Promotional "Material" Art Book

[Mantis]

Spoiler: show

Finally... it arrived. I'm amazed at how well preserved it is. It looks as good as new. I've been spending a while glaring at the pages. There's some really cool stuff in here. There are profile shots of many of the characters, even the less important ones. I think there are also a few pages of descriptions about the Toward Stars Universe. Also, some of the merchandise we didn't know about is rather interesting. For instance, a CD which I haven't heard about anywhere. There's an inflatable Outlaw Star logo and caster gun. And a caster gun keyring. (Do want!)

A couple of things you might not know are shown in this art book too. First of all, in the same fashion as Gene Starwind's original design, the Outlaw Star was originally going to be blue. There wasn't a trace of red on the ship. Also, there are some sketches of Jim Hawking's original design. He looks quite different. Unfortunately for you guys, I'm not sure if I'm going to scan this. I didn't expect it to be in such good condition, and I'm afraid that scanning it properly might potentially ruin it. This wasn't a cheap purchase.

[SethClanclan]

(19-05-2012 02:51 PM)Mantis Wrote:  Unfortunately for you guys, I'm not sure if I'm going to scan this. I didn't expect it to be in such good condition, and I'm afraid that scanning it properly might potentially ruin it. This wasn't a cheap purchase.

._. ... You're holding one of the few Outlaw Star promotional art books in existence. Not only that, try to consider how you might feel if you lost it in a fire or someone stole it. If you bit the bullet and carefully scanned the pages now, not only would you preserve the information indefinitely in cyber space, but you would also be scanning it at its highest quality; objects can only degrade with time.

Also, as long as the scan gets all the content to a readable level (small print too), I don't think anyone would care if it wasn't debound or laid down flat all the way. It's not about doing what all the "cool kids" do with their fan-driven scanning; it's about the purpose behind the scanning itself, as well as limitations.

That's half the reason why I scanned the art book: to be safe. Once the book is ruined by some unexplained circumstances, there's nothing you can do about it, and the chance is gone. I was able to scan the art book without those bend wrinkles appearing near the binding on the cover.

Reasoning aside, I'd be more than willing to cough up money (when I actually have some) to take the sting out of how you feel over scanning it. Seriously.

Oh, also a tip: I hope you didn't throw away the mailing envelope it came in. If you did, look for one of those orangish-yellow envelopes with the metal closer wing because no matter how carefully you store your book, random things will bump into it, scrape it up, and generally try and wear it to pieces over time. Keeping my art book in that envelope has saved it from a lot of damage so far.

But I'm sure you already thought of doing that, right?

[Mantis]

Well, this art book hasn't degraded at all since 1997 or so. Plus, I'm going to be debinding and scanning heaps of other Outlaw Star media, so I have a lot of time to think about this. I don't care about what the "cool kids" do, but I do want to scan things in the best possible quality if the pros outweigh the cons. You know, with this being Outlaw Star UK, the Galactic Leyline of Outlaw Star and all.

I have two art books, by the way. So one of them will be debound and scanned in the best quality attainable. I got the second art book for a relatively cheap price. But it's not just the high price tag of this promotional book that's the problem. It's the availability. Presently, the most I would consider is photographs of it. If I get donations and the like in future, and a few chipped in so I could get a second promotional art book, yes, I'd of course scan it. You summed up the situation with a single sentence.

Quote:Once the book is ruined by some unexplained circumstances, there's nothing you can do about it

Actually, it was cardboard in my envelope. However, inside the cardboard, it was placed inside a plastic envelope which is very useful.

[Lord-Idolo]

Nerdgasm indeed, friend. I have temporary solution for scanning the material book is to take hi-res photos and some minor photo editing instead. Or if you can find a place that sell these is a hand scanner wand, but I don't know how good the resolution is for picture though, works pretty good for documents. Seth I might actually did go above and beyond what you do with your art books. I have one of those air seal food packer machine and I store them in my water/fire proof safe with my external HDs.

[Mantis]

A safe? I should get one and paint it red and blue, with a few dashes of gold. Fortunately, I have some fairly decent compact cameras, but I'm lacking a DSLR, which is far more expensive than I can afford for a long time. I haven't heard of "hand scanner wands" before, but I will look into this.

[Lord-Idolo]

The safe is more for my four external HDs I have. Its one those Sentry safes that you can buy at Wal-Mart $45 to $60. The wand scanner was something my Mom bought on QVC I think, but its scan width is only 8 1/2 inches. Great for printed documents, not so great for some art books. Since some art books are like 9x12 in. and larger. I just want to see if there are new and unseen Aisha pictures in that book.

[Mantis]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skypix-Cordless-...roduct_top

I'm looking at this, but 900x900 as a maximum resolution? Surely that isn't right.

[Lord-Idolo]

900x900 dpi are different than 900x900 pixels. My scans on AP are usually 600 to 1200 dpi. The hand scanners scan to actual size of what you scan. The one my Mom has is a Pandigital PANSCN08 (http://www.amazon.com/Pandigital-PANSCN0...7&sr=8-3). The specs on are not much different than the one you're looking at, but these are hand scanners not flatbed scanners. But the most important question are there new and unseen picture of Aisha and if there are, are you willing to share them with us real soon?

[Mantis]

Oh, my mistake, I skimmed it without using my brain. I thought something seemed off, and I should have realised my error. Yes, I know what DPI is. As for Aisha, I'll need to look through the standard art book and compare. I will say probably, yes, there is new art. And also art of Aisha's beast form and Iraga's beast form. But since I've packaged up the promotional book for safekeeping and it's really late right now, I'll do that tomorrow and see if I can get some decent enough photos.

[Lord-Idolo]

I say so for you, but not for me. I just ate dinner an hour and half ago. Thank you from all us Aisha fans out here. Don't feel bad I did to at first and almost making the comment that 900x900 is great if I we were still using windows 98.