KiwiArcader

Pushing people away from scanning is the last thing we should be doing.

While there should be some standards to ensure mags are preserved in a readable format such as a minimum DPI scanning resolution like 300DPI and not reducing page dimensions in pixels too far from their original size I am somewhat of a realist in that I'd rather have previously unscanned content in any form than not at all. That could be raw scans that I need to edit or even final scans processed at 150DPI if nothing else is available as it means I can at the very least make a missing magazine available now and keep it until such time as a better copy becomes available. And if nothing else ever comes along then there's one less missing magazine anyway albeit in less than optimal condition but again, it's better than yet another M.I.A magazine!!

Sometimes I think people like Meppi lose sight of the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of magazines out there that are completely M.I.A or have really, really poor existing scans and that putting a months worth of effort into one mag or playing around continually with one of his existing scans to get it even "better" actually does very little to move the situation forward. He might have 5000 mags in his collection but the fact is, due to his methodology he is simply never going to get through even a decent portion of his collection in his lifetime so all those people who sent him magazines believing they would at some point have a digital copy to replace the physical issue they donated are in for disappointment. That's pretty sad.

I think Phillyman may have finally realised this dilemma himself of which I have spoken of here several times in the past as he is now pumping out raw scans in the hope that people will edit them. The BIG thing here is that he is scanning the content much faster than previously as without the raw scans a missing mag is still a missing mag.

I just see forcing a particular format upon someone submitting a magazine as merely another potential impediment to getting missing magazines scanned. If someone submits an image based PDF and I think it needs work I extract the pages and it's not particularly costly to have that ability ($60) therefore to me it's a not an issue receiving a file in any of the common  formats.

1 hour ago, kitsunebi77 said:

True, but he was speaking about creating a PDF for the purpose of adding it to Retromags, and I was hoping to explain why that wouldn't be acceptable.

That is precisely the elitist type of attitude Meppi/Triverse used when banning me back in the day. Now, I know you are nothing like those two people but you do see how that comment comes across right? 

Given the sheer lack of people scanning computing/gaming magazines for preservation I would have thought Phillyman would be happy to accept submissions in either format as long as they met whatever criteria he defined in regard to quality (resolution, page size, cropping etc) far more so than the file type itself. Still, I have no concerns one way or the other as I have my own website but I can tell you this was one of the reasons I decided to stop making files available here.

What I will say though is that IF you choose to adopt this attitude towards people submitting PDF's and they don't want to use CBR's for whatever reason then you are pushing away the very people that you moan about not seeing enough of around here which is just plain daft. If they want a home for their PDF's they can head on over to my website. I hate advertising it here like this but I'd rather keep ANY people prepared to scan mags in the scene rather than have them dropping out due to archaic rules created a decade ago.

Haha ...if you said that in your first post I wouldn't have said anything. I agree though. To get the most out of PDF generally means spending money on a PDF application. He was speaking about creating a PDF though and not extracting from....

PDF Creation used to be the sole domain of Adobe but that was years ago.

There are plenty of PDF creation programs out there nowadays, some of which are fairly inexpensive. It is probably more truthful to state creating CBR's is free while PDF's have a cost associated with them although truth be told most document scanners have the feature built into their accompanying software packages now however you do need to get the scanner profiles configured correctly to ensure clean output.

If someone prefers to and has the ability to create PDF's it shouldn't be an impediment to making them available on Retromags but that was the crux of my being banned here several years ago. Crazy time that was!!

If the paper is thin there isn't a lot you can do about it although if using a document scanner with duplex you can turn off the scanner back light on the opposite side to reduce it. The only problem is that it causes the image to darken considerably. Catch 22 really .....

If the scans look good that's all that matters. Quickscan is all about applying customised profiles for different paper sizes for bulk scanning. If Snapscan works for you then go for it......

7 hours ago, gingerbeardman said:

I'm still around, too. I have A3 scanner (fi-4530C) and am available to scan UK magazines in the UK.

Just negotiated for some more Electric Brain to come my way on loan. 

Ummm, if you are borrowing mags but have to take them apart to feed through the fi-4530c ADF how are you going to get them back together again to return to the owner? As I have never been able to reinsert staples back in mags without the resulting mag being a whole lot looser than before it was destapled. And it goes without saying the glue bound mags are a different proposition entirely so I'm intrigued by your "on loan" comment given your particular scanner.

I owned one of those scanners ages ago. Very nice barring having to use Windows XP thanks to Fujitsu's pathetic attempts to force people to buy the exact same scanner rebadged as a fi-5530c2 by writing firmware designed to not work with newer operating systems.

10 hours ago, E-Day said:

Sure, that wound be great. I installed the software that came with the scanner, but I'm not sure what I would actually use from all the stuff that installed. Rhythm hosting the software was a pain because it seemed like I could only update one component at a time. 

So what is it that I need to use this thing properly? I'm hoping to run some test scans on it tonight. 

PM sent

5 hours ago, E-Day said:

It's here already. 

 

If you want Quickscan Pro to try with this thing let me know. The software was discontinued some time ago so I have no qualms about giving it to you (mine isn't legit anyway). It doesn't have built in drivers for the fi-7 series (only goes to fi-6xxx) but there is an import driver feature so it should allow you to add yours. Worth a try anyway. The ScandAll software on the CD is pretty horrible as I recall.

On 4/19/2019 at 4:44 PM, hardcorehubz said:

It produces a better image, but it's streaking like crazy. Dunno if they all do that could be just because this one is used. The newer models seem to use CIS instead of CCD too. Odd that they went to that?

I was looking at an Avision AV5200 which uses CIS to replace the fi-5650c but after reading up about the differences in quality between CCD and CIS scans I decided against it. CCD appears to be better for photographic reproduction while CIS is better for text oriented pages according to a few sites so it seemed better to stay with CCD. That and the non-straight paper path ADF dropped the Avision purchase dead in its tracks.

All versions of Xbox have sold pitifully in Japan so no surprises there regarding Xbox One. I think if it ain't built by a company based in Japan it just won't sell........

I'd be interested in seeing how fluro/neon coloured covers scan on it. 

14 hours ago, hardcorehubz said:

Is the benefit of ISIS scanning speed? I experimented a little bit with my Fujitsu but didn't notice any quality improvements unfortunately.

It's all about volume scanning. The hardware is the hardware so nothing differs at that level, but ISIS allows for individual profiles per page size. My Avision using TWAIN only has one profile, whatever you last set is it for the next scan unless you change the profile. On my fi-5650c I have multiple profiles covering all the different page sizes etc and I just choose the appropriate one for the mag and just press GO and let it do its thing.

I have:

• Fujitsu fi-5650c
• Fujitsu fi-6130
• Avision AD240
• Brother MFC A3 flatbed all-in-one
• Brother something or rather useless document scanner

All bar the fi-5650c could go tomorrow and I couldn't care less. The 5650c is a beast of a scanner and simply awesome

The IX1500 is really their consumer level scanner while the Fi series machines are rated for higher throughput and support both ISIS and Twain drivers. ISIS capable software like Quickscan Pro allows for batch processing using different profiles for different magazines. I highly recommend ISIS drivers over TWAIN if you have the software like that to take advantage of it. 

Agreed. I still like to look at an issue of Amstrad Action now and again as the CPC464 was my first computer and the mag was, well, my first computer/gaming magazine I purchased. But yeah, compared to later magazines it lacks polish and is clearly early in the whole computer magazine scene (it was Future PLC's first ever publication after all) as far as content is concerned. That doesn't worry me though as I have a fondness for emulation of the CPC series and it's nice reading about the games from the perspective of the early 1980's again. They were simpler times and it's great reading about one man band software houses of the day. Much more interesting than reading about the likes of EA nowadays that's for sure.

I agree.

EGM was the mag, not the crappy website that postdated the magazine which died the death of a thousand "yep we sent you your copy but we really didn't have the money to print anything"' excuses from the publisher. GamePro, the resurrection was another one where Dave Halverson got Meppi to scan three issues as part of some sort of comeback but forgot to take his magazine making Viagra and couldn't get it up again (the magazine of course!!)

Thank goodness for Retro Gamer although you never know what Future will do with their magazines nowadays such is their recent propensity to discontinue titles.

Scanning the mags and using tablet displays for people to peruse them is your best option IMHO. Keeps your original magazine intact and out of careless hands and the tablet display with suitable software allows multiple magazines to be available per device. You could setup a tablet beside a particular game for example and just have pages with reviews for that game on the tablet along with images of the game box etc.

This is the model I own and use for my scans. It is a mighty piece of kit and at that price is a steal if the glass hasn't been scratched by some turkey feeding stapled pages through the thing.

The only issue with this model is if glass gets under the optics. I have had that problem with mine and couldn't get it serviced in New Zealand so I learnt how to dismantle it to clean the optics myself. You need to be careful as it uses mercury lamps instead of CCD given it is a 2008 vintage scanner.

If mine died I'd likely eBay another one in preference to any other unit out there.

No, it's a proper 4:3 screen. I suggest you have a look at the Apple page for the device. It is designed to be held in portrait mode unlike tablets like the Samsung 12.2 Tab Pro which is definitely 16:9. I had one of those and dumped it for the iPad Pro purely because the screen is the proper aspect ratio for reading magazines etc.

You get what you pay for with tablets.That tablet you link to has a 16:9 1080p resolution screen which frankly is sub-par for reading. The resolution on the iPad Pro is 2732 x 2048. Way, way better but of course you pay for it. The new version also supports high colour so HDR movies look great on the thing.

The best option currently is an expensive one but in my opinion an iPad Pro with the 12.9" screen is almost perfect for reading magazines because:

• The screen is a 4:3 format which is the same as an A4 page
• The size with that format means it is almost the same physical viewing size as A4 paper so if reading an A4 based magazine on the iPad it's the same as the print copy
• It's portable so load up a bucket load of mags into the 128/256/512GB built in storage and read them on the plane, at the beach .... anywhere you care to ....

The only con is the price but as soon as I saw one I knew nothing else compares to it.

6 hours ago, E-Day said:

Ponder this: Davey Halverson also published Gamers Republic, and owned the publishing company that produced it. Unless he sold that off to someone, why was not magazine not mentioned with GameFan?

He also produced the U.S multi-format Play magazine.

I'm sorry but there was absolutely no excuse for their actions. Banning people over differences of opinion on things like submitting PDF's rather than CBR files was an abuse of their positions. End of story. Unfortunately, with most other people not wanting to voice opinions on their behavior it spiraled out of control for the people they took exception to. I say it as I see it so and I'm pretty sure I was the single most affected by it but then again, I got banned and decided to never come back until Philly showed up on the other forum and gave me the good news re their departing to "greener pastures" so I might be wrong in that regard

I don't actually bear any grudges with them nowadays. However, it's a shame that the niggling between sites has dragged on like it has for years. It's okay for Meppi to make comments on Twitter about Retromags but when someone questions his ability to scan all the mags people have donated to him he comes in moaning about how everyone is downright nasty behind his back.  

Not sure what you should be apologising for to be honest. As far as my Retromags experience goes they were the ones giving people grief. Very weird!!

Well, in my particular case things got fairly heated and Phillyman was fairly absent and they were running around as if they were in total control at the time. The ONLY reason I even knew they had parted ways with them was when I said something on another site ... TheCoverProject ... as I recall and Phillyman popped up there and posted about the site so I had a PM conversation about things.

None of this is targeted at Phillyman personally. While I thought he wasn't keeping those guys under control at all they were the ones causing mayhem, not him. Water under the bridge now anyway. They've moved on,we've moved on but it's always nice to reminisce on the good old days occasionally  

36 minutes ago, E-Day said:

I also don't remember seeing anything directly from him, and I was an admin at that point before they got me demoted

ROFLMAO. They got YOU demoted?  Pfft .... they banned my ass back to the stone age. Then I logged under a new name and rubbed their noses in it and they banned me again. I think Phillyman had no control over those two at all in those days. They just made up whatever rules they felt like and you toed the line or got shafted. OldGameMags came into being partly because of that sorry mess of a time so I guess something good came out of it.