Ready to scan! Let's talk formats and Internet Archive?

[PaulrusKeaton]

So I'm finally set up to start scanning for the site. I'm starting with 300dpi and TIFF formats, after some quick lurking taught me that's what is preferred. But now I've hit a block: figuring out the Internet Archive's system, finding a good (freeware?) PDF editor, also finding a streamlined way of dealing with 17x11 printer spreads.

Internet Archive

I'm planning of sending my spreads to both here and the archive, but I'm lost on the submission process. If I want the scans viewed in magazine form on the page viewer itself, do I need to upload each page individually? And do I need to provide the multiple formats myself?

Freeware PDF

I have Photoshop CS6 on my laptop, and I see it has a ability to export as .pdf, but can I build a multi-page document with it? This leads into my next question.

Printer Spreads

My first scan is a Japanese Saturn magazine, which uses the saddle-stitched 17x11 format. My mom is a printer, so she recognizes these as "printer spreads" and she says she may be able to use a program called PitStop to split up the 17x11 scans into regular pages without manually cropping each one. However, I don't want her to take up her work time and the program itself is expensive. So, knowing the plenty of old magazines were printed this way, are there any tips/processes that you guys would suggest to streamline the process?

[kitsunebi]

All 3 of your questions seem to be for archive.org purposes, not ours.

Nevertheless, here's a rundown:

1st of all, archive.org has no quality standards of any kind, so anything you choose to upload there will be accepted.  I scan at 600dpi in JPG (my Fujitsu ScanSnap can't save to TIFF), but 300dpi is fine, too.  To be honest, the model of scanner itself is the main factor in determining the appearance of the scans.

When you upload your mag to archive.org, either in PDF (like Kiwi's World) or CBR/CBZ (like Retromags), archive.org will automatically create a bunch of unnecessary files in other formats, in addition to making the archive readable via their viewer - no extra step necessary on your part.

I dislike the PDF format for most purposes, so I don't have a recommendation for a free PDF creator, but there are dozens of them out there that google can help you with.  CS6 can do it as well (automate - PDF presentation).  Just be careful - it can be confusing trying to create a PDF document without further compressing the (already compressed) JPGs.  Just one of the many reasons I prefer the simpler zip format for image archives. 

As for "printer spreads," it sounds like you're planning on scanning two side-by-side pages at a time, which means you must have an A3 scanner.  No one at Retromags uses one of those, so I've got no advice for you.  With a saddle-stitch mag, we remove the staples and cut the pages down the center, either with a blade or scissors, and scan one page at a time.  Document scanners such as the Scansnap that Phillyman and I use scan the front and back at the same time while automatically cropping the pages, so again I must assume that you're using a flatbed scanner if cropping is a concern.  I believe when Kiwi used to use a flatbed he would set up a crop profile for each mag, making sure each page is placed in the same location on the glass, but the only way that works to any degree of success is to set your crop area smaller than the page itself (cropping off the outer edges of each page.)  If you want to capture the entire image using a flatbed, manual cropping will likely be necessary.

[PaulrusKeaton]

3 hours ago, kitsunebi77 said:

All 3 of your questions seem to be for archive.org purposes, not ours.

Nevertheless, here's a rundown:

1st of all, archive.org has no quality standards of any kind, so anything you choose to upload there will be accepted.  I scan at 600dpi in JPG (my Fujitsu ScanSnap can't save to TIFF), but 300dpi is fine, too.  To be honest, the model of scanner itself is the main factor in determining the appearance of the scans.

When you upload your mag to archive.org, either in PDF (like Kiwi's World) or CBR/CBZ (like Retromags), archive.org will automatically create a bunch of unnecessary files in other formats, in addition to making the archive readable via their viewer - no extra step necessary on your part.

I dislike the PDF format for most purposes, so I don't have a recommendation for a free PDF creator, but there are dozens of them out there that google can help you with.  CS6 can do it as well (automate - PDF presentation).  Just be careful - it can be confusing trying to create a PDF document without further compressing the (already compressed) JPGs.  Just one of the many reasons I prefer the simpler zip format for image archives. 

As for "printer spreads," it sounds like you're planning on scanning two side-by-side pages at a time, which means you must have an A3 scanner.  No one at Retromags uses one of those, so I've got no advice for you.  With a saddle-stitch mag, we remove the staples and cut the pages down the center, either with a blade or scissors, and scan one page at a time.  Document scanners such as the Scansnap that Phillyman and I use scan the front and back at the same time while automatically cropping the pages, so again I must assume that you're using a flatbed scanner if cropping is a concern.  I believe when Kiwi used to use a flatbed he would set up a crop profile for each mag, making sure each page is placed in the same location on the glass, but the only way that works to any degree of success is to set your crop area smaller than the page itself (cropping off the outer edges of each page.)  If you want to capture the entire image using a flatbed, manual cropping will likely be necessary.

I actually have a auto-feed scanner, can't say if it's an A3 though. I know the bed is long enough to hold a folded out mag though.

[kitsunebi]

If it's wide enough to accommodate feeding the pages through long-side (height) first, it has to be A3.  An A4 scanner (what everyone here owns) necessitates feeding the narrower (width) side first.  Wish I could afford an A3 document scanner, but those things cost twice what I paid for my car.  You're lucky - you'll be able to scan oversized British mags.

[PaulrusKeaton]

3 minutes ago, kitsunebi77 said:

If it's wide enough to accommodate feeding the pages through long-side (height) first, it has to be A3.  An A4 scanner (what everyone here owns) necessitates feeding the narrower (width) side first.  Wish I could afford an A3 document scanner, but those things cost twice what I paid for my car.  You're lucky - you'll be able to scan oversized British mags.

Hmm. Looks like I may have an A3 after all. I just don't need it for this project. (there's a slider and the most it stops at is B4. A3 seems to be manila envelope size. Didn't pay car price for it though. May have been over $200 at Staples.  

[kitsunebi]

I've been teaching in Japan for ten years, so I'm intimately familiar with all of the A and B paper sizes .  An A3 paper is exactly the size of two A4 papers placed side-by-side.

B4 is between A4 and A3. I didn't even realize ADF scanners came in B4 size.  What's the model?

In the meantime, check out these puppies, and you'll see why we don't own A3 scanners:

https://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-fi-5530C2-Document-scanner-PA03334-B665/dp/B01LXRI6LH/ref=sr_1_17?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1520765256&sr=1-17&keywords=fujitsu+a3+scanner

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-DR-G1100-imageFORMULA-Production-Document/dp/B00BC4PNRS/ref=sr_1_18?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1520765269&sr=1-18&keywords=a3+scanner

This is my favorite LOL:

https://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-Fi-6800-Document-Scanner-Category/dp/B00VXVZVTA/ref=sr_1_3?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1520765435&sr=1-3&keywords=fujitsu+a3+scanner

[PaulrusKeaton]

Here's what I have, but it's not wireless:

https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers/Inkjet/WorkForce-WF-7710-Wide-format-All-in-One-Printer/p/C11CG36201

[kitsunebi]

I'll be interested to see your scans.  It's difficult to find information about the quality of scanners in regards to scanning magazines, especially on models like that one where most people are using it primarily as a printer.  I'd love to see an un-photoshopped raw scan from that scanner to get an idea of what it's capable of.  If it can handle British mags (it sounds like it can) then it might be worth looking into (I beleive E-Day is in the market for an inexpensive ADF scanner).

[PaulrusKeaton]

25 minutes ago, kitsunebi77 said:

I'll be interested to see your scans.  It's difficult to find information about the quality of scanners in regards to scanning magazines, especially on models like that one where most people are using it primarily as a printer.  I'd love to see an un-photoshopped raw scan from that scanner to get an idea of what it's capable of.  If it can handle British mags (it sounds like it can) then it might be worth looking into (I beleive E-Day is in the market for an inexpensive ADF scanner).

Certainly!

• So here's a raw TIFF from my current project, unedited with Photoshop (It's a big file. FileFactory wouldn't even allow a Preview! Or maybe it's because of the file type.)
• Here's a lesser resolution, JPG Nintendo Power scan from the same scanner. It's two ads for the sake of easier archiving (I often need certain content quickly for my blog)
• And here's just scan from my last scanner, which I didn't brighten for some reason.

[kitsunebi]

Interesting.  Scanning both pages together like that you're going to have to be really careful to put everything in the proper order when you compiling them as individual pages.

[PaulrusKeaton]

1 minute ago, kitsunebi77 said:

Interesting.  Scanning both pages together like that you're going to have to be really careful to put everything in the proper order when you compiling them as individual pages.

Oh, I only did that to keep ads together. Like I said earlier, I have a feeding tray and can do double-sided scans so keeping things in numerical order isn't that much of a hassle, though it does depend on which side gets scanned first.

[kitsunebi]

2 minutes ago, PaulrusKeaton said:

Oh, I only did that to keep ads together. Like I said earlier, I have a feeding tray and can do double-sided scans so keeping things in numerical order isn't that much of a hassle, though it does depend on which side gets scanned first.

In that case, I guess the only time you'd scan two (side-by-side) pages at once would be if there happened to be a two page ad on the center pages where the staples are.

So...why were you in need of a program to crop your pages?

[PaulrusKeaton]

5 minutes ago, kitsunebi77 said:

In that case, I guess the only time you'd scan two (side-by-side) pages at once would be if there happened to be a two page ad on the center pages where the staples are.

So...why were you in need of a program to crop your pages?

I didn't need a program to crop pages: I have Photoshop for that. What I was looking for was an PDF editor that would allow me to use the raw 17x11 scans, like in the first file and easily compile each side of them into numerical order. As you know, the pages saddle-stitched magazines are laid out to be from opposite end of the magazine. Normally, your process would be to take a straight edge/scissors to them and scan them one by one, just as my direct route would be to into each 17x11 file and break it down to two pages. What I'm seeking is a program/function that takes out that manual cropping and splits it off to its own distant number. Like, if one half is page 86 and the other is 115 I can split it and name it as such on the spot, without having to make another file. 

 

[kitsunebi]

6 minutes ago, PaulrusKeaton said:

I didn't need a program to crop pages: I have Photoshop for that. What I was looking for was an PDF editor that would allow me to use the raw 17x11 scans, like in the first file and easily compile each side of them into numerical order. As you know, the pages saddle-stitched magazines are laid out to be from opposite end of the magazine. Normally, your process would be to take a straight edge/scissors to them and scan them one by one, just as my direct route would be to into each 17x11 file and break it down to two pages. What I'm seeking is a program/function that takes out that manual cropping and splits it off to its own distant number. Like, if one half is page 86 and the other is 115 I can split it and name it as such on the spot, without having to make another file. 

 

OK, that's what I thought you meant - which is why I said you'll have to be careful to put the files into the correct order if you scan them without cutting the pages first.

I've never heard of a program like that.  It sounds like you'd save a lot of time just cutting the pages, to be honest.

[PaulrusKeaton]

22 minutes ago, kitsunebi77 said:

OK, that's what I thought you meant - which is why I said you'll have to be careful to put the files into the correct order if you scan them without cutting the pages first.

I've never heard of a program like that.  It sounds like you'd save a lot of time just cutting the pages, to be honest.

I may have actually found a candidate. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm going to tinker a bit and then I need to get to bed.

[kitsunebi]

Something that might be a problem with a program like that --

Looking at the two raw pages in that first link you posted, each page is skewed at a different angle.  If you straighten one page, the other side becomes more crooked.  The only way to get both sides straight would be to crop them as separate pages before straightening.  I'm not sure any program you're looking at would be able to make allowances for that.

[PaulrusKeaton]

So, here's an update. 

The freeware program I used wasn't enough. I found a preset for B4  pages, but the height was always off.

So for now, I'm cutting my losses and doing the whole skewing/cropping thing manually. Next time I'll try to plan better.

I'll check back in when I'm ready to compile for the site/Internet Archive.