Edison Std D Reproducer Change Labels

[Curt A]

I have started my initial work on reproducing the Edison labels. The problems encountered so far are: (1) It can't be reproduced from a picture because the curve of the lid distorts the image beyond use (2) The label has to be re-created entirely from scratch (3) There is no modern font that is exactly like the title (at least not that I have found searching hundreds of fonts) (4) The font "kerning" is unique because the originals were hand set type (kerning is the spacing between letters) and the height to width ratio of the font is also unique.

The original font is a serif font similar to Times New Roman, but the details are different as I mentioned. What I have had to do is to make a unique font by modifying a modern font - stretching the height, changing the kerning and also altering the serifs pixel by pixel... I have a sample of the title and would like you to compare it to the original typestyle and give me some feedback regarding this project. The sample is half altered. The first half - "CHANGE OF R" is a unique original font. The second half - "EPRODUCERS" has been modified only by changing the height of the original font. Look closely and you can notice the difference in spacing and the tails of the serifs (the little pointy ends of each letter). Notice the "C" in CHANGE and the "C" in Reproducers, as well as the first "R" and the next two...

What do you think? Is this close enough to the original?

The first pic is the unmodified (but stretched height) original modern font...

[hearsedriver]

Cant you remove that label and scan it?

[Curt A]

That label isn't mine, it's a pic of someone's lid. It would be nearly impossible to remove an original label to scan it flat without damaging the label and possibly the lid. A damaged label won't work and who would take a perfect label off their lid to scan it? It would certainly be easier to scan it, but I don't see how....

[NEFaurora]

Looking good....The only letters I would double check are the "N" and the "S"....

It wouldn't be the first piece of Phonograph material to be reproduced from scratch... That much is certain. Something is sure a lot better than nothing!

Keep it up...

:0)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

[Curt A]

The "N" was modified already... the "S" hasn't been. Only "CHANGE OF R" has been modified so far.... I didn't want to get too far into this without some feedback. Thanks...

I'm more concerned about modifying the main title and paragraph headings, since they are the most visible and I want to get it to look as authentic as possible. The body of the label is important as far as spacing and justification, but the type is smaller and less noticeable.

[donniej]

I'm going to guess that someone who's really good with Photoshop can flatten it and adjaut the colors to however you like.

There are also *so* many fonts available for download that I'm sure it can be found.

[audiophile102]

Photoshop can flatten out a curved image and if you have the dimensions of the label you can resize the flattened image to look just the the real label. Next you can take the image to Kinkos and try to match the look of the old paper. If you have a good photo of the old label, I could help you flatten it and resize it. Getting the color right is very important so you need to use a good camera and adjust the white balance to get it right. I took a crack at it with the picture you posted, but it was hard to fix due to the angle that the photo was taken. I would need a straight on shot in order to attempt it again and the size of the label. Send me a pm if you want to give it a try.

[Menophanes]

As a former designer of wedding stationery with plenty of experience of replicating obsolete typefaces and archaic lettering styles, I am very interested in this project. Working from an existing typeface, as Curt A has tried to do, is I am afraid unlikely to lead to success; despite Curt's obvious skill, there are too many differences in width, proportion and thickness/thinness of strokes to be negotiated. In Curt's sample, CHANGE OF R does look convincingly like a typeface of the 1900s, but the H is too narrow and its uprights too thin to match the rest, while the thin strokes (such as the uprights of the N) are too thin throughout and most of the serifs (especially on the E) have come out too delicate and pointed.

As audiophile102 has said, something can be done in the way of straightening the image through a graphics-editing program, but that is only the first stage. Because of the multiple curvatures involved, this correction would have to be done a few lines at a time instead of trying to rectify the whole document at once.

I have taken the liberty of experimenting on the first line, as shown in the attached image. First, using an old version of Photoshop, I de-skewed it and squared it off. Then I converted it to a greyscale image with maximum contrast so as to give me as clear an outline as possible. However, because of the low resolution of the source image, this outline was far too blurred for use as it stood. I therefore adjusted the levels to give a pale grey image, printed this out on a fairly large scale, and then drew over and inked in each letter by hand, using the original image as a reference. The result is what I give below. It is not (I appreciate) good enough, the letters still appearing somewhat uneven in weight and spacing, but I think it shows what is possible; given a larger and better-defined image to start from, I could do very much better. I hope this will be of some use.

Oliver Mundy.

[Curt A]

Oliver... that looks great and is sufficient to work. The original font appears to be somewhat uneven anyway, since it was probably hand set.

It's too bad that there is not an image that was taken straight on without flash and in high quality. As stated before, I do not own a Standard D with the label any more and am relying on the images at hand.

Is there someone out there who owns a machine with this label AND has photographic skills good enough to take a HQ pic with no flash, straight on, to avoid as much distortion as possible? If so, please upload it in the highest resolution possible.

[Curt A]

Donnie... "There are also *so* many fonts available for download that I'm sure it can be found."

That may be true BUT that is also the problem... I have spent hours looking at over a thousand fonts to compare them and there may be several million more... I'm 68 and I would like to be done with this before I die...