artsy, colourful & interesting at 12in.ch then? I'll even try to take some of the nice ones in a fancy way too if you like, but keep the artwork as the main event.

 

FuZion.

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Yup, all pics should go up on RDB and then the more interesting ones can also be added to 12inch. If you have hi-res versions then it's nice to do close up versions as you'll see I've done with many of the images on 12inch (or you can even do extra close up pics if you have time).

 

I wouldn't go mad with artwork only releases on 12inch, it's mainly meant to be a site about coloured & etched vinyl as well as picture discs. If there's some gimmicky artwork then feel free to add that too

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