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Club Business & Announcements/Tech Advice : Scanning Stamps?

 

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tuscany4me
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09 Sep 2012
12:21:57pm
I do use a camera instead of scanning. Couldn't understand why my scanner would crop an image like this. I use me scanner quite often and never seen it do this... until I scanned a stamp.


Image Not Found

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Logistical1
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09 Sep 2012
03:09:59pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Try lowering the position of the stamp on the scanner bed. Printed documents typically have a boarder without printing so the documents position is less critical on the scanner bed.

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DaSaintFan
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10 Sep 2012
02:48:26am
re: Scanning Stamps?

The general theory is, if you're scanning a single/set of stamps, place the stamp DIRECTLY in the center of the scanner.

I've had people say keep the scanner top open, to insure a dark background.., but it'd never worked for me, I'd just end up with white borders/perfs on white backgrounds, and my software tended to just 'chop off' the all-white portion (like on your scan), unless i went in and ignored the default settings.

Get a single stamp holding card (or something similar) to stick behind the stamp when you scan it, and it _shouldn't_ chop anything out.

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PeterG
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10 Sep 2012
04:09:26am
re: Scanning Stamps?

I always scan my stamps on a black background to avoid the problem you show. Putting it/them on a black stock card always work for me


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tuscany4me
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10 Sep 2012
11:08:12am
re: Scanning Stamps?

Thank you all... Appreciate the help

Clayton

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tuscany4me
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10 Sep 2012
11:47:30am
re: Scanning Stamps?

Thank you to all.. for the scanning help and Tim for the sizing

ClaytonImage Not Found

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michael78651
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10 Sep 2012
02:41:37pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

You know, I never noticed the ship in the background of that stamp!

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

10 Sep 2012
04:21:05pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

The ship must have been an early nuclear powered vessel, no sails, no booms, no yardarms, no backstays, no paddle wheel and no funnel. It must have been great for drifting downriver.

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drmicro68
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10 Sep 2012
05:00:21pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

No, can't you see that it's solar powered? All those masts and support cables means it must have been solar powered.

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HungaryForStamps
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21 Sep 2012
05:31:14pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Is that also a sailor hanging off the left front side of the cable car?

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DRYER
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The past is a foreign country, they do things different there.

21 Sep 2012
08:32:07pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

That passenger could also be a "tar" or an old "salt".His forearm tattoo is difficult to read, but I believe the inscription beneath the anchor reads, "Don't give up the ship."

John Derry, soldier (ret'd)

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Rgbrito

03 Dec 2013
07:29:03pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

For all it is worth:
Often, when we place small objects--i.e. stamps--on the scanner bed the said object slides off its intended position, thus creating a not so very straight image on your computer. In order to minimize this problem, try the following solution--with a great deal of care:
use a photo album "Photo Safe" Adhesive self-stick page from HOM. (This product can be found in any Target photo album supply section. (I did not look anywhere else...)
Draw a simple matrix or grid with pencil and ruler to help you place the stamps straight. Place the stamps you wish to scan on the self-adhesive page very carefully. Then run the clear plastic sheet protector that comes with the self-adhesive page over the stamps. You may encounter the following problem: the clear plastic page will create air bubbles and will move the stamps. It will take practice to obtain a 90% non-sliding stamp on the self-adhesive page.
Place the sheet on the scanner bed. You will make sure that there are good margins, of course. Scan your picture. Save it to your desktop and give the temporary file a name. (Usually the file name will be the date you create the document, i.e. 12/3/2013.)
Now, use a paint--graphic editor--program (I use Windows Paint, the most basic picture editing program for PCs. No complications...)
Go to Paste, and Paste from... Get the file you created on your desktop. It will show extremely big on your screen. No problem. Go to View and Zoom out until the image shows up at a good workable size. Now, go to Select and choose the Rectangular selection tool. Go to any image from those you scanned, and place the "square with the broken little lines" around your selected image. Use the Crop tool. The image will now appear by itself on the Paint Drawing board. Go to the drop-down arrow which is to the left of Home.
Choose Save as... and choose JPEG picture. The picture will be saved to the Desktop under a date file, unless you create a folder with a specific name on the Desktop. Give your individual picture a name, for example, the picture you see below is "roosevelt3cents". As you can see, the picture is pretty straight.
If you do not wish to go through all the problem with the Self-adhesive album sheet, you can use a black or white stock sheet.

Sorry for taking so much space!!!

Image Not FoundImage Not Found




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roy
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03 Dec 2013
08:10:12pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Better solution is to use Irfanview (free download from irfanview.com).

Do a Crtl-U to fine rotate the image and a Crtl-R to resize to the size you want.

Roy

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roy
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 300 categories

03 Dec 2013
08:14:05pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I know it's about a year late, but for Tuscany4me, check your scanner software to see if you have "autocrop" selected. Looks to me like the scanner is cropping the image itself.

Download Irfanview. Best scanning software around, and it's free. Crop, resize, straighten. Can also use it to adjust your camera produced images.

Roy

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michael78651
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03 Dec 2013
08:25:40pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I agree. Irfanview is what I use too. The software updates are free too.

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d1stamper
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03 Dec 2013
08:38:46pm

Auctions
re: Scanning Stamps?

I agree that IrfanView is the best and is easy to use with lots of tools.

I would not use those albums with the sticky surface for photographs. I have seen people use them and end up ruining the stamps.

Doug

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larsdog
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APS #220693 ATA#57179

03 Dec 2013
11:31:42pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I have professional image processing software because of my work. (It's not Photoshop, but similar). It's nice to be able to rotate in tenths of a degree and lay images on top of one another (like a stamp on a perf gauge or millimeter ruler) and add precisely parallel lines to check the edges on a suspect coil. I don't do it that often, but it sure comes in handy when needed.

I used it to figure out why a 350 coil came back as a fake:

Image Not Found

I had another 3rd Bureau coil that came back as a fake, but I couldn't see why it was a fake. I sent it back for another evaluation and it was STILL deemed a fake. So I sent it to PSE and got a GENUINE cert. Quite a learning experience!

Image Not Found

If you want to see the certs, go to http://www.larsdog.com/stamps/beyond.htm and scroll down to "Fakes, Forgeries, and Facsimilies"

The upper sections are undergoing a complete overhaul, so ignore the top part of that web page if you go to that link.

Lars

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BOTTOM_FISH_2006
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12 Dec 2013
08:18:39pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Add to the auto cropping, is after the scanner is done and loaded an image, look to see if there is a dotted or dashed box that can be moved or stretched, some times I get more then one box and I have to delete one or more of them. After you see the dotted box is at its largest or covering you stamp, then hit scan, or done.

It makes me mad to rescan because of these Angry

BOTTOM_FISH_2006

Jerry

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BOTTOM_FISH_2006
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12 Dec 2013
08:37:53pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Did "irfanview.com" go in the healthcare bucket? Hypnotized

I tried 3 different sites and they said file or program not found.

I do a lot of scanning and can use it.

Can you help get it?

Thanks
Jerry
BOTTOM_FISH_2006

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Liz

12 Dec 2013
09:00:14pm

Auctions - Approvals
re: Scanning Stamps?

http://www.irfanview.com/



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BOTTOM_FISH_2006
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12 Dec 2013
11:18:15pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

THANKS LIZ!Happy

I got it. Now I will have learning to use it.Thumbs Up

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d1stamper
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29 Dec 2013
05:18:24pm

Auctions
re: Scanning Stamps?

When scanning stamps I have been using a resolution of 300 dpi. This works well for single stamps, but when I scan a set of stamps the resulting size is too large for SOR auctions.

What DPI should I be using for scanning stamps to be posted on SOR for single stamps or sets or a whole page?

Doug

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rrraphy
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Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant

29 Dec 2013
05:35:04pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Doug:
I also scan full 8 1/2 x 11 pages at 300 dpi
The saved file (viewed on Irfanview) is 2550 x 3300 pixels.
I then go to Image, Resize/resample, and I reduce it by 39%...aiming to get as close to 1000 pix as possible.
The resultant file is actually 995 x 1287 pixels, which is accepted by SOR, and gives relatively good quality for full page scans (check my books under Approval). I like more sharply defined perforations against any background, so I sharpen the image (once or twice) and save it...the darker the background, the less necessary this step is, but it does depend on your scanner.
I know that sharpening impacts image quality, but I like to highlight perforations, defects, cancellations, and details more than true color or just resolution. Works for me, but just try it as final settings is a matter of preference. So Scan at 300. Resize. Sharpen. Save. The whole process (after you scan) takes under 2 minutes. ( Yes, I have been timing). Once you know what works..repeat for every page scanned. Voila!
Good luck
rrr....

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auldstampguy
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Tim
Collector/Webmaster

29 Dec 2013
05:46:42pm

Auctions - Approvals
re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Doug,
I would probably scan at 100bpi and you will get a good result that should work.

Regards ... Tim.

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BobbyBarnhart
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They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin

29 Dec 2013
06:09:20pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Doug

For full pages, I scan at 200 dpi then resize (using Irfanview) to a width of 900 pixels (length is OK as long as it is under 1225 pixels, if it is too long, I reduce width to 800 pixels). Since I use a black background, I do not need to adjust my image to show details of the perfs. I also "fill" the background with "absolute black" (use "paint dialog" under the edit tab) to highlight detail without changing the stamp color or sharpness. Check my scans, they are very detailed and can be increased in size to give buyers more to look at. I like to leave my scan as close to an image of the actual stamp as possible. If you use a white or light pastel paper, you will need to do as Ralph does to show the details of the perfs.

Also remember that scanner quality may differ from brand to brand. I have always been happiest with Hewlett Packard.

Play around with some images. You may find something neither Ralph nor I use that pleases you and presents a nice display. There are many roads that lead to the same destination, take the one less traveled and you may enjoy the trip more.

Bobby

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cocollectibles

29 Dec 2013
07:50:49pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I used a Canon LIDE 200 scanner that comes with a very easy to use, and free, PhotoStudio 5.5 software package. I scan my stamps at 600 dpi, and then reduce the scanned image in size anywhere from 500 to 700 on the longest side. When I save it as a jpg file, I keep it at 100% and check the resulting size. If it is 300kb or greater, I change the size accordingly and resave. All of the stamps you see posted in my approval books, for example, are 250 to 280 kb size.

I'm not sure how this translates to other software or scanner programs, but that's what I use.

Peter

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Rhinelander
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29 Dec 2013
08:50:57pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

No wonder scanning has the aura of black magic:

Ralph: 1) initially scan page at 300dpi.
Bobby: 1) initially scan page at 200dpi.
Peter: 1) initially scan page at 600dpi.

All: 2) then do something to reduce the image which is too large.

Arno: scan page at 100dpi into a jpg file and be done with it. In all of my approval books, I scanned pages at 100dpi and did no further adjustments of any kind. Now, this is not optimal, because the system will accept images that are a bit larger. You will get probably somewhat better results, if you scan at more than 100dpi and manually reduce size. But if you want to avoid these extra steps, my pages give an idea how plain 100dpi without any adjustments look like. I use the no frills Windows Scanner and Camera Wizard which comes with the computer. NB: this is for scanning a whole page of stamps. For images of individual stamps to be posted in the auction, 200 or even 300 dpi are much better. Also, all of my books thus far have been black or colored pages. White pages are not good and may require extra work to improve the image, because there is not enough contrast.

Arno

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cocollectibles

31 Dec 2013
07:16:44am
re: Scanning Stamps?

The difference is in the quality of the scan. If you scan a single stamp, this may not matter but if you have a large sheet of stamps (as with an approval book) you do lose some detail and sharpness with a 100 scan. It isn't major, but I'm just picky enough to want the best scan I can get so that's why I use 300 or 600 for my scans, then reduce the size. The sharpness is maintained. Here are two examples of one block of four cropped from a scanned sheet of seven blocks. I then cropped and resized the images to 600 pixels on the longer side.

This was from the 600dpi scan:

Image Not Found

This was from the 100dpi scan:
Image Not Found

Not that much different but the top scan is much cleaner and clearer. It takes just a bit longer to scan at 600 than 100, but the result is worth it IMHO.

When I did not resize the 100dpi scanned image, the result was smaller of course (around 240 pixels) and still not clear.

Image Not Found

Tradeoff: Better quality scans for your images, vs. time involved in scanning. I'd opt for the former.

Peter


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Strider
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27 May 2016
05:06:15am
re: Scanning Stamps?

What am I doing wrong? I have always found scanning a problem. I have Windows 10, and to get the image into shape I use Picasa. I have just bought a pretty basic home 3 in 1 printer - it's a Canon pixma 3560. After half an hour trying to find how to set the resolution and how to send to the right folder etc, I realised it does all that automatically. I haven't yet found if it's possible to adjust the resolution. It scans andd sends image identified by string of letters and numbers to the My Docs folder. So I put 5 stamps (Newfie, if you're interested) on the platen, covered by a black card. So how to get 5 scans? My method is to copy the image 4 times then move a copy to picasa to be cropped and straightened. The tricky part is getting the image into picasa. Then it's exporting the result to the right folder.
The whole job takes ages and involves lots of profanity.
I've tried photobucket without success. Trouble is, the programs seem to assume you know how to use them. picasa is the same, hence me floundering about trying to get my scan from My Docs into the right place in picasa. Grrr.
So, what can I do to make all this easier?

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Soundcrest
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27 May 2016
06:29:17am

Auctions - Approvals
re: Scanning Stamps?

I just bought a 3 in one printer (Brother) but have a scanner (Epson V330) which I use for scanning. Had it since probably 2009 or so. Came with awesome software and a package called Media Impression which is probably free to download these days. I do my page numbering and compression with Jasc Paint Shop which dates back to 2001. The two programs allow me to scan full pages, use Jasc for numbering and crop with Media Impression, though to be honest, the Jasc would crop as well. I still use XP and will always use XP until such time that my anti virus software no longer supports it.

As an aside, for the 100 auctions I create on Wednesday, scan,crop,resize if too big and save (and sometimes renumber because I forget the auction image rules) takes less than 30 minutes

Greg

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whitebuffalo
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27 May 2016
08:57:45am
re: Scanning Stamps?

If your setup works like mine, you should be able to double left click on an image in your doc (my scans) file and when the image comes up, there will be a bar at the bottom that says "Edit in Picasa". Click on that and it will open the image (and folder) in Picasa. When you're done editing, click on "file", then "save" and it will save the edited pic. If you have multiple images in the folder and edit several at a time, do all the editing, click on "Return to Library". Under the folder title and just left of the button that says "upload" there is a blue button for saving all edited images at once.

I resize my images after editing and saving, by right clicking on the image in the doc file, click on edit, then click on resize. I do it that way because I may want to resize different images to different sizes, since I'm told one size does not fit all.Happy

I'm sure there are other methods, but this one suits me pretty well and goes fairly quick.


WB

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Soundcrest
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27 May 2016
09:20:32am

Auctions - Approvals
re: Scanning Stamps?

I just look at the size of the images in Jasc. If they are over 300kb for an individual item I reduce it by 45%. I can select as many as I want and edit them pretty quickly. For full size pages (approval books) I reduce to 45% after adding numbers to the stamps. They always look good to me, but I can't speak for all device types.

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ikeyPikey
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27 May 2016
11:20:49pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I know of a much better alternative to Irfanview's leveling function: capturing a level image to begin with.

Try it at home, preferably at a 'higher' (600/+ dpi) resolution: capture a level image of a stamp, capture a skewed image of that same stamp, level the skewed image, and compare.

There is just no way any algorithm (despite what you see in crime labs on TeeVee) is going to interpolate two or more pixels into a single pixel and then give you an image as sharp as a correctly-captured image.

As noted above, you usually cannot use the sides of the scanner bed to align the stamps, as you will often/always lose detail on that edge of the stamp and, worse, perhaps suggest to folks that your stamp/entire has an edge defect that you were trying to hide.

The best technique (as noted above) is probably to use a stock sheet: aligning the stamp/entire to its row, and aligning the stock sheet to the edge of the scanner bed. Yes, you'll capture the almost-transparent film, but this is rarely overwhelming.

If you skip the stock sheet trick and free-hand the alignment, you can always groan & re-scan. But a clear, crisp scan with a slight skew will show you stamp at its best, even if it shows your scanning skills at their worst.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

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angore
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Collector, Moderator

28 May 2016
06:45:07am
re: Scanning Stamps?

I use Lightroom to modify images since I shoot RAW and modify scans too. There is no degradation in the image.

Al

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Strider
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28 May 2016
12:39:38pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

A bit more trial and error today, and this is what I now do.
1 Scan the stamp – usually a number of stamps, placed face down on the platen, and covered with a black card.
2 The image (in pdf format) is sent by the printer/scanner/copier to the My docs folder, where I make as many copies as there are stamps – so I can crop each one to single stamp. I save them all in a folder called Stamp stuff – Holding folder.
3 They are pdf files, which Picasa won’t accept, so I convert them to bmp format using Tipard. They are then saved to the Tipard folder.
4 I then open Picasa, and click on Add file to Picasa, then select the files one by one from the Tipard folder. I’ve checked the Scan always button in Picasa.
5 The images then appear in Picasa. I can then crop each image to one stamp, straighten it up and export the result to My pics – Stamp stuff – Scans. I repeat this process to get each scanned stamp as a separate file.
It’s a bit of a performance, but it works!

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tomiseksj
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28 May 2016
05:35:37pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

With the Canon MG3500 series, you should be able to scan multiple items at a time and have each saved to a separate jpeg file so you won't need to convert from pdf.

Here are the instructions for doing so.

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snowy12
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29 May 2016
06:05:46am

Auctions
re: Scanning Stamps?

I scan with my Canon MP640 ,using Canon Scangear with an old version of Photoshop .I stick my stamps in a hagner and scan the whole page at 300 dpi.I have it set to save as jpeg.if there are several stamps on the page.I just open the file again in photoshop and crop and save just add a letter to the file.IE if your first saved file is 123.jpeg I save the cropped file as 123a.jpeg and the next crop as 123b.jpeg.
I can alter the size with the slider.
If i am putting up a whole page of stamps I scan between 60/75 dpi.Scan gear gives you the choice up to 2000dpi.
Brian

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Strider
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30 May 2016
02:38:36am
re: Scanning Stamps?

Thanks very much, Tomiseksj and Brian, for this very helpful steer. I'll definitely look again at scanning - but first I have to strim the weeds on the allotment, buy and plant a load of vegetables, and then take all the furniture out of the dining room (no idea where I'll put it!) so the men can take the ceiling down and the roof off in readiness for the new lantern skylight we're having fitted.

You can see that stamping has to take its place in the queue in our house!

Neville

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michael78651
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21 Jun 2016
10:32:43am
re: Scanning Stamps?

I bumped this thread back up as there is a current question about scanning images. Maybe this will help.

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2010ccg

21 Jun 2016
04:34:43pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Thankyou....still complicated...... but a start

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JF0505

24 Jul 2016
12:44:53pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I must say that almost all the pictures I see everywhere are lacking in clarity & definition. If your selling stamps a good picture makes a major difference and shows professionalism.

Poor quality scans are basically due to 3 things.
1.The scanner is not properly calibrated
2.The software that came with the scanner is not capable of correctly manipulating the scanning.
3.The post scanning software is not capable of making proper corrections.

Sample
This is a basic photo stamp taken at 1200 DPI - DPI's are another area of misunderstanding really only useful for printing purposes and should actually be PPI's - look that one up.
The stamp I used is really basic in quality with poor color and definition.
I cropped the sample it as it would be 3X the width of this page. The ink dots are clearly visible at 1200PPI.
Image Not Found

Now I scanned the image at 300, 600 & 1200 and using Irfanview reduced them all to 250 pixels wide

Image Not FoundImage Not FoundImage Not Found
If anything the picture almost gets worse as I downsize a larger scan with Irfanview

Now the same 1200DPI(PPI) downsized to 250px using a more capable software than Irfanview - noticeable difference.
Image Not Found

You can get good results if you use
1. Any scanner that has been color and definition calibrated - I use a $60 Cannon LIDE210
2. Proper dedicated scanner software not provided with the scanner
3. Proper after scanning image manipulation software
TIME & PATIENCE to learn some new skills
Dedicated scanners are a better choice than "all-in-ones". As for the type, you can pay $50-$1500+ but brand, price & quality wont matter on its own without the right tools.

Image Not Found
My favorite Osterreich stamp on Granite paper with superb detail

1871 Beer Stamp
Image Not Found

Even a 150 year old Oldenburg Mi.2 Type I can come to life
Image Not Found

If for some reason I wanted a really High definition picture that would outdo any scan then I would do a Macro Raw image photograph but that puts it into a whole different league of requirements.


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TuskenRaider
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24 Jul 2016
04:40:29pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi JF0505;

That is a nice avatar you have, and those scans are fantastic. I wish everyone on here was that good at scanning.

I think that changing terminology of DPI to PPI would only confuse a lot of new-bees. You and I know the difference but many others would just get confused. To all non-computer geeks, PPI is pixels-per-inch, and DPI is dots-per-inch.

Most folks are used to dpi, but in isn't technically a dot. It is a square dot or pixel (picture element), but most members could care less and probably find my reply just another boring rant. Rolling On The Floor Laughing

I see from your profile that your favorite collection, is 500 books & catalogs. I'm just curious, are those all stamp related? I have a small library of about 30+ stamp related books. My favorite is one that I xeroxed (illegally) of classic French cancellations, mostly on Napoleans and Ceres.

I also used to have an antique collection of very old math and engineering books (another favorite). I also have 50+ paperback StarWars sci-fy novels, and a complete collectors edition set of 7 Alexander Kent sea story novels of wooden sailing ships.

My appologies to everyone for taking my reply off the subject.

If anyone is interested in more detailed help, I'm currently working on tutoring a member on here on how to upload images. So if anyone else wants similar help just message me thru the PM messaging. Some folks are reluctant or embarrased to ask questions or for help, on a public forum, and would rather work thru private channels.

I have a friend on here who was about to quit SOR because of poor sales. I tutored this member (using PM and private e-mails), on the use of the bulk uploader for auctions and that member is now doing very well and is selling many more lots. That seller's stamp material was even better quality than my own offerings.

Keep up the great scans, and maybe you can publish an article about some special area of collecting.

I just gotta switch to decaf....
TuskenRaider

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24 Jul 2016
07:15:44pm

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re: Scanning Stamps?

"using a more capable software than Irfanview"



What software do you use?

Very nice scans.

Doug

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TuskenRaider
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24 Aug 2016
05:10:53pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Everyone;

JF0505 said:

"Poor quality scans are basically due to 3 things.
1.The scanner is not properly calibrated
2.The software that came with the scanner is not capable of correctly manipulating the scanning.
3.The post scanning software is not capable of making proper corrections."




I'm not sure what is meant by "not properly calibrated". My scanner has no means to do a calibration, nor do the directions mention this. My scanner is a UMAX, and that is all they make, is scanners. So one would have to believe that they know more about scanners than most manufacturers that make many other things like printers.

reasons # 2 & 3 are most commonly found in all-in-one machines. These are actually printers that are pretending to be scanners. They are automated and tend to take settings, that the user can manipulate for better creativity, away and try to replace these settings with automation. These devices are very good for posing as copiers and fax machines, but rather poor at anything creative.

The four images you show with the bottom one lacking the moire interference patterns shown on the first three, is not a function of calibration. UMAX pre-scanning software has a setting called de-screening, that corrects for this. Moire is an interference pattern caused by the sampling rate of the scanner that differs from the screen angle and number of dots/inch of the printed image.

If you look at the PLATES (a separate plate is needed for each color of dots), of photogravure stamps you will see lots of dots. very small dots produce a very light shade of color, while larger dots medium shades of that color, and finally as the dots get bigger and touch, that printed area of solid color with white holes in the printed area for dark shades of this same color. And the last step in that process is when the dots get so big that the color is solid with no holes at all.

De-screening is a software calculation of removing the moire pattern from the final image. That is probably what your image editing software does, JF0505. To use it on my scanner you need to measure the number of dots per inch, and select that setting in the software. Usually I can guess the correct setting and get it right most of the time.

The software you are using to get that better image, is just measuring this screen per inch factor and automatically correcting for it. So not really a calibration but more of a correction factor.

Just thinkin' too much again....
TuskenRaider


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24 Aug 2016
07:44:06pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

I would say at least 90% of the poor quality scans I have seen are due to only one problem: the operator has not learned basic image adjustment functions, either on the scanner, in their image editing software, or, likely, both. My current scanner is a $59 Canon Pixma MG5220, and it has everything one needs to create professional looking stamp scans. The main thing is to NOT use the one-button scan feature. You need to select the box that says, "Use the scanner driver." Then you are presented with a host of features you can use to ensure quality scans.

Probably the number one thing someone can do to improve their scans is to learn to use the histogram and the levels function. A histogram is a graph that plots the range of tones in your image.

Here are some screen shots to illustrate:

1. This is the preview scan. To the right of the images is the histogram. The blackest black would be at the left edge of the box, where the black triangle is pointing. As you can see, the left edge of the histogram is far from the left edge of the box, and that is evidenced by the black background of the scan not being a very deep black.
Image Not Found


2. The three triangles along the bottom edge of the box control the levels of the dark, mid and light tones. To give us the deep black we want, we will grab the black triangle and slide it to the left edge of the histogram, like so:
Image Not Found

Now we have a nice deep black background. I moved the white adjust a bit to the left, but did not go all the way to the edge, as I did with the dark level adjust, because that tends to make the colors "pop" too brightly, almost fluorescent. Also that will wash out subtle details. (I did not touch the mid-tones level control, but it will move a little, when adjusting the other two.)

3. The next thing you can do with the scanner is crop each stamp or set of stamps, and the scanner will make multiple scan passes, and provide you with individual images.
Image Not Found

Here I have placed crop borders whee I want to have separate images. With this scanner I can designate up to 12 cropping areas at a time.

Now, with the your crop areas set, you can hit scan, save your images to your stamp scans folder, and you're all set. But...

You'll notice in the 1st screen shot, there is a box highlighted in blue, saying Descreen: ON

As mentioned earlier, descreening will eliminate the moire pattern from scanning halftone images, but the descreen function does this by blurring the image slightly. We could use the sharpen function in the scanner, but when I do that, the scanner flashes a warning that if you use the unsharp mask function, descreen may not work. So sharpening will have to be done post-scan.

4. Now, I will show you images of one of the above stamps, to illustrate the points I have made.

Image Not Found

This is what the scan looks like if you just press scan and let the cards (or the tones) fall where they may. It's a washed out dingy mess.

This second image shows the result of sliding the black triangle to the left edge of the histogram and the white triangle a bit towards the right edge.

Image Not Found

As noted before, the image is slightly blurred from the descreening process, so, in my image editing program, I apply the unsharp mask. The unsharp mask is a more sophisticated image sharpening tool than the stock "sharpen" function. It has various parameters to set, in order to get optimum results. Setting the parameters too high can result in a stamp that looks like it has just been freshly printed from a newly etched plate, but does not accurately represent how your stamp looks.

Here is my finished image with a moderate amount of unsharp mask applied.
Image Not Found

And here is the scan with too much sharpening (or unnsharp mask) applied.
Image Not Found

While that may look impressive to the uninitiated, it is not a true representation of the stamp.

So there you have it. Two easy steps to better scans: 1. Adjust the histogram in the scanner, and 2. Use your image editing program to apply the unsharp mask for sharpening.

Ted

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25 Aug 2016
07:07:55am
re: Scanning Stamps?

You should not have to use the descreen function unless you expect moire. This is most often seen when scanning printed pics from books or newspaper. Otherwise, it is should not be used.

Al

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JW1950

26 Aug 2016
05:38:36pm
re: Scanning Stamps?

"This is what the scan looks like if you just press scan and let the cards (or the tones) fall where they may. It's a washed out dingy mess."



Even a dingy mess has hope

Image Not Found Image Not Found

Dingy mess taken directly off the webpage and fixed with a quick minor adjustment.

You just need 2 things for decent scans

1. ANY scanner (mine costs $69) that is color calibrated
2. Good scanning software NOT what is supplied with the scanner

Without any adjustments or post scanning manipulation, you can get quality scans like below.

Image Not Found

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tuscany4me

09 Sep 2012
12:21:57pm

I do use a camera instead of scanning. Couldn't understand why my scanner would crop an image like this. I use me scanner quite often and never seen it do this... until I scanned a stamp.


Image Not Found

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Logistical1

09 Sep 2012
03:09:59pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Try lowering the position of the stamp on the scanner bed. Printed documents typically have a boarder without printing so the documents position is less critical on the scanner bed.

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DaSaintFan

10 Sep 2012
02:48:26am

re: Scanning Stamps?

The general theory is, if you're scanning a single/set of stamps, place the stamp DIRECTLY in the center of the scanner.

I've had people say keep the scanner top open, to insure a dark background.., but it'd never worked for me, I'd just end up with white borders/perfs on white backgrounds, and my software tended to just 'chop off' the all-white portion (like on your scan), unless i went in and ignored the default settings.

Get a single stamp holding card (or something similar) to stick behind the stamp when you scan it, and it _shouldn't_ chop anything out.

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PeterG

10 Sep 2012
04:09:26am

re: Scanning Stamps?

I always scan my stamps on a black background to avoid the problem you show. Putting it/them on a black stock card always work for me


Image Not Found

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tuscany4me

10 Sep 2012
11:08:12am

re: Scanning Stamps?

Thank you all... Appreciate the help

Clayton

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tuscany4me

10 Sep 2012
11:47:30am

re: Scanning Stamps?

Thank you to all.. for the scanning help and Tim for the sizing

ClaytonImage Not Found

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michael78651

10 Sep 2012
02:41:37pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

You know, I never noticed the ship in the background of that stamp!

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10 Sep 2012
04:21:05pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

The ship must have been an early nuclear powered vessel, no sails, no booms, no yardarms, no backstays, no paddle wheel and no funnel. It must have been great for drifting downriver.

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drmicro68

10 Sep 2012
05:00:21pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

No, can't you see that it's solar powered? All those masts and support cables means it must have been solar powered.

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HungaryForStamps

21 Sep 2012
05:31:14pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Is that also a sailor hanging off the left front side of the cable car?

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21 Sep 2012
08:32:07pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

That passenger could also be a "tar" or an old "salt".His forearm tattoo is difficult to read, but I believe the inscription beneath the anchor reads, "Don't give up the ship."

John Derry, soldier (ret'd)

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Rgbrito

03 Dec 2013
07:29:03pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

For all it is worth:
Often, when we place small objects--i.e. stamps--on the scanner bed the said object slides off its intended position, thus creating a not so very straight image on your computer. In order to minimize this problem, try the following solution--with a great deal of care:
use a photo album "Photo Safe" Adhesive self-stick page from HOM. (This product can be found in any Target photo album supply section. (I did not look anywhere else...)
Draw a simple matrix or grid with pencil and ruler to help you place the stamps straight. Place the stamps you wish to scan on the self-adhesive page very carefully. Then run the clear plastic sheet protector that comes with the self-adhesive page over the stamps. You may encounter the following problem: the clear plastic page will create air bubbles and will move the stamps. It will take practice to obtain a 90% non-sliding stamp on the self-adhesive page.
Place the sheet on the scanner bed. You will make sure that there are good margins, of course. Scan your picture. Save it to your desktop and give the temporary file a name. (Usually the file name will be the date you create the document, i.e. 12/3/2013.)
Now, use a paint--graphic editor--program (I use Windows Paint, the most basic picture editing program for PCs. No complications...)
Go to Paste, and Paste from... Get the file you created on your desktop. It will show extremely big on your screen. No problem. Go to View and Zoom out until the image shows up at a good workable size. Now, go to Select and choose the Rectangular selection tool. Go to any image from those you scanned, and place the "square with the broken little lines" around your selected image. Use the Crop tool. The image will now appear by itself on the Paint Drawing board. Go to the drop-down arrow which is to the left of Home.
Choose Save as... and choose JPEG picture. The picture will be saved to the Desktop under a date file, unless you create a folder with a specific name on the Desktop. Give your individual picture a name, for example, the picture you see below is "roosevelt3cents". As you can see, the picture is pretty straight.
If you do not wish to go through all the problem with the Self-adhesive album sheet, you can use a black or white stock sheet.

Sorry for taking so much space!!!

Image Not FoundImage Not Found




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03 Dec 2013
08:10:12pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Better solution is to use Irfanview (free download from irfanview.com).

Do a Crtl-U to fine rotate the image and a Crtl-R to resize to the size you want.

Roy

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03 Dec 2013
08:14:05pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I know it's about a year late, but for Tuscany4me, check your scanner software to see if you have "autocrop" selected. Looks to me like the scanner is cropping the image itself.

Download Irfanview. Best scanning software around, and it's free. Crop, resize, straighten. Can also use it to adjust your camera produced images.

Roy

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michael78651

03 Dec 2013
08:25:40pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I agree. Irfanview is what I use too. The software updates are free too.

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d1stamper

03 Dec 2013
08:38:46pm

Auctions

re: Scanning Stamps?

I agree that IrfanView is the best and is easy to use with lots of tools.

I would not use those albums with the sticky surface for photographs. I have seen people use them and end up ruining the stamps.

Doug

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larsdog

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03 Dec 2013
11:31:42pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I have professional image processing software because of my work. (It's not Photoshop, but similar). It's nice to be able to rotate in tenths of a degree and lay images on top of one another (like a stamp on a perf gauge or millimeter ruler) and add precisely parallel lines to check the edges on a suspect coil. I don't do it that often, but it sure comes in handy when needed.

I used it to figure out why a 350 coil came back as a fake:

Image Not Found

I had another 3rd Bureau coil that came back as a fake, but I couldn't see why it was a fake. I sent it back for another evaluation and it was STILL deemed a fake. So I sent it to PSE and got a GENUINE cert. Quite a learning experience!

Image Not Found

If you want to see the certs, go to http://www.larsdog.com/stamps/beyond.htm and scroll down to "Fakes, Forgeries, and Facsimilies"

The upper sections are undergoing a complete overhaul, so ignore the top part of that web page if you go to that link.

Lars

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BOTTOM_FISH_2006

12 Dec 2013
08:18:39pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Add to the auto cropping, is after the scanner is done and loaded an image, look to see if there is a dotted or dashed box that can be moved or stretched, some times I get more then one box and I have to delete one or more of them. After you see the dotted box is at its largest or covering you stamp, then hit scan, or done.

It makes me mad to rescan because of these Angry

BOTTOM_FISH_2006

Jerry

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BOTTOM_FISH_2006

12 Dec 2013
08:37:53pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Did "irfanview.com" go in the healthcare bucket? Hypnotized

I tried 3 different sites and they said file or program not found.

I do a lot of scanning and can use it.

Can you help get it?

Thanks
Jerry
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Liz

12 Dec 2013
09:00:14pm

Auctions - Approvals

re: Scanning Stamps?

http://www.irfanview.com/



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BOTTOM_FISH_2006

12 Dec 2013
11:18:15pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

THANKS LIZ!Happy

I got it. Now I will have learning to use it.Thumbs Up

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d1stamper

29 Dec 2013
05:18:24pm

Auctions

re: Scanning Stamps?

When scanning stamps I have been using a resolution of 300 dpi. This works well for single stamps, but when I scan a set of stamps the resulting size is too large for SOR auctions.

What DPI should I be using for scanning stamps to be posted on SOR for single stamps or sets or a whole page?

Doug

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Retired Ap. Book Mod, Pres Golden Gate Stamp Club, Hi Tech Consultant
29 Dec 2013
05:35:04pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Doug:
I also scan full 8 1/2 x 11 pages at 300 dpi
The saved file (viewed on Irfanview) is 2550 x 3300 pixels.
I then go to Image, Resize/resample, and I reduce it by 39%...aiming to get as close to 1000 pix as possible.
The resultant file is actually 995 x 1287 pixels, which is accepted by SOR, and gives relatively good quality for full page scans (check my books under Approval). I like more sharply defined perforations against any background, so I sharpen the image (once or twice) and save it...the darker the background, the less necessary this step is, but it does depend on your scanner.
I know that sharpening impacts image quality, but I like to highlight perforations, defects, cancellations, and details more than true color or just resolution. Works for me, but just try it as final settings is a matter of preference. So Scan at 300. Resize. Sharpen. Save. The whole process (after you scan) takes under 2 minutes. ( Yes, I have been timing). Once you know what works..repeat for every page scanned. Voila!
Good luck
rrr....

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Tim
Collector/Webmaster
29 Dec 2013
05:46:42pm

Auctions - Approvals

re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Doug,
I would probably scan at 100bpi and you will get a good result that should work.

Regards ... Tim.

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29 Dec 2013
06:09:20pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Doug

For full pages, I scan at 200 dpi then resize (using Irfanview) to a width of 900 pixels (length is OK as long as it is under 1225 pixels, if it is too long, I reduce width to 800 pixels). Since I use a black background, I do not need to adjust my image to show details of the perfs. I also "fill" the background with "absolute black" (use "paint dialog" under the edit tab) to highlight detail without changing the stamp color or sharpness. Check my scans, they are very detailed and can be increased in size to give buyers more to look at. I like to leave my scan as close to an image of the actual stamp as possible. If you use a white or light pastel paper, you will need to do as Ralph does to show the details of the perfs.

Also remember that scanner quality may differ from brand to brand. I have always been happiest with Hewlett Packard.

Play around with some images. You may find something neither Ralph nor I use that pleases you and presents a nice display. There are many roads that lead to the same destination, take the one less traveled and you may enjoy the trip more.

Bobby

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cocollectibles

29 Dec 2013
07:50:49pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I used a Canon LIDE 200 scanner that comes with a very easy to use, and free, PhotoStudio 5.5 software package. I scan my stamps at 600 dpi, and then reduce the scanned image in size anywhere from 500 to 700 on the longest side. When I save it as a jpg file, I keep it at 100% and check the resulting size. If it is 300kb or greater, I change the size accordingly and resave. All of the stamps you see posted in my approval books, for example, are 250 to 280 kb size.

I'm not sure how this translates to other software or scanner programs, but that's what I use.

Peter

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Rhinelander

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29 Dec 2013
08:50:57pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

No wonder scanning has the aura of black magic:

Ralph: 1) initially scan page at 300dpi.
Bobby: 1) initially scan page at 200dpi.
Peter: 1) initially scan page at 600dpi.

All: 2) then do something to reduce the image which is too large.

Arno: scan page at 100dpi into a jpg file and be done with it. In all of my approval books, I scanned pages at 100dpi and did no further adjustments of any kind. Now, this is not optimal, because the system will accept images that are a bit larger. You will get probably somewhat better results, if you scan at more than 100dpi and manually reduce size. But if you want to avoid these extra steps, my pages give an idea how plain 100dpi without any adjustments look like. I use the no frills Windows Scanner and Camera Wizard which comes with the computer. NB: this is for scanning a whole page of stamps. For images of individual stamps to be posted in the auction, 200 or even 300 dpi are much better. Also, all of my books thus far have been black or colored pages. White pages are not good and may require extra work to improve the image, because there is not enough contrast.

Arno

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cocollectibles

31 Dec 2013
07:16:44am

re: Scanning Stamps?

The difference is in the quality of the scan. If you scan a single stamp, this may not matter but if you have a large sheet of stamps (as with an approval book) you do lose some detail and sharpness with a 100 scan. It isn't major, but I'm just picky enough to want the best scan I can get so that's why I use 300 or 600 for my scans, then reduce the size. The sharpness is maintained. Here are two examples of one block of four cropped from a scanned sheet of seven blocks. I then cropped and resized the images to 600 pixels on the longer side.

This was from the 600dpi scan:

Image Not Found

This was from the 100dpi scan:
Image Not Found

Not that much different but the top scan is much cleaner and clearer. It takes just a bit longer to scan at 600 than 100, but the result is worth it IMHO.

When I did not resize the 100dpi scanned image, the result was smaller of course (around 240 pixels) and still not clear.

Image Not Found

Tradeoff: Better quality scans for your images, vs. time involved in scanning. I'd opt for the former.

Peter


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Strider

27 May 2016
05:06:15am

re: Scanning Stamps?

What am I doing wrong? I have always found scanning a problem. I have Windows 10, and to get the image into shape I use Picasa. I have just bought a pretty basic home 3 in 1 printer - it's a Canon pixma 3560. After half an hour trying to find how to set the resolution and how to send to the right folder etc, I realised it does all that automatically. I haven't yet found if it's possible to adjust the resolution. It scans andd sends image identified by string of letters and numbers to the My Docs folder. So I put 5 stamps (Newfie, if you're interested) on the platen, covered by a black card. So how to get 5 scans? My method is to copy the image 4 times then move a copy to picasa to be cropped and straightened. The tricky part is getting the image into picasa. Then it's exporting the result to the right folder.
The whole job takes ages and involves lots of profanity.
I've tried photobucket without success. Trouble is, the programs seem to assume you know how to use them. picasa is the same, hence me floundering about trying to get my scan from My Docs into the right place in picasa. Grrr.
So, what can I do to make all this easier?

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Soundcrest

27 May 2016
06:29:17am

Auctions - Approvals

re: Scanning Stamps?

I just bought a 3 in one printer (Brother) but have a scanner (Epson V330) which I use for scanning. Had it since probably 2009 or so. Came with awesome software and a package called Media Impression which is probably free to download these days. I do my page numbering and compression with Jasc Paint Shop which dates back to 2001. The two programs allow me to scan full pages, use Jasc for numbering and crop with Media Impression, though to be honest, the Jasc would crop as well. I still use XP and will always use XP until such time that my anti virus software no longer supports it.

As an aside, for the 100 auctions I create on Wednesday, scan,crop,resize if too big and save (and sometimes renumber because I forget the auction image rules) takes less than 30 minutes

Greg

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whitebuffalo

27 May 2016
08:57:45am

re: Scanning Stamps?

If your setup works like mine, you should be able to double left click on an image in your doc (my scans) file and when the image comes up, there will be a bar at the bottom that says "Edit in Picasa". Click on that and it will open the image (and folder) in Picasa. When you're done editing, click on "file", then "save" and it will save the edited pic. If you have multiple images in the folder and edit several at a time, do all the editing, click on "Return to Library". Under the folder title and just left of the button that says "upload" there is a blue button for saving all edited images at once.

I resize my images after editing and saving, by right clicking on the image in the doc file, click on edit, then click on resize. I do it that way because I may want to resize different images to different sizes, since I'm told one size does not fit all.Happy

I'm sure there are other methods, but this one suits me pretty well and goes fairly quick.


WB

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Soundcrest

27 May 2016
09:20:32am

Auctions - Approvals

re: Scanning Stamps?

I just look at the size of the images in Jasc. If they are over 300kb for an individual item I reduce it by 45%. I can select as many as I want and edit them pretty quickly. For full size pages (approval books) I reduce to 45% after adding numbers to the stamps. They always look good to me, but I can't speak for all device types.

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ikeyPikey

27 May 2016
11:20:49pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I know of a much better alternative to Irfanview's leveling function: capturing a level image to begin with.

Try it at home, preferably at a 'higher' (600/+ dpi) resolution: capture a level image of a stamp, capture a skewed image of that same stamp, level the skewed image, and compare.

There is just no way any algorithm (despite what you see in crime labs on TeeVee) is going to interpolate two or more pixels into a single pixel and then give you an image as sharp as a correctly-captured image.

As noted above, you usually cannot use the sides of the scanner bed to align the stamps, as you will often/always lose detail on that edge of the stamp and, worse, perhaps suggest to folks that your stamp/entire has an edge defect that you were trying to hide.

The best technique (as noted above) is probably to use a stock sheet: aligning the stamp/entire to its row, and aligning the stock sheet to the edge of the scanner bed. Yes, you'll capture the almost-transparent film, but this is rarely overwhelming.

If you skip the stock sheet trick and free-hand the alignment, you can always groan & re-scan. But a clear, crisp scan with a slight skew will show you stamp at its best, even if it shows your scanning skills at their worst.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

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angore

Collector, Moderator
28 May 2016
06:45:07am

re: Scanning Stamps?

I use Lightroom to modify images since I shoot RAW and modify scans too. There is no degradation in the image.

Al

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Strider

28 May 2016
12:39:38pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

A bit more trial and error today, and this is what I now do.
1 Scan the stamp – usually a number of stamps, placed face down on the platen, and covered with a black card.
2 The image (in pdf format) is sent by the printer/scanner/copier to the My docs folder, where I make as many copies as there are stamps – so I can crop each one to single stamp. I save them all in a folder called Stamp stuff – Holding folder.
3 They are pdf files, which Picasa won’t accept, so I convert them to bmp format using Tipard. They are then saved to the Tipard folder.
4 I then open Picasa, and click on Add file to Picasa, then select the files one by one from the Tipard folder. I’ve checked the Scan always button in Picasa.
5 The images then appear in Picasa. I can then crop each image to one stamp, straighten it up and export the result to My pics – Stamp stuff – Scans. I repeat this process to get each scanned stamp as a separate file.
It’s a bit of a performance, but it works!

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tomiseksj

28 May 2016
05:35:37pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

With the Canon MG3500 series, you should be able to scan multiple items at a time and have each saved to a separate jpeg file so you won't need to convert from pdf.

Here are the instructions for doing so.

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snowy12

29 May 2016
06:05:46am

Auctions

re: Scanning Stamps?

I scan with my Canon MP640 ,using Canon Scangear with an old version of Photoshop .I stick my stamps in a hagner and scan the whole page at 300 dpi.I have it set to save as jpeg.if there are several stamps on the page.I just open the file again in photoshop and crop and save just add a letter to the file.IE if your first saved file is 123.jpeg I save the cropped file as 123a.jpeg and the next crop as 123b.jpeg.
I can alter the size with the slider.
If i am putting up a whole page of stamps I scan between 60/75 dpi.Scan gear gives you the choice up to 2000dpi.
Brian

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Strider

30 May 2016
02:38:36am

re: Scanning Stamps?

Thanks very much, Tomiseksj and Brian, for this very helpful steer. I'll definitely look again at scanning - but first I have to strim the weeds on the allotment, buy and plant a load of vegetables, and then take all the furniture out of the dining room (no idea where I'll put it!) so the men can take the ceiling down and the roof off in readiness for the new lantern skylight we're having fitted.

You can see that stamping has to take its place in the queue in our house!

Neville

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michael78651

21 Jun 2016
10:32:43am

re: Scanning Stamps?

I bumped this thread back up as there is a current question about scanning images. Maybe this will help.

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2010ccg

21 Jun 2016
04:34:43pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Thankyou....still complicated...... but a start

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JF0505

24 Jul 2016
12:44:53pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I must say that almost all the pictures I see everywhere are lacking in clarity & definition. If your selling stamps a good picture makes a major difference and shows professionalism.

Poor quality scans are basically due to 3 things.
1.The scanner is not properly calibrated
2.The software that came with the scanner is not capable of correctly manipulating the scanning.
3.The post scanning software is not capable of making proper corrections.

Sample
This is a basic photo stamp taken at 1200 DPI - DPI's are another area of misunderstanding really only useful for printing purposes and should actually be PPI's - look that one up.
The stamp I used is really basic in quality with poor color and definition.
I cropped the sample it as it would be 3X the width of this page. The ink dots are clearly visible at 1200PPI.
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Now I scanned the image at 300, 600 & 1200 and using Irfanview reduced them all to 250 pixels wide

Image Not FoundImage Not FoundImage Not Found
If anything the picture almost gets worse as I downsize a larger scan with Irfanview

Now the same 1200DPI(PPI) downsized to 250px using a more capable software than Irfanview - noticeable difference.
Image Not Found

You can get good results if you use
1. Any scanner that has been color and definition calibrated - I use a $60 Cannon LIDE210
2. Proper dedicated scanner software not provided with the scanner
3. Proper after scanning image manipulation software
TIME & PATIENCE to learn some new skills
Dedicated scanners are a better choice than "all-in-ones". As for the type, you can pay $50-$1500+ but brand, price & quality wont matter on its own without the right tools.

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My favorite Osterreich stamp on Granite paper with superb detail

1871 Beer Stamp
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Even a 150 year old Oldenburg Mi.2 Type I can come to life
Image Not Found

If for some reason I wanted a really High definition picture that would outdo any scan then I would do a Macro Raw image photograph but that puts it into a whole different league of requirements.


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TuskenRaider

24 Jul 2016
04:40:29pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi JF0505;

That is a nice avatar you have, and those scans are fantastic. I wish everyone on here was that good at scanning.

I think that changing terminology of DPI to PPI would only confuse a lot of new-bees. You and I know the difference but many others would just get confused. To all non-computer geeks, PPI is pixels-per-inch, and DPI is dots-per-inch.

Most folks are used to dpi, but in isn't technically a dot. It is a square dot or pixel (picture element), but most members could care less and probably find my reply just another boring rant. Rolling On The Floor Laughing

I see from your profile that your favorite collection, is 500 books & catalogs. I'm just curious, are those all stamp related? I have a small library of about 30+ stamp related books. My favorite is one that I xeroxed (illegally) of classic French cancellations, mostly on Napoleans and Ceres.

I also used to have an antique collection of very old math and engineering books (another favorite). I also have 50+ paperback StarWars sci-fy novels, and a complete collectors edition set of 7 Alexander Kent sea story novels of wooden sailing ships.

My appologies to everyone for taking my reply off the subject.

If anyone is interested in more detailed help, I'm currently working on tutoring a member on here on how to upload images. So if anyone else wants similar help just message me thru the PM messaging. Some folks are reluctant or embarrased to ask questions or for help, on a public forum, and would rather work thru private channels.

I have a friend on here who was about to quit SOR because of poor sales. I tutored this member (using PM and private e-mails), on the use of the bulk uploader for auctions and that member is now doing very well and is selling many more lots. That seller's stamp material was even better quality than my own offerings.

Keep up the great scans, and maybe you can publish an article about some special area of collecting.

I just gotta switch to decaf....
TuskenRaider

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d1stamper

24 Jul 2016
07:15:44pm

Auctions

re: Scanning Stamps?

"using a more capable software than Irfanview"



What software do you use?

Very nice scans.

Doug

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TuskenRaider

24 Aug 2016
05:10:53pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

Hi Everyone;

JF0505 said:

"Poor quality scans are basically due to 3 things.
1.The scanner is not properly calibrated
2.The software that came with the scanner is not capable of correctly manipulating the scanning.
3.The post scanning software is not capable of making proper corrections."




I'm not sure what is meant by "not properly calibrated". My scanner has no means to do a calibration, nor do the directions mention this. My scanner is a UMAX, and that is all they make, is scanners. So one would have to believe that they know more about scanners than most manufacturers that make many other things like printers.

reasons # 2 & 3 are most commonly found in all-in-one machines. These are actually printers that are pretending to be scanners. They are automated and tend to take settings, that the user can manipulate for better creativity, away and try to replace these settings with automation. These devices are very good for posing as copiers and fax machines, but rather poor at anything creative.

The four images you show with the bottom one lacking the moire interference patterns shown on the first three, is not a function of calibration. UMAX pre-scanning software has a setting called de-screening, that corrects for this. Moire is an interference pattern caused by the sampling rate of the scanner that differs from the screen angle and number of dots/inch of the printed image.

If you look at the PLATES (a separate plate is needed for each color of dots), of photogravure stamps you will see lots of dots. very small dots produce a very light shade of color, while larger dots medium shades of that color, and finally as the dots get bigger and touch, that printed area of solid color with white holes in the printed area for dark shades of this same color. And the last step in that process is when the dots get so big that the color is solid with no holes at all.

De-screening is a software calculation of removing the moire pattern from the final image. That is probably what your image editing software does, JF0505. To use it on my scanner you need to measure the number of dots per inch, and select that setting in the software. Usually I can guess the correct setting and get it right most of the time.

The software you are using to get that better image, is just measuring this screen per inch factor and automatically correcting for it. So not really a calibration but more of a correction factor.

Just thinkin' too much again....
TuskenRaider


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youpiao

24 Aug 2016
07:44:06pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

I would say at least 90% of the poor quality scans I have seen are due to only one problem: the operator has not learned basic image adjustment functions, either on the scanner, in their image editing software, or, likely, both. My current scanner is a $59 Canon Pixma MG5220, and it has everything one needs to create professional looking stamp scans. The main thing is to NOT use the one-button scan feature. You need to select the box that says, "Use the scanner driver." Then you are presented with a host of features you can use to ensure quality scans.

Probably the number one thing someone can do to improve their scans is to learn to use the histogram and the levels function. A histogram is a graph that plots the range of tones in your image.

Here are some screen shots to illustrate:

1. This is the preview scan. To the right of the images is the histogram. The blackest black would be at the left edge of the box, where the black triangle is pointing. As you can see, the left edge of the histogram is far from the left edge of the box, and that is evidenced by the black background of the scan not being a very deep black.
Image Not Found


2. The three triangles along the bottom edge of the box control the levels of the dark, mid and light tones. To give us the deep black we want, we will grab the black triangle and slide it to the left edge of the histogram, like so:
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Now we have a nice deep black background. I moved the white adjust a bit to the left, but did not go all the way to the edge, as I did with the dark level adjust, because that tends to make the colors "pop" too brightly, almost fluorescent. Also that will wash out subtle details. (I did not touch the mid-tones level control, but it will move a little, when adjusting the other two.)

3. The next thing you can do with the scanner is crop each stamp or set of stamps, and the scanner will make multiple scan passes, and provide you with individual images.
Image Not Found

Here I have placed crop borders whee I want to have separate images. With this scanner I can designate up to 12 cropping areas at a time.

Now, with the your crop areas set, you can hit scan, save your images to your stamp scans folder, and you're all set. But...

You'll notice in the 1st screen shot, there is a box highlighted in blue, saying Descreen: ON

As mentioned earlier, descreening will eliminate the moire pattern from scanning halftone images, but the descreen function does this by blurring the image slightly. We could use the sharpen function in the scanner, but when I do that, the scanner flashes a warning that if you use the unsharp mask function, descreen may not work. So sharpening will have to be done post-scan.

4. Now, I will show you images of one of the above stamps, to illustrate the points I have made.

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This is what the scan looks like if you just press scan and let the cards (or the tones) fall where they may. It's a washed out dingy mess.

This second image shows the result of sliding the black triangle to the left edge of the histogram and the white triangle a bit towards the right edge.

Image Not Found

As noted before, the image is slightly blurred from the descreening process, so, in my image editing program, I apply the unsharp mask. The unsharp mask is a more sophisticated image sharpening tool than the stock "sharpen" function. It has various parameters to set, in order to get optimum results. Setting the parameters too high can result in a stamp that looks like it has just been freshly printed from a newly etched plate, but does not accurately represent how your stamp looks.

Here is my finished image with a moderate amount of unsharp mask applied.
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And here is the scan with too much sharpening (or unnsharp mask) applied.
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While that may look impressive to the uninitiated, it is not a true representation of the stamp.

So there you have it. Two easy steps to better scans: 1. Adjust the histogram in the scanner, and 2. Use your image editing program to apply the unsharp mask for sharpening.

Ted

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angore

Collector, Moderator
25 Aug 2016
07:07:55am

re: Scanning Stamps?

You should not have to use the descreen function unless you expect moire. This is most often seen when scanning printed pics from books or newspaper. Otherwise, it is should not be used.

Al

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JW1950

26 Aug 2016
05:38:36pm

re: Scanning Stamps?

"This is what the scan looks like if you just press scan and let the cards (or the tones) fall where they may. It's a washed out dingy mess."



Even a dingy mess has hope

Image Not Found Image Not Found

Dingy mess taken directly off the webpage and fixed with a quick minor adjustment.

You just need 2 things for decent scans

1. ANY scanner (mine costs $69) that is color calibrated
2. Good scanning software NOT what is supplied with the scanner

Without any adjustments or post scanning manipulation, you can get quality scans like below.

Image Not Found

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