Compiling and Releasing

Renaming Files

The next step is to rename the files. It's not necessary, so you can skip this step if you don't mind the files not having a name specific to their issue.

A good program to rename batches of files is Bulk Rename Utility. Once you install it, navigate to the folder your scans are in from within the program, select all the files and do a search and replace. Let's say the issue in this example is GamePro Issue 90 from January 1997. You would tell the program to replace scan0 with GamePro Issue 090 January 1997 page (there is a space after the "e") in all the selected files. This will keep the page number in the file, and replaces everything else. If you ever need to extract pages from various CBZ files, it will be handy to have this info in the file name. After you are done, you can close the program.

If you have a poster at the end, rename it with a page number of 999 (or 999c if it's a magazine that does not count the covers as page numbers).

Repeat the process for the second size of files, if you decided to save two sizes.

Missing Pages

If there were pages missing, the file number won't match the page number. Within Bulk Rename Utility, select all the files that whose number don't match the page count (excluding the back covers for magazines like GamePro), and Insert a 1 after "scan" (or after "page" if you are doing this after renaming all the files) and click Rename. Then choose to Remove the last five characters, and insert the correct page number under Numbering, that increases by one. If the page is in the single or double digits, you'll have to give the Padding box a value until the number is three digits, with one or two zeros before the number. If you scanned blank pages to avoid this issue, you can skip this part; you just need to take the Missing Page image and replace the blank scans (Missing page images are found here along with the Thank You Pages). Just rename the Missing Page file name to fit in with the rest of the pages. If pages 59 and 60 are missing, then place two Missing Page files in the jpgs folder and rename them GamePro Issue 090 from January 1997 page 059 and GamePro Issue 090 from January 1997 page 060.

Creating a CBZ

The next thing to do is to place the Thank You page in the folder with your JPGS. They can be found here. They appear at the and of all the scans done by Retromags. It let's people know where they can find more magazines and a community that enjoys them. Open the Thank you page in Photoshop or the image editor of your choice, and adjust the height to match the height of your scans. Now we are going to create the CBZ file that CDisplay will open for viewing.

Select all the files in the folder. We assume you have some sort of file compression program installed, 7zip. Right-click and select "Add to Archive". A window will pop up. Make sure the compression level is "Normal" or "Store" and that the Archive format is zip. Simply change the file name; in the case of this example gamepro_090_-_1997_jan.zip. This is the naming convention for files being uploaded to the Retromags site. You can rename them however you want for your personal collection. This is also where you choose where you want to save it. Hit OK, and wait for the archive to be created. Once it's done, change the file extension from .zip to .cbz. Assuming you already have CDisplay installed, the icon should now be a speech bubble. Open it to make sure it works. If it works, onto the next step.

Repeat the process for the second size of files, if you decided to save two sizes. If you are keeping the larger file for yourself or to upload at a later date, add "(Full Size)" to the end of the file name when saving the archive.

Uploading

Make your way to the site and go to the Downloads section. Click the "Submit a file" button and select the magazine from the dropdown. If you do not see it there, you will have to ask an admin to create a category for you. Or if you really want to get it on the right right away, you can upload it to "Supplements & Misc", and ask an admin for help afterwards.

You will be taken to a new page where you will be able to upload your scan. click the "Choose Files" button to find your scan and begin uploading it, or drag it from your File Explorer window into the upload area. On this page you will also need to add an image of the cover that is 480 pixels tall. You will see this option under Step 2.

Below the cover shot upload in Step 3, is information about the scan. In the Magazine Title field, change it from the filename that will appear by default to the proper name for the magazine. In our example, this would be GamePro Issue 090 (January 1997). In the description field you can enter any items that you think might be of interest to users. Under that are fields for who scanned, edited, and released the scan, as well as who donated the magazine to the person scanning it. Please fill these out so that everyone involved - including yourself - gets credit for their hard work. There is also a field for the Md5 Checksum. This field will be used in the future with a tool that will compare your collection to what is currently on the site so you know if you have the latest version of the scans or not. You can use Md5Checker to get the checksum value for your scan and enter it in the field. Please do, as it will make things easier in the future.

When the scan has finished uploading, at the bottom of the page click "Add Submission". You will be taken to the download page for your scan.

Next, head over to the Magazine Database and find your issue. Click "Edit Issue" and add the link to your issue from the download manager to the first download link field that you see. If you don't see the Official Retromags Download link field, place it in the first user Download Link field and let an admin know; they can move the link for you. The rest of the download link fields are for if you want to upload your scan to a file locker or a different site like archive.org. These fields exist for all issues and can be added by any user who uploads issue to another place.

Here there are also fields for who scanned the issue, edited it, uploaded it, and donated it. Fill these out as well. And the Md5 Checksum value.

After that, your issue is up, and it's time to tell everyone about it. You can let site members know in the Shoutbox and your Work in Progress thread. An admin will create a New Release post for your issue if you do not have permission to do so yet, and will also link to the New Release post on Facebook.