OT: Scanning Question
 

I know that this has been discussed somewhere but just can't find the thread. Just bought the Epson Perfection V550 scanner. Does anyone else have this scanner? What is the best way to scan slabbed cards? Should I just let the scanner choose the best settings? Or should I use custom settings? f so, which ones are best?:confused:

I am interested to hear from others their suggestions as well. I am getting ready to buy the same printer. Some people just get some perfect scans. Not me for sure and would love some help. I also hear the Epson is best for cards, but how about settings and process?
Dave

I use a Canon 5600f Canoscan flatbed scanner. I leave the default settings and get scans like this....

The biggest issue I see with members posting pics is from Iphones and IPads which don't always work well.

http://luckeycards.com/phunc1940michigansportaver.jpg

I have the same scanner Leon does
 

think it was suggested here a while back and I couldn't be happier. I can scan my SGC cards with the cover up(!) and get crystal clear scans. It does equally well with any printed medium and I've even had success with unusual three dimensional objects. I use the default settings and rarely have to manipulate anything in a photo program to assure the viewer is seeing what I'm seeing.

I am also interested in hearing some suggestions.

I own an HP Photosmart C4780, which Prints-scans-copies. When I scan, my cards come out gray looking, which is of course most noticeable on the borders.

I recently updated my computer to Windows 10 and I received a few new settings. Resolution (DPI), Brightness and Contrast. I have played with a few settings but I have no clue what I am doing nor do the pics look that much different to me?

The color options are color, gray scale and B&W. I haven't tried gray scale but I assume that would make my cards looks worse?

In my pics, (First group) you can see (hopefully?) the borders look a lot more real, or with white borders, which they look like in hand but with my scans, (second pics) the borders, and I assume the rest of card, although it is harder to tell with the colors, are more gray. (Pics are multiples, scans are single pics)

Leon, is it OK to play with pics/scans and settings in your "Test section"?

Yes, that is what it is there for!! Thanks for asking.

For those that don't know the test section is under the Postwar Cards & Watercooler Talk sections....

http://www.net54baseball.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

.

Canon's 9000F offers some incredible bang for the buck. Even the thickest slabs look crystal clear.

http://i.imgur.com/J9idxp6.jpg

Probably should've wiped the scanner before this one...
http://i.imgur.com/2ecJt5e.jpg

Good to know!

Thanks Leon. :)

Been trying to post some pickups to the site but .jpg files come out way too large even with cropping... resolution is at 200 with high file compression... any suggestions? Thanks!

Been trying to post some pickups to the site but .jpg files come out way too large even with cropping... resolution is at 1200 with high file compression... any suggestions? Thanks!

From an earlier thread: "whatever brand of scanner you get, just make sure it has a CCD scanning element, which will enable you to make clear scans of cards in slabs. Scanners with the other type of scanning element (CIS is what I think it is called) will make blurry scans of cards in slabs. Both types will do fine with flat items and raw cards."

I usually scan at 300 dpi, then use a photopaint type of program to crop the image and then resize it to about 55 - 60% of the original size scan. This site will compress any image over a certain threshold, reducing the clarity, so many members here will use an image hosting site like imgur to upload the images. Simply get the url to the image on the hosting site and post it here using the "insert image" icon.

Good luck -- sharing your pickups here can make the hobby more fun.

You need to install a picture resizer or double check first to make sure you don't already have one?

Lots to choose from here if you don't?
https://www.google.ca/search?q=pictu...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Going to try dropping DPI to 300 and see how that works.. have it at 1200 seems to dense though the scans are great...

I am not that tech savy but I don't think changing your DPI settings is going to change the fact you are having trouble posting pics?

I played with my settings looking for a better/more real life pic of my cards but none of those changes affected the size of my pics.
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=224696

Good luck. :)

You can send me a pic to leon@net54baseball.com and I will most likely be able to tell you the issue. Almost 99% of the time the scans/pictures taken are too large..

1200 DPI is wayyyyyy too high. If I scan a raw card at 1200 DPI it comes out at around 400 MB!! If I scan a card at 600 DPI it is 3.3 MB and the forum will be able to automatically downsize that one to a proper size.

Wow, I have traditionally used 200 or 300. Didn't know 600 would be supported. That is good to know.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I purchased a Epson V600 to scan my cards for an SMR article and for the PSA card facts site.

They asked me to set it at 300 DPI and that is where I have left it. I use the preview option and then scale it down to crop the card.

My personal preference is to scan cards at night and then make the room pitch black and leave the lid up. They come out looking great.

I am not sure about the one you bought but the V600 has a high enough DMAX rating to scan graded cards for print and it is well worth the $200 bucks.

Canon 9000F

Howard,

I use an Epson Perfection V500, which is similar. When you set up the Epson Scan software, which you can configure the software to autoboot when you hit one of the scan buttons. I use the Professional mode. If you use the auto mode, often times, I don't get the edge of the card or case scanned. The program seems to have a hard time finding the edges of the case against the white background of the cover.

I started using color paper as a backdrop and black seems to work best. I scan at 300 dpi and that is good for most purposes. On other special cards I scan at 600 dpi+

It is a great scanner and I have had no issues.

Z

I was checking out the Epson V550 scanner and came across this vid. There's some good tips and an idea for those that collect photos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OddkTaSnyaE

It's a nice scanner, and I'd like one, but I also need, for my son's school work, a printer as well.

My HP Photosmart C4780 will have to do the trick for now. (pics below for those interested how this printer, combo scanner works.

The board software will automatically resize whatever image you upload, once you get below the file size threshold where it will actually accept the image. Keep in mind that the resolutions you might need to print a nice picture are WAAAAYY more than are needed for display on most monitors. I would say for most posts, unless you are zooming in on a particular flaw or corner, 100-200 dpi will be plenty, and the board software may even downsize that image when you upload.

If you are hosting the image separately and simply linking to it in your post (as with Photobucket or similar image-hosting sites), you can have more control over the size that the image displays in your post, but even then a 300 dpi image will be too large for many screens to display without having to side-scroll to see the whole image (a pet peeve of mine).

In most cases, you would be best to scan at whatever size you want to use for archiving your card images, and then resizing/resaving a copy of the image for uploading with your board posts.

Thanks for the info, Lance.

After I was told about the lid up/lights off trick, I just go with the factory settings now for most of my scans. I know it is outdated, as is my monitor, but it still gets the job, and imo, they don't look too bad.

I'm also a Canon 9000F user and have no plans to upgrade unless there's something better under $1000 and I don't believe there is.

Based on what you said, I was expecting them to be a lot more money?
Unless this isn't the one you are talking about?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/.../10240253.aspx

That's the one I use. You can get them even cheaper on ebay.

Anyone know what scanner a place like COMC uses? They seemingly use a feed scanner where they effortlessly feed it a diet of 9 pocket pages (which are pretty thick) with nary a problem. If there was a pretty cheap version of that type of scanner (with a CCD element) out there, that would be great.