I just got a scanner today. I am a complete and utter newbie... is my first ever scanner. Any tips on scanning the DVD covers would be appreciated. But please keep it as simple as possible... as I will have little to no idea what you are talking about! 

Any thoughts on...
- What covers would be good to learn on
- what size (dpi?) is best to scan at?

And I know... don't try to conquer reflective cases yet! 

Welcome to the dark side!

Covers to start on:
The smallest dimension covers in your collection. (Odds are you have some that are low resolution that no one has ever fixed...someone will thank you)

In Windows Explorer and find the Images folder for your database:
(.\DVD Profiler\Databases\Default\Images). 

Switch to "Details" view.

Add Dimensions to the columns listed. (Right click on bar with the Detail view column headers, Select "More" then find and select "Dimensions".  After clicking OK you should see a new column "Dimensions". Click on the Dimensions column header to sort on Dimensions. The system may thrash for a bit but when done the images with the smallest dimensions will be at the top of the list.)

Odds are the images with the smallest dimensions could use improving.

If you have the case for the matching image than this is the one to start with.

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Do you have any graphics software aside from what came with the scanner or Windows?

I use Paint Shop Pro (PSP) which costs money but i can scan from within it.  Many of the PSP functions i use (it's a short list) can be found in any graphics package (free or $$$)

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First i scan the image for the front and back of the jacket:
I use 600 DPI in the scanner software (that means a 500x700 submitted cover is scanned at 3000x4200). I disable any Unsharp Mask or Descreening options.

After scanning I:
1) Straighten the image.  The graphics software should have some way to do this...find some long straight line (spines are always good) and use the straighten function to fix the orientation.
2) Crop the image. You may have to zoom in and fine tune the edges.
3) Touch up the image. The software should have a "Clone" function.  Look for dust motes and other flaws you might have scanned that aren't on the cover.  If you scanned at 600 DPI, cloning 20 pixels at a time works pretty well in my experience.

I will clean up the corners to make them square, because it rarely makes a difference to the image content but looks better.

Then i start reducing the image size in increments to approximately 1500x2000 at which point i apply and Unsharp Mask (most graphics software has this) which despite the name makes things sharper to my eye.

I then continue reducing the size so it is a maximum of 500x700 (you will rarely be perfect) and save this. 

The file names for images are <UPC>f.jpg for the front and <UPC>b.jpg for the back.  I use the DVDp Change UPC menu to get the disc UPC which i put in the clipboard then use to save the image as <UPC>f.jpg.

I adjust the JPEG compression so that the 500x700 image stays under 200,000 bytes.  I save these to a separate folder, and once i've got the size right i copy it directly to the DVDp Images folder.

I may do a practice contribution to compare my image to the existing to make sure it really is better. If in my opinion it is, i proceed with the contribution.  Otherwise i keep it local.

I don't submit unless i think i have an obviously better scan.  Even then i will get no votes. For scans i don't generally worry about No votes.  Scans are very subjective.

Locally i save at 1000x1400 minimum with no compression.  This is totally a personal preference.

This looks like a lot of steps i know.  I spend most of my time in the cloning step and the rest have become almost automatic.

Start with the low resolution stuff and practice.

Hope this helps and isn't too overwhelming.

Thanks Forget. I appreciate it!

I just submitted my first attempt... Child profiles for Ghost Whisperer: Season 2... there was no images prior to my submission. That is where I am starting at least... where there is none it will be an improvement! 

What I done so far needed very little cleaning that I could see... but I use a free program called Paint.Net Seems pretty good so far.

Quoting Addicted2DVD:

Quote:
Quoting mdnitoil:

Quote:
I scan at 600 DPI and then do the cleanup in Photoshop.  What I've learned is that there are a standard set of corrections I have to do to every single scan to compensate for color reproduction errors in my scanner.  For whatever reason, my scanner likes to boost the reds and the contrast.  Nothing dramatic, but there are a series of minor shifts I have to make to each scan to "normalize" the image.  Frankly, this was a trial and error thing over the first 20 covers or so, trying to nail this down.

I'm guessing most every scanner has it's own individual quirks that need to be compensated for.

I wonder how mine will handle red... there was basically none in the covers I scanned so far.

Some really good covers to try are actually monochrome.  If your scanner is pushing either red or blue, it'll show up in a B&W scan as either a hot or cold grayscale.  Frankly, it was the B&W scans that clued me in to the fact that my scanner was boosting red.

The simple test was to scan a B&W image and save it.  Pull it up in the editor of your choice and desaturate the image, save that as something else.  Then simply compare the two side by side.  If they don't look very similar, then your original scan is boosting color.  Believe me, if you have the problem, it will be pretty obvious.

OK... Thanks for the tips! I appreciate them! 

Will watch for the dust and creases... and I am sure I probably have something in B&W I can try to scan

I thought of one other thing that a lot of new scan contributors get caught on.  If at all possible, resist the urge to crank up the brightness/contrast.  Some adjustment may very well be necessary, but often times folks will completely blow these out, in the misguided attempt to reveal more "detail".  What's actually happening here is that the black layer is being reduced, revealing the underlying CMY layers that went through the press first, giving the impression of additional detail.  Trouble is, this detail was never evident when looking at the cover with the eye.  It required a significant digital manipulation to reveal it.

I always go back and do actual comparisons to what I see onscreen versus the real mccoy.  If I've created a whole bunch of detail in the shadow areas that my eye can't even detect on the actual cover, I've gone too far.

Thanks!

@mdnitoil
I noticed on one or 2 of my scans so far that it seems to scan brighter then the actual image. But I will do my best to keep that in mind.

@KM
Thanks for the links!

Yeah... I am planning on checking out a few... since Gimp is also free I will probably check it out next. What I have seems to do it all... but some reason I just can't get the cloning to work.