Pre-scan Guide

This guide will be written using a flatbed scanner for scanning and Adobe Photoshop for editing, simply because that is what I use.

Scanners with auto document feeders (ADF) have been used in the past, but we advise against using that feature for scanning for a few reasons. While it is much, much faster than scanning things manually on a flatbed, it raises some issues. The first is bleed through; this happens when the light from the scanner causes the colours on the opposite side of the page to be visible. This occurs on light coloured pages, and is obviously not something you want to see in your scans. The other issue is pages coming out crooked, or worse. And not just a little crooked; very crooked, to the point that part of the content of the page is cut off. The worst-case scenario involves pages getting scrunched going through the feeder and ending up folded or distorted in the scan. So if you can, use a flatbed scanner. It's slower than an ADF since you have to do everything manually, but you have greater control over how your scan turns out.

For scanning, I am using an HP Photosmart C7280 All-in-One with their HP Solution Center ver.13 software for scanning. If you are using a newer HP all-in-one, chances are it will be the same software and interface. If you are using something different, don't worry: minimal changes are made during the scanning process from the defaults, and the manual for your scanner should tell you how to make any changes recommended here.

For editing, I will be using Adobe Photoshop for this guide, simply because that is what I use, and will be providing an Action Sets for colour correction in the editing section. I will provide the settings from the Action Sets in the editing guide for those who are using a different program.

Selection

So you want to scan a magazine? Bravo! You are about to undertake a rewarding process in which the end product is something to be proud of! Let's start off at the beginning: picking a magazine to scan. You can make this decision many different ways...

• What's interesting?
• What's old?
• What do you own?
• What still needs to be scanned?
• What's your oldest magazine?
• What's your favourite magazine
• What's your rarest magazine?

In the end what you scan is really up to you. Retromags only tries to be a centralized location for people to come together and preserve a part of video gaming history. We ask that you do not submit anything that is dated after December 31st, 1999. Also, we do not accept scans of Diehard Gamefan magazine. The owner, Dave Halverson, has made it known to us that he does not want his magazines archived anywhere, and we respect his wishes.

We also ask that if you are going to submit a magazine that it is as complete as possible. While we don't expect anyone to bother scanning a subscription card, we don't want our scanners to skip sections of magazines that they don't have interest in. The most common things we see people ignoring include:

• Advertisements
• Comics
• Posters

The general feel of a magazine is lost when only the articles are scanned, so please include everything listed above. Also since everyone probably has a different scanner, if another member chooses to go back and scan the missing pages, the issue won't look the same from page to page (also known as Frankenstein syndrome).

If the issue you are scanning is missing a page or two, or part of the page cut out, don't worry. We have custom "Missing Page" images for such an occasion that can be inserted where the missing pages are. We'll deal more with this in the Editing section.

The last thing we ask is that you only submit magazines that you have personally scanned. When you take the time to scan a magazine and release it, the last thing you would want is someone else passing that work off as their own. This also applies to magazines you found on the internet and fixed up. We have more than enough magazines that could use touching up if this is how you want to help.

Here is a quick list of the basic rules:

• No magazines past December 31st 1999
• No Diehard Gamefan Magazines
• Please scan the entire magazine
• Share with everyone
• Submissions must have the Retromags "Thank You" Page
• Submissions are forever

Prescan Process

Now you have a magazine that you would like to digitalize, consider the following:

• Make sure no one else is scanning it
• Make sure it hasn't been scanned already
• Make sure its BEFORE January 1st 2000
• Decide if you wish to debind it
• Create/Update a Project Tracker thread
• Create/Update a Work in Pogress thread in the Magazine Talk Section if you want

A quick check around the Project Tracker and download section will usually take care of making sure you don't overlap anyone else's work. Also, please make a habit of using the Project Tracker to track the progress of your work so that it stays as updated as possible. If you have 10 magazines that you plan on scanning that have not been done yet, feel free to create a new thread in the Project Tracker for each of them (if they are not already there), and change the status to "Planning to Scan". That way, other users will know you have those issues and won't duplicate your effort.

Checking to make sure of the age of the magazine is also self explanatory. If the date on the cover is December 1999 or earlier, it's good to go.

Deciding if you wish to Debind (aka remove the binding) is dependent on the value of the magazine to you. (See: Debinding).

If you want, you can also start a thread in the Magazine Talk section of the forum called "(Your username)'s Work in Progress". This is an easy way to show people who aren't scanners/contributors and who don't need to use the Project Tracker what they have to look forward to. Once you already have a thread, you can just add posts to it as you have updates.