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Editors Wanted!

marktrade

By marktrade
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marktrade Enthusiast

marktrade

Posted
Posted (edited)

"Anyone who edits 1 magazine will earn a 1 Year Patron Status, if you edit 3 magazines you will get a Lifetime Patron Status!

If you've ever wanted to contribute to Retromags but don't have any money, magazines, or scanning equipment, this is your chance! Editing can be simple or complex work, depending on how good you want the final result to be, but the results can be rewarding, especially if you're able to create a seamless double-page spread that, because of the ways magazines are glued, has never been seen before. One thing's for sure, it almost always ends up taking longer than I plan, so I often upload unedited scans to pass this part of the process along to others.

Each page has been carefully separated with a heat gun so the entire page could be scanned, including the covers and the spines. Enough content is there to edit together some nice looking double-page spreads, if you like, but that is not necessary to upload to Retromags. Basically they need to be cropped and straightened. You may also want to adjust the contrast or white point.

Last year I tried uploading unedited scans, but it was complicated by the fact that some pages would be "glitched" and I wouldn't notice it until after I uploaded, requiring a rescan. I'm using different software now where that shouldn't happen at all.

The main thing for me is to make sure that no scans get through with an abundance of vertical lines resulting from bits of dust, debris, and glue that deposit on the scanner glass, in which case I need to clean the glass and rescan, which happens often. When it affects many pages at once or is very obvious, I will do a rescan before uploading, but sometimes I don't notice when it happens to one or two pages and these will get through. Most of the time they can be edited out by selecting the lines and a doing a content-aware fill in the Photoshop or just using a clone-stamp. Please try this before asking me for a rescan because I will have moved on to other projects.

Here is a list of my unedited scans so far. It will be updated as I scan more or people make edited versions.

Game Players and Ultra Game Players:
http://archive.org/details/UneditedGPScans
These were donated by aloram

Large format UK magazines including 64 Magazine, CDi Magazine, MegaTech, PC Review, Sega Force, Sega Pro, and SuperPlay:
https://archive.org/details/UneditedUK_marktrade
All of these were donated by Phillyman except the issue of PC Review which was donated by me.

 

PC Gamer (USA):

https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade

Donated by me

 

PLAY magazine (USA):

https://archive.org/details/UneditedPLAY_marktrade

Donated by me

 

Please use this thread to coordinate, ask questions, or even to post your own unedited scans for others to edit. Personally I don't think there's much danger of two people editing the same thing at once because people are not exactly clamoring to do this sort of work, and it is work.

Thank you for your help. More to come!

Edited by marktrade
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kitsunebi Proficient

kitsunebi

Posted
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I'm intrigued to see if anyone takes you up on this. I know it was posted about before with no bites, but that particular plea may have been lost in the back of a thread a lot of people never saw. I hope someone takes you up on the offer this time - I'd love to see as many edited mags as possible get added. As you said, though, it is work, and perhaps especially so for anyone with an inclination for perfectionism. Somehow, "they need to be cropped and straightened. You may also want to adjust the contrast or white point" always ends up consuming much more time than it sounds like it does. I'd say I easily spend at least 85% of my time editing (15% debinding and scanning), although I'm sure I'm less efficient than most.

I'm curious how you feel about Photoshop. Straightening/cropping and level adjustments can be done with whatever photo editing software comes standard with Windows, but I personally would consider Photoshop a necessity, especially for all pages with imperfections that can't be fixed by just the aforementioned basic adjustments.

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Sean697 Contributor

Sean697

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I agree most of my time is editing. If I didn't have so much on my plate to edit, I'd surely take you up on it. I actually wanted to take you up on it when you posted all those Next Hen scans originally. But that's when I had just started scanning myself.

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marktrade Enthusiast

marktrade

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Posted (edited)

No rush. Those scans will be up there indefinitely, if no one edits them.

Actually I wonder if I should put those links in the database and mark them as "Preserved ( R )" which I guess is the status for issues that need better editing, right?

Edited by marktrade
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Sean697 Contributor

Sean697

Posted
Posted (edited)

No rush. Those scans will be up there indefinitely, if no one edits them.

Actually I wonder if I should put those links in the database and mark them as "Preserved ( R )" which I guess is the status for issues that need better editing, right?

It's actually for scans that are so bad they need a rescan. That editing can't fix. Ir would require extensive work to fix. Or are low resolution etc. basically the scan is so bad it's recommended someone just rescan it. I think the idea is we don't want to purposefully put up a scan that is not good. I wish we had more people who would take an interest in editing but it is what it is. It's kind of not too much of an issue as the site is releasing scans at a pretty good clip. Edited by Sean697
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marktrade Enthusiast

marktrade

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The UK gaming magazines have been updated. Two issues have been deleted because Depressor edited them and I uploaded another issue, Super Play 21, which I forgot that I had.

http://archive.org/details/UneditedUK_marktrade

I've also uploaded 8 issues of PC Gamer currently numbering over 1,500 pages.

https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade

Lots more to come.

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twiztor Explorer

twiztor

Posted
Posted

so i've got Photoshop and a basic knowledge of its usage, but not much in the finer details of it.

give me some tips on what you're looking for. i'll give an issue a shot, and go from there.

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marktrade Enthusiast

marktrade

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so i've got Photoshop and a basic knowledge of its usage, but not much in the finer details of it.

give me some tips on what you're looking for. i'll give an issue a shot, and go from there.

To be on Retromags they should at least be straightened and cropped. You can go a little further and use the clone stamp or content-aware fill from the edit menu to clean up tears and blemishes. I personally admire seeing double-page spreads edited together into unified images or edited such that they line up in double-page view. That's not always possible, but when it is, it's pretty cool.

For more specific help, you can make a thread in the Help section of the forum.

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Sean697 Contributor

Sean697

Posted
Posted

so i've got Photoshop and a basic knowledge of its usage, but not much in the finer details of it.

give me some tips on what you're looking for. i'll give an issue a shot, and go from there.

A good starting point is the guide on scanning and editing for the site. At the top click on help and then how to guides.

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  • 2 weeks later...
RetroDefense Community Regular

RetroDefense

Posted
Posted

Go ahead and put me down for editing PLAY #4.

Perhaps an "Editors Wanted" notice can be added to the site's running sidebar? Or as a classified ad? Phillyman's Patron status offer may attract more interest that way. Maybe mention "Photoshop experience recommended" in the job description. :)

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twiztor Explorer

twiztor

Posted
Posted

i want to apologize for never following through. i had every intention of giving it a go, but then stuff happened, i got busy, and to be completely honest i haven't had much interest in retro gaming mags lately. i'm sure in the future i'll get back into it, but i'm just not feeling it currently.

thanks and congrats to all the people that have stepped up and helped out. all of you are contributing and making this website more complete.

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Areala Community Regular

Areala

Posted
  • Retromags Curator
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i want to apologize for never following through. i had every intention of giving it a go, but then stuff happened, i got busy, and to be completely honest i haven't had much interest in retro gaming mags lately. i'm sure in the future i'll get back into it, but i'm just not feeling it currently.

thanks and congrats to all the people that have stepped up and helped out. all of you are contributing and making this website more complete.

It's all good, twiztor. Interests ebb and flow, time commitments come and go. Even posting here on the forums helps drive demand and pushes people towards the site, so I wouldn't worry. You contribute just by being here and being active, and that's awesome!! :)

*huggles*

Areala

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marktrade Enthusiast

marktrade

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Pls, Re-check your scans at archive.org... Some of them are edited now) But, maybe some of them just presented here in low quality.

P.S. scans:

- 16 UGP94u2

- 17 UGP94u

what's the differencce? and what this "u" after some scans mean?

Which ones have been edited? I didn't notice.

I scanned two copies of the same issue without realizing it. I uploaded them both just in case there was an error with one of them.

The "u" just means "unedited."

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Data Contributor

Data

Posted
Posted

Super Play 21,22,23

And i saw Kiwi asking about cbr's of PLAY he were editing.

BTW, if my old Notebook can, i try to do UGP...

I would help editing but I am busy in school at the moment.  Iam studying for final exam right now but after that is finished I can start looking for some work as well as lend a hand. :)

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