03/14/08 [DMFA #886] - Card game

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... I think that's what I said, Rafe. ;-]

It's certainly what I was trying to say. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

[Rafe]

Llearch, I was replying to e_voyager, and anyone else who couldn't figure out how to see it "screen size", hence the link

CLICK HERE

[Lucheek]

I'm confused. Are you going to scan all 12 pictures Rafe, or are they going to be sold (in one form or another)?

[Rafe]

I'm confused too. 

I was under the impression that they were good enough to print, or at least good enough to encourage a few dollars a piece to go to Amber if I posted them (along with links to printable high-res files).  Apparently they're not good enough.

[SpottedKitty]

I changed it to a .jpg, full size (3223 x 2455), at the lowest compression, and that's '11c.

Setting .jpg compression can be tricky. Do you mean lowest = least amount of compression, or lowest = smallest file size? Which way round it is depends on which program you're using and I can't remember how Photoshop does it.

I do this at work (and jpg compression is one of the easiest ways to produce a poor-quality-for-print file), and I don't usually see that much compression artifacting — especially not in a first-generation save — unless the jpg compression has been set way too high.

[RobbieThe1st]

I'm confused too. 

I was under the impression that they were good enough to print, or at least good enough to encourage a few dollars a piece to go to Amber if I posted them (along with links to printable high-res files).  Apparently they're not good enough.

Sorry - I think you misunderstand - The "high res" image link you posted isn't really good enough to print at 300dpi, although the origional scanned PSD image most likely *is*.

Tapewolf uses full-quality PNG images for stuff he scans, which gives you absolutely no compression artifacts(PNG is lossless), but the file-sizes are in the ~12MB each.

Some cameras and scanners save their outputs as 100%-quality(lossless) jpg's, which is why I made the comment about photoshop being used.

PSD wise, most everyone can use them - I know that IrfanView(freeware) can handle them, and it can convert them to any other normal file-type.

PNG files are good for transferring over the internet, as they are lossless and *everyone* can handle them, just like jpg or gif. The only thing that (may) be a problem is file-size, as you are probably talking at least 100 megs of scanned images - and depending on how you are hosting the files, you may need to watch out bandwidth wise(lots of people X 100 megs bandwidth each = *huge amounts* of bandwidth. If you are worried about that, Llearch would probably be willing to help you host them.


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

PSD wise, most everyone can use them - I know that IrfanView(freeware) can handle them, and it can convert them to any other normal file-type.

Seriously, you don't want to link to raw PSD files.  They're on par with BMP in terms of compression.  If you must use a PSD, e.g. because it uses a non-RGB colourspace or layers, compress them afterwards with ZIP or RAR or something.

For stuff like this, PNG would be a much better bet, IMHO.  You'd have to have something 10 years old or so to not have support for it, and even then you can get conversion software for free.

[Rafe]

Well, if you want a .png, I can give you one.  As I mentioned up the thread, I scanned the image as a .psd.  This was mainly to make any cleaning up in Photoshop simpler.  About all I really had to do was some gaussian-blur to get rid of the color half-tone graininess of the print, and removing some lines from the reverse side that were showing through.  This is a .png version of that .psd.  It's big, about 7.5M.

Here it is:  http://24.106.113.210/otown/horriblescopes11c1.png

[RobbieThe1st]

Well, if you want a .png, I can give you one.  As I mentioned up the thread, I scanned the image as a .psd.  This was mainly to make any cleaning up in Photoshop simpler.  About all I really had to do was some gaussian-blur to get rid of the color half-tone graininess of the print, and removing some lines from the reverse side that were showing through.  This is a .png version of that .psd.  It's big, about 7.5M.

Here it is:  http://24.106.113.210/otown/horriblescopes11c1.png

Ah, thats much better. Yes, there is some Chromatic aberration, but its not too bad. I think these will print up perfectly.
Depending on the printer used, it *may* be a good idea to resize the scan up to 600dpi, and replace the text - while there will be no noticeable difference in the graphics, with the text you *will* notice a difference(Even replacing the text at 300dpi may help).

I am going to work on this scan and see what I can come up with, for the benefit of anyone else who might be able to use it.

edit: What can I say? I had some time on my hands. This may not be my best work, but it certainly fixes some of the problems with the unmodified origional - namely the text and the boxes.
http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/images/horriblescopes11c1_restored.jpg (420kb JPG). If anyone wants it, I can give you the 1.73 meg PNG, or the 17.5 meg XCF.
Also, as a note, the font used is Times New Roman, at 142px[letter spacing +1.0](largest text), 72px[letter spacing 0](medium text) and 56px[line spacing +6.0, letter spacing 0](small text). At least, those were the values I used in Gimp, and it was extremely close to the original.
edit2:
I had a bit of time on my hands and after test printing it(sorry Amber), I figured out that the graininess *is* noticeable, at least with a solid-ink printer. The squares I redrew and the text(with AA off) looked perfect after being printed, although the edges of the artwork were a bit sketchy. I *do* think its more or less printable quality, although its at the lowish end of the spectrum.
http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/images/IMG_3040_small.jpg
http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/images/IMG_3038_small.jpg
My camera work on the other hand... It really needs work.


-RobbieThe1st

[Aleolus]

**EDIT** Sorry, wrong thread!

[AndersW]

Rafe, are you going to post the other pictures in the calender?

[Rafe]

Well, my idea was to reprint the calendar, and posting the whole thing would more or less put a damper on selling them.  After some PM discussions between some of us, it looks like the quality could be duplicated just fine.  It's not going to happen without Amber's approval, though.  One way or another, I want everyone to see it.