How do I scan album cover art?

[stevie4809]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum. I've been collecting disco music since I was 11 years old. I would like to contribute with some pictures of records but how do I scan them? Most scanners are 8 1/2 by 11 inches and the records are larger.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Stevie4809

[Bernie]

Welcome Stevie,
When I scan album covers in for the Disco discography section of this site, I have to do one record in four parts. In other words, scan the left top corner, then the top right, then the bottom left, then the bottom right. You will now have four images that you can stitch together in Photoshop.

The thing to remember is to scan at 300dpi and only "preview" the FIRST scan to get an exposure. If you "preview" each corner you'll end up with slightly different exposures for each corner. It's actually a lot easier than it sounds and once you start you'll get into a groove and it is easy. Off course it would much easier if we had a large format 12 x 12 scanner, but those are pretty pricey :-(

Another option, although not as good, is to photograph the cover with a digital camera. It's just tricky to get the cover squared and prevent reflections from the flash.

I'd love to hear tips from others on scanning record cover artwork so please post here.

[Bernie]

I just found a great site, Album Cover Restoration, that should help...
http://www.bjbear71.com/Restorations...nd-after-2.htm
Definitely bookmarking this one!

[stevie4809]

Thank you so much for your prompt response Bernie. :razz:
The scanning job is not perfect but it looks OK. I have already started uploading some records.

Stevie

[Bernie]

Your records are now up on the site. Some great stuff... Thanks and look forward to adding others.

Anyone else care to add their records to the Discography (Vault) can do so here....
http://www.discomusic.com/records-submit

[ol'skinflint]

Welcome Stevie,
When I scan album covers in for the Disco discography section of this site, I have to do one record in four parts. In other words, scan the left top corner, then the top right, then the bottom left, then the bottom right. You will now have four images that you can stitch together in Photoshop.

The thing to remember is to scan at 300dpi and only "preview" the FIRST scan to get an exposure. If you "preview" each corner you'll end up with slightly different exposures for each corner. It's actually a lot easier than it sounds and once you start you'll get into a groove and it is easy. Off course it would much easier if we had a large format 12 x 12 scanner, but those are pretty pricey :-(

Another option, although not as good, is to photograph the cover with a digital camera. It's just tricky to get the cover squared and prevent reflections from the flash.

I'd love to hear tips from others on scanning record cover artwork so please post here.

I've been thinking about this also, because when I start making CD copies of albums that aren't available on CD I'll want to recreate the cover art. Having to do it "in sections" as suggested above seems one solution, but I was wondering if Kinko's has a machine that can shrink an album cover to the size of a CD case.

[darrens]

Welcome Stevie,
When I scan album covers in for the Disco discography section of this site, I have to do one record in four parts. In other words, scan the left top corner, then the top right, then the bottom left, then the bottom right. You will now have four images that you can stitch together in Photoshop.

I use exactly the same method (4 corners) but my software of choice is Paint Shop Pro. One thing I find is that when you try and stitch the pieces together, the corners may be at slight angles to each other, and to correct this I have to rotate images by 0.2° to 0.4° to correct this, and then sharpen the image (or alternatively, rescan until correct).

Plenty of my scanning efforts are in the discography on this site, but of course you can't see the results very well when they are shrunk to such a small size! :roll:

[kdavid13]

As a graphic artist ; I find myself being very creative when wanting to create a CD cover for an Lp I've just bruned to CD.

I simply scan the original cover ; trim it down and adjust the size then re-create some lettering that matches the original artwork.

I've made some FRANCE JOLI and GRACE JONES covers that are sometimes prefered to the originals by some un-biased friends !!! LOL

[Bernie]

As a graphic artist ; I find myself being very creative when wanting to create a CD cover for an Lp I've just bruned to CD.

I simply scan the original cover ; trim it down and adjust the size then re-create some lettering that matches the original artwork.

I've made some FRANCE JOLI and GRACE JONES covers that are sometimes prefered to the originals by some un-biased friends !!! LOL

Love to see some examples posted here.

[mtam]

What other programs do you use to scan album covers? Can anyone provide a more detailed description on how to do it? I have Photoshop CS2.

Also, is there a place to view what others have scanned? Can they be downloaded?
Thanks