Label Pictures

[Why Stravinsky]

Hello All.

I was wondering how to get good, high quality photographs of 78 labels. Is there a specific technique for how to to this? Do you have to use Photoshop?

Thanks,
Jack

[Inigo]

I've scanned some on my little Canon printer &scanner (standard today for home pcs, 39 euros) and the scans are pretty good. You simply put the sleeved record on the glass and then scan.

[AZ*]

I don't know what photographic resources you have, but if you have a real digital camera with adjustable settings, you could probably get satisfactory results using a tripod and possibly a homemade light tent (google light tent if you aren't familiar with the term). A camera with white balance settings might be needed.

While I don't take label pictures, I often take close-ups indoors under natural lighting with window curtains open, but at a time of day when there are no shadows or bright glare (kind of diffused daylight).

You would need to experiment to get the results you want.

[AudioFeline]

A flatbed scanner should be able to create good quality images. It has the advantage over using a camera/tripod because it won't create perspective distortion, and will have even lighting.

Scan at high resolution. Don't save as .jpg file format - despite it's popularity, it is a lossy file format (meaning it degrades the image quality to create smaller file sizes). Save in lossless file format, such as .tif . If the label is black and white or a single colour on white, saving as a greyscale .gif or 256-colour .gif is OK.

Photoshop is the industry leading photo retouching/manipulating software, but you don't need to use it. There are many cheap/free image editors which do excellent work with what you are needing (but don't bother with the paint programs that come free with Windows). After you scan your label, crop the image so you have the label area. Use the brightness/contrast control to get the colour range correct (eg. a white white and a black black). Retouching tools like the clone brush can retouch dirt and other damage marks which may be evident. It may take a little while to become comfortable learning and using an image editor, but once you have got the hang of it it's not too hard. And nowdays there are lots of webpages and videos to help you learn.

[epigramophone]

Most domestic scanners in the UK cannot accommodate anything larger than A4, which is too small for even a 10 inch record to lie flat on the bed. I get better results from a digital camera with a tripod, using the micro setting and disabling the flash.