Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
It has been brought to my attention that not everyone has the graphics capability of my computer. So I'd like to get some votes. Which would you prefer - a smaller scan that is faster loading but has less detail on the individual scans OR would you prefer them as is larger, more detail, but slower to load?
This would be very helpful for me to understand as I'm learning the ropes to be the approval moderator. If some of the scans are too large for some to view, I'd like to know where to draw the line and contact the seller and ask them to downsize their scans.
Also - how do you feel about very small scans?
Thanks in advance!
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I suspect there will be all kinds of answers to this. Since the beginning of time I scanned at 150dpi for everything. Then at least 6 months ago there was a discussion/complaint perhaps that people did not scan with enough detail. I upped it to 300dpi. I also reduce the image size to 45%. I have heard no complaints but I honestly do not know what my stamps look like on a smaller screen tablet, netbook, phone, etc. I use a 25" monitor and everything looks good on that. I don't know if there is a one size fits all scan resolution. I also have G10 as a speed for my internet so I never have upload/download issues
Greg
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Greg - do me a favor and look at one of my books and let me know if you have any problems viewing them? Thanks!
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No problem at all - but I wouldn't expect to. I think the issue may be in what kind of device the site is being viewed in. I remember years ago designing a website for my old church and I had to check it out on various size screens and browsers even to make sure it looked OK. What looked good to me was not necessarily looking good to someone else especially since I was using Opera and the world was still using IE for the most part.
Greg
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Your scans look great on my 15 inch laptop screen. The next book I do I am going to drop from 300 to 150 dpi.
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Thank you, both of you for the help!
Perhaps it might help some folks to go to the homepage - near the bottom of the menu on the left are settings for screen width. If you select narrow width, the sides of some approval pages might be chopped off. I just tried it and the right side of my scans was cutoff using the narrowest setting, but on wide it was hunky dorey. So - I'd highly recommend wide setting when looking at approvals.
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You're absolutely right - trying to come up with one standard would be almost impossible to do due to the large number of variables as you mentioned. Please rest assured - that will NOT be happening.
However, I would like the find a minimum and maximum size that is tolerable to most. If a large number of people are having problems viewing the approvals, then I believe it is my job as approval moderator to attempt to help the seller find a slightly better scan size and to help the viewer learn some tricks to enable them to see them better, but I wouldn't deactivate a book unless the scans were really impossible to see. But, most sellers want to be informed if buyers can't see their scans - they can't buy them if they can't see them, right? Offering a friendly suggestion is one thing - demanding adherence to a standard is another kettle of fish.
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"Quite rightly, you are able to seek views for your own personal use as to whether your images are viewable, please do not "recommend" your limits to other members."
This discussion is not for my personal use, it is to garner information for me to use as the new approval moderator. It is my job to make recommendations to new sellers. I want those recommendations to reflect what the members want, thus this thread. I understand your concerns about imposing limitations - message received! That is not what I am trying to accomplish here. Please, let's pause the discussion on settings rules regarding limits. Thank you!
This thread will serve as a reference for new sellers, so please stay on topic. Back to the original question - I'm asking for feedback from the users regarding which sizes they find easiest and most pleasant to view and which are the most problematic. I'd also like to learn about the various problems users have viewing the approvals. The intent is to learn how to help buyers view the books and also to be able to provide tips for sellers on the more popular scanning sizes.
For example, a new seller asks me what resolution he should use. I would like to be able to say "Well according to a poll in the discussion board, the most popular sizes among the buyers are blah blah blah." I will then suggest they read this discussion. I know I will be asked those types of questions and I need to be prepared to answer them as moderator.
A buyer says he is having problems with a seller's scans. I would like to be able to have a list of suggestions for them such as change their screen size - zoom out, zoom in; go to the home page and change setting to 'wide', and other tips.
So folks, let's hear what you like best and what you do to make scans easier to see. Let's hear your handy suggestions and opinions.
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It's not so much what resolution to use as it is what size the final image is - which if you want to avoid too big or too small will be around 1100 pixels wide.
If I scan a standard stock sheet of stamps at 150dpi the width is a bit over 1100 and I have to crop or slightly reduce it down to 1100.
If I scan the same stock sheet at 300dpi the width is over 2200 and I have to either crop it to 2200 and reduce it 50 per cent or reduce it by the 45 per cent that Greg does.
Scanning at 300 dpi gives a much higher quality image but when it is reduced the quality is reduced as well so the higher quality scan is apparently wasted effort. I say apparently because I always thought the quality would stay higher, but it doesn't, at least on my scanner/pc set up.
Thanks for bringing it up as I learned something that will make life easier.
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I scan at 300dpi and then reduce to 35% (thinking about raising this to 45%). I also try to crop out any dead space to make it more compact. I'm still tinkering to find the best presentation. Theresa and Greg - your pages look fine on my desktop.
-Les
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Hi Les
"I scan at 300dpi and then reduce to 35% (thinking about raising this to 45%). I also try to crop out any dead space to make it more compact. I'm still tinkering to find the best presentation. Theresa and Greg - your pages look fine on my desktop."
Your scans are good on both my 20 inch Desktop and my 14 inch laptop.. Maybe could go a bit bigger if you want..
Theresa's @ 1240 wide and 705 KB file size are a bit big for me. Greg's @ 850 wide is good. (one of his smaller pages)
Your page I looked at seems to be 824 px wide Resolution is good, and file size is 455 KB - The page loads quickly for me. ( I have relatively slow wifi internet)
Could someone please check my pages ? I'm thinking they may be a bit narrow.?
Cheers
Steve.
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Hi Steve,
I copied one of your pages and it was 800 wide - I resized it at 135 percent which made it 1080 wide - still should fit on the page fine and the stamps are a bit bigger (they were fine before as well). I didn't notice any degradation in quality either but my eyes aren't 100 per cent.
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Thanks Carol
I will try wider pages for my next Book.
Maybe I'll try 900 px wide.. (sneak up on that 1000 px width Slowly :-) )
Cheers
Steve
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Steve your images show up with a width of 9 1/2", with a size of 600x897, at least for the one image I checked. Don't know if you are intentionally sizing to a 600 size. I do that for ebay, resizing for a specific width. For SOR I just let the scanner and the software do its thing, uploading after resizing to 45%. Sometimes I have to reduce it a little more as it is too big for the max picture size upload. For individual items I resize anything over 300kb
Greg
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I appreciate when the head of a project suggests that I should be doing something, I truly believe that is their job.
I also do not think the Approval Moderator has over stepped in any way, shape or form to ask the members their opinion of the scan. There is no rule as to the size or format. I'm seeing all sorts of DPI's being used. Normally for my store I scan at 600. Try it here and the image is way too big. I cut it down to 100 and it is just fine. I trim the image to get rid of the margins. If a customer wants to see a better scan of the stamp, whether front or back, they can message me and I'm more than happy to send it along. I'm sure other sellers will do the same thing, at least I hope they would.
Anyway, feedback is just that, feedback. Getting a feel for how others are doing a project. It will not be written in stone one must do it this way or that way. And who knows, with all the suggestions, maybe someone has said, oh I didn't think of that, I'm going to start doing it that way.
Keeping life happy. That's my very humble opinion.
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I'm going to play around with getting the scans under 1000 and see how it goes. I've never resized - just made one scan at 150 with the normal pre-scan and crop.
What graphics programs are you all using? I currently have Picasa, but it seems to have some flaws - is there a better program?
Thanks for all the scanning tips!
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Scanning - Media Impression 2, resize - Jasc Paintshop Pro. I'm old school. Jasc does everything I need. Its a 2001 program I think
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When I scan it is at 300 dpi, then using Irfanview I hit Ctrl r enter 900 (pixels) then Ctrl s to save, hit end and add an a or b to the file name and it is saved in the original folder as a resized image, quick and easy.
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I just looked at Irfanview. Does it convert images, particularly does it convert .img images which is the format Bidstart saves images in, which makes them unreadable after downloading them. Thanks
Greg
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Greg,
Just did a "Save image as...." direct from Bidstart and it goes to my desktop in Microsoft Office Picture Manager" as a .jpeg.
I've been transferring pix back and forth to Ebay for years using this method. But you have to use the "Save image as ..." function from the right click dropdown and save to desktop to make the conversion automatic.
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Carol it doesn't do that for me. When I do save image as the only choice I get is to save it as an .img file. The only other choice in the drop down is all file types but then you have to go through a series of steps to open it with a program etc. No other site does this. Auctiva is nice and simple as is ebay. I can go into Hipstamp and do it but because they have the magnifying thing going on you have to look at page source to do it. A pain no matter what. Of course I am using XPSP3 and things may have changed with WIN7
Greg
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I'm using Win7. I don't remember if it acted the same in XP or not. I still am using the old Office 2003 suite however.
I tried loading the Bidstart pix onto hipstamp but was not happy with the quality so decided to enter everything from scratch and am scanning at 400dpi before using the stamp bursting program.
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I don't do much with the converting of old BS listings to Ebay or anyplace else. I would like to easily download my postcard images as I am going to be moving them off BS and into other sites. Otherwise I have to reshoot them all. Not a huge deal, and definitely quicker than when I scanned them to get them there to begin with. I've always felt that BS intentionally saved images with an .img extension knowing that they would be tough to work with in that format.
I could try my wifes pc which is a win7 machine and see if it is any different.
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"I could try my wifes pc which is a win7 machine and see if it is any different."
Might as well give it a try - it is quick and saves a lot of time. I'd use it on hipstamp but the magnifier is not forgiving,
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Greg, here is a link to the file formats supported by Irfanview.
http://www.irfanview.com/
There are also a huge number of add-ons that can be downloaded to accommodate various file attributes. If you explore the Plugins page or even pose the question I'm sure that you will get the answer you want.
Vic
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I use the free program Photoscape to edit images. It has many features and has been a reliable tool.
-Les
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I'm thinking of switching to another scanning programs and I've heard several mentions of Irfanivew - would you recommend it?
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Theresa, I personally use it all the time, it is my default viewer. It has the ability to create negative images or able to play with contrast/brightness and gamma correction, various colour options and you can crop within or outside selected areas. You can enlarge, reduce or sharpen images at the touch of a key.
You can create panorama images vertically or horizontally or thumbnails should you wish.
It is able to handle video, audio and dozens of file types. Resizing is simple a great Free program with absolutely no nagware or embedded malware.
Download is quick and easy, try it, if not to your liking just uninstall the program, I have used it for probably 10 years or so with no problems whatsoever.
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I also use Irfanview, and I love it.
I usually scan at higher resolution, than downsize by 40 to 45 %.
I also almost always crop the image to get rid of the blank edges, which makes the stamps bigger when you view them, as the program will automatically rescale.
Given that my scanner is pretty cheap (with optics that could be better) I always sharpen the image.
Then I save as a jpeg file directly to the folder I made for each and every book.
I highly recommend Irfanview..and the price is right! 
. After you get the hang of it, this whole process takes less than one minute per scan. The big time consuming element in Approvals, as far as I am concerned, is selecting, ordering and assembling the material on each page of the book you are putting together. I have experimented a lot and I have it down pat, and I wish my stamps were better organized..and did not require occasionally being soaked, because that is where my time is wasted. The rest is not time consuming.
rrr...
PS: On your last book, Bermuda..etc, which I just reviewed, your scans are PERFECT for my screen and computer. Right size, right sharpness, nice contrast, clear visible labels... a good example of what a good Approval Book (format wise) looks like
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I never do anything special for my scans - I just use the scan program that came with my HP printer and reduce the size using Paint. No one has ever mentioned they have issues with the scans I have in the approval books and I guess since I sold so much here from them - my scans are acceptable ! Steve
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Hi Everyone;
Just thinkin' too much again.... 
@ Theresa;
A while back I bought a few of your approvals, and on a few pages there were images that
I felt were too dark. I wasn't sure what I was looking at so I passed over them without buying.
@ Everyone;
Here is a solution. Stamporama software, seems to darken images slightly. I knew I needed to
lighten them, but not how much. So I opened two browser windows, and re-sized them to pro-
duce a split screen. On the left I displayed my original scan, and the right was my stamporama
approval page.
Next I renamed and saved the scan file and lightened it. I then replaced the approval page
with the lightened image. I took several attempts to get the approval page to look exactly like
the scan. I kept a record of my adjustments and used that recipe for all scans.
@ Webpaper;
I know what you mean by scanning at hi-res and resizing, and can't see any improvement in
image quality. This is how I improved mine, and feel free to try this yourself.
I always scan at 600 dpi. I then resize to 940 pixels. this will eliminate scrolling side-to-side on
a monitor set to 768x1024 resolution. Most computers have a means to set screen resolution
in the "Control Panel".
Just after re-sizing the image down to 940, I perform a "sharpen lightly" in my image editor
(Photostudio by Arcsoft). Other programs will call this adjustment by a different name, but most
all of them have sharpen available.
To get the best result from sharpen, use it after all other editing is finished. This may include;
Brighten; Contrast; Saturation (intensifies colors); Hue (shifts towards red or green for color
correction); re-sizing; and cropping. When all these tweaks are complete, then apply sharpen.
@ Theresa;
Yes some of your images need to be scrolled side-to-side. Also I noticed that your pages have too
much open space. I would recommend placing stamps 1/8" apart, and adding numbers in your
image editor just below the lower left corners. Select text color as white to stand out against
black backing.
This method of adding numbers is not more work than your slips of paper. It may seem like it is
slower when you first try it out but after you have been doing it a while, it goes very fast.
I get 56 stamps on a 8-pocket Vario page using Machin definitives. Your approval book of
Bermuda on page one has only 21 stamps I can nearly double what you have on that page. I
will e-mail you a sample of your page privately so you can see the difference.
By doubling the number of stamps on your pages, you would actually save a bunch of time by
doing less pages, and your pages would not need to be scrolled. In addition lots of storage
space on stamorama servers would be saved.
If anyone wishes to try any of these suggestions and have limited computer skills, don't be em-
barrassed, just private message me for more tips or ideas. If you have any other queries about
tweaks that I have not mentioned you can PM me for those also.
Your images look very nice, and these are only suggestions, to help save you some work.
Just gettin' a headache from thinkin'.... 
TuskenRaider
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Ian 6631 page 2 looks the best on my monitor. I did not check page size for every page but that one the image I think was 1067 x something.
Greg
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Ken - could you let me know which of my pages appear 'dark'? Thanks! And - yes - a few of the pages at the back have to be scrolled. Ugh! I'll correct that problem in the next book.
Also - re numbering - I number the pages once then leave them. I leave that much space between stamps so that I don't have to keep moving all those slips of paper. Once the pages are numbered I never have to do them again. Also - crowding them too close together leads to problems with the paper shifting and obscuring the perfs. I tried digital numbering but found it sheer drudgery but thanks for the tip. I can make the scans a bit smaller and crop more off the sides.
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Ian: Same here 6631 page 2. Pictures on some of the other books are way too small for telling what it is, for my taste, and my failing eyesight!
Theresa: I like the extra space around the stamps. I think cramming 50 stamps on one page is very unsettling, overwhelming and artistically unpleasing! Blank space on the edges of the page can easily be cropped out, if needed, but genrally the definition of the stamps on your pages is more than adequate. Also, blank spaces can be used to advantage to delianate various sets, years, or natural breaks in one's book. Not scanning an extra page should not be a good reason to justify cramming stamps on a page to the point of congestion. Esthetics is very important in stamp collecting.
rrr...
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"Please look at my approval books. Nos 6630, 6631, 6632 and tell me which one you like best please."
Looked at page 1 of those Books on my laptop - #6631 is the best at 761 wide x 130 res. Could be bigger.
I resized the page to 900 Wide x 100 Res. - Still fits the laptop easily loads quickly and Resolution is still good.
Steve.
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""Please look at my approval books. Nos 6630, 6631, 6632 and tell me which one you like best please.""
After seeing Greg's post (above) I went back and looked at #6631 Page 2 - 1065 px wide x 150 Res - It is nice and clear but I had to scroll from side to side to see it all.
Just a bit wide for the allotted space on my Laptop.
Cheers
Steve
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Here is what I would do - but it does take a bit of involvement from Tim to make it work:
1. do not impose any rules on image sizes or resolution unless it is impractically big, i.e. images of 5 MB or 5000 pixels wide.
2. implement one of the many php image resizing scripts (some custom made, others readily available in the standard php install) to automatically fetch the screen width and adapt the image width accordingly, if the image is wider than the screen.
JMHO...
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I haven't done anything here at SoR with the auctions or approvals. So, I can't speak to scanning and preparation of images for those specifically. However, I've been scanning using semi-professional scanners and Photoshop since the 1990s. I've produced fairly large prints using images I enlarged from scans, and will make two quick points that may help.
Don't bother scanning at a larger size and then reducing the image after scanning if you don't ever expect to use the larger size. It's a waste of time and computer storage resources. In other words, if your only interest in scanning a stamp is for the auction or approval book, scan at the final size and resolution you intend to use. If you intend to use your scans for another purpose later on that involves enlarging the image, then by all means scan at the larger size and/or resolution. The rule of thumb is: scan at the largest size you think you may ever need and nothing more.
Although I have used Photoshop for my work since the 1990s, I also have Irfanview and use it for a few tasks where it works better than both Photoshop and the Windows 7 tools. I've never used it for scanning, but it has so many useful tools that I suspect everyone could find it useful in some aspect of their work. If nothing else, it's a great tool for viewing JPG images, or multiple images if you want to compare one with another. Simply go to your image folder, right-click on the JPG you want to open and then click "H" and then "I". At least that's what works with my setup. If you use Irfanview, don't forget to make a donation via PayPal! It may be free, but making a donation helps keep it alive and improving.
Brechinite, I have looked at very few books since I've been a member here, but I agree with rrr that page 2 in 6631 is the best presentation of the examples you presented. I'm no longer buying stamps, but if I were I wouldn't purchase based on the smaller images on the other pages and books. Fifteen years ago when I started selling on eBay, smaller sizes (mine included) were common. Hard drive space on our PCs was more expensive. Internet speeds were much slower. And eBay server space was expensive. (Didn't eBay even have a file size limit back then?) All of those factors no longer matter very much when it comes to presenting sale items online. In fact, I believe eBay now requires images to be at least 500 pixels in the longest dimension! The drawback to using larger images, of course, is going to be the presentation of multiple larger images on a book's page.
I hope this helps!
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Hi Everyone;
@ everyone;
To clear up everyone's confusion on what whitebuffalo just said, screen size doesn't matter.
Screen resolution does matter a lot!
I just opened my "Control Panel" to view these options:
A) Screen Area (resolution):
640x480
800x600
1024x768
1162x864
1280x1024
B) Colors:
256 or 8 bit
65,536 or 16 bit
1,000,000,000 + or 32 bit
The above terms 8 bit; 16 bit; 32 bit; describes how many memory bits will be assigned
to each pixel (how many different colors displayed). The resolution settings 640x480 means
640 pixles (picture elements) wide by 480 pixels high.
This is how to find these settings:
Menu > Settings > Control Panel > Display > "Settings" tab
These are the settings available on my 17" monitor, running under WIN98 OS. However the
settings are also depend on how much video ram I have installed. That factor is usually hard-
ware upgradeable tho. Also your computer, may indeed have very different options available,
depending on physical screen size and memory available!
If I attempt to use the 1280x1024, the software will default to 256 colors. Also my screen will
appear as tho I'm looking backwards thru binoculars. If you have never viewed a graphic at
256 colors, try it some time. The image will appear very much like paint-by-numbers!
My machine's hardware doesn't have enough ram to support 1280x1024 at 16 bit color. So it
defaults to displaying less color.
If I attempt to set my color depth at 32 bits, the software will default to 800x600 pixels setting.
These settings are interactive and depend on how much video ram is installed on my machine.
Some computers use regular system ram for video. The better quality video circuit cards use
video ram that is physically installed on the video card.
So if your approval page is bigger than 940 pixels, it will be bigger than a 768x1024 resolution
monitor setting. I can bump up the resolution to fix this, but then I'll need to see my eye doctor,
due to headaches caused by eyestrain. 
Also, everyone should try this; set your monitor to it's highest pixel resolution, and ignore color
depth. Look at some approval books, see how tiny the images are? Eeeeeuuuuwwww!!!
All of these factors are trade-offs, and there is no one right answer. Whatever works for you as
a seller, is what you should go with.
As a buyer on here, if I have to wait for a page to load, I would rather see 50+ stamps than only
25. I'm not buying aesthetics, but I am buying stamps, the more the better! Just so you all know,
even tho I like more stamps on a page, than 20+, all the stamps I purchased were from Theresa's
approval books, and a couple of her auctions. She has really nice material, that is affordable.
Sorry Theresa, if that works for you with lots of space, thats fine. I like them closer, but as you
all know I put those silly color borders around all my auction and apporval images. So I guess
I'm an aesthetics junkie too.
@ Therese;
You did not have pages that were too dark, but individual stamps on 2 or 3 pages were too
dark to see.
Sorry, everyone for gettin' too Geeky.... 
TuskenRaider
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Ken you're a technowizard to steal a term from Babylon 5! Excellent info - greatly appreciated.
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Hi Everyone;
In my not-the-least-bit-humble opinion I think the Theresa asking buyers and sellers for feedback, demonstrates that the VC made a good decision selecting her for this important post.
So not humble....
TuskenRaider
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"I think the Theresa asking buyers and sellers for feedback, demonstrates that the VC made a good decision selecting her for this important post."
I could not agree more. As I am about to fade in the background I second Tusken's comments..Theresa is perfect for the job and has demonstrated to me all the knowledge and judgement qualities that will make a great Moderator. The transition could not have been smoother! "Y'all" are in good hands!
rrr... (almost retired-Approval Moderator)
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Tuskenraider says:-
"All of these factors are trade-offs, and there is no one right answer. Whatever works for you as a seller, is what you should go with."
Common sense
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Awww shucks, Thank you Ralph & Ken! 
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I'd like to get your opinion on the size of scans in the approval books. I started out scanning full pages at 100 res, but increased to 150 to get a better view of each individual stamp. That does fill the entire screen at 150 res, but I've never had a problem with lagtime loading the pages.
It has been brought to my attention that not everyone has the graphics capability of my computer. So I'd like to get some votes. Which would you prefer - a smaller scan that is faster loading but has less detail on the individual scans OR would you prefer them as is larger, more detail, but slower to load?
This would be very helpful for me to understand as I'm learning the ropes to be the approval moderator. If some of the scans are too large for some to view, I'd like to know where to draw the line and contact the seller and ask them to downsize their scans.
Also - how do you feel about very small scans?
Thanks in advance!
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I suspect there will be all kinds of answers to this. Since the beginning of time I scanned at 150dpi for everything. Then at least 6 months ago there was a discussion/complaint perhaps that people did not scan with enough detail. I upped it to 300dpi. I also reduce the image size to 45%. I have heard no complaints but I honestly do not know what my stamps look like on a smaller screen tablet, netbook, phone, etc. I use a 25" monitor and everything looks good on that. I don't know if there is a one size fits all scan resolution. I also have G10 as a speed for my internet so I never have upload/download issues
Greg
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Greg - do me a favor and look at one of my books and let me know if you have any problems viewing them? Thanks!
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
No problem at all - but I wouldn't expect to. I think the issue may be in what kind of device the site is being viewed in. I remember years ago designing a website for my old church and I had to check it out on various size screens and browsers even to make sure it looked OK. What looked good to me was not necessarily looking good to someone else especially since I was using Opera and the world was still using IE for the most part.
Greg
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03:15:56pm
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Your scans look great on my 15 inch laptop screen. The next book I do I am going to drop from 300 to 150 dpi.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Thank you, both of you for the help!
Perhaps it might help some folks to go to the homepage - near the bottom of the menu on the left are settings for screen width. If you select narrow width, the sides of some approval pages might be chopped off. I just tried it and the right side of my scans was cutoff using the narrowest setting, but on wide it was hunky dorey. So - I'd highly recommend wide setting when looking at approvals.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
You're absolutely right - trying to come up with one standard would be almost impossible to do due to the large number of variables as you mentioned. Please rest assured - that will NOT be happening.
However, I would like the find a minimum and maximum size that is tolerable to most. If a large number of people are having problems viewing the approvals, then I believe it is my job as approval moderator to attempt to help the seller find a slightly better scan size and to help the viewer learn some tricks to enable them to see them better, but I wouldn't deactivate a book unless the scans were really impossible to see. But, most sellers want to be informed if buyers can't see their scans - they can't buy them if they can't see them, right? Offering a friendly suggestion is one thing - demanding adherence to a standard is another kettle of fish.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
"Quite rightly, you are able to seek views for your own personal use as to whether your images are viewable, please do not "recommend" your limits to other members."
This discussion is not for my personal use, it is to garner information for me to use as the new approval moderator. It is my job to make recommendations to new sellers. I want those recommendations to reflect what the members want, thus this thread. I understand your concerns about imposing limitations - message received! That is not what I am trying to accomplish here. Please, let's pause the discussion on settings rules regarding limits. Thank you!
This thread will serve as a reference for new sellers, so please stay on topic. Back to the original question - I'm asking for feedback from the users regarding which sizes they find easiest and most pleasant to view and which are the most problematic. I'd also like to learn about the various problems users have viewing the approvals. The intent is to learn how to help buyers view the books and also to be able to provide tips for sellers on the more popular scanning sizes.
For example, a new seller asks me what resolution he should use. I would like to be able to say "Well according to a poll in the discussion board, the most popular sizes among the buyers are blah blah blah." I will then suggest they read this discussion. I know I will be asked those types of questions and I need to be prepared to answer them as moderator.
A buyer says he is having problems with a seller's scans. I would like to be able to have a list of suggestions for them such as change their screen size - zoom out, zoom in; go to the home page and change setting to 'wide', and other tips.
So folks, let's hear what you like best and what you do to make scans easier to see. Let's hear your handy suggestions and opinions.
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09:11:42pm
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
It's not so much what resolution to use as it is what size the final image is - which if you want to avoid too big or too small will be around 1100 pixels wide.
If I scan a standard stock sheet of stamps at 150dpi the width is a bit over 1100 and I have to crop or slightly reduce it down to 1100.
If I scan the same stock sheet at 300dpi the width is over 2200 and I have to either crop it to 2200 and reduce it 50 per cent or reduce it by the 45 per cent that Greg does.
Scanning at 300 dpi gives a much higher quality image but when it is reduced the quality is reduced as well so the higher quality scan is apparently wasted effort. I say apparently because I always thought the quality would stay higher, but it doesn't, at least on my scanner/pc set up.
Thanks for bringing it up as I learned something that will make life easier.
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09:49:22pm
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I scan at 300dpi and then reduce to 35% (thinking about raising this to 45%). I also try to crop out any dead space to make it more compact. I'm still tinkering to find the best presentation. Theresa and Greg - your pages look fine on my desktop.
-Les
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Hi Les
"I scan at 300dpi and then reduce to 35% (thinking about raising this to 45%). I also try to crop out any dead space to make it more compact. I'm still tinkering to find the best presentation. Theresa and Greg - your pages look fine on my desktop."
Your scans are good on both my 20 inch Desktop and my 14 inch laptop.. Maybe could go a bit bigger if you want..
Theresa's @ 1240 wide and 705 KB file size are a bit big for me. Greg's @ 850 wide is good. (one of his smaller pages)
Your page I looked at seems to be 824 px wide Resolution is good, and file size is 455 KB - The page loads quickly for me. ( I have relatively slow wifi internet)
Could someone please check my pages ? I'm thinking they may be a bit narrow.?
Cheers
Steve.
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12:15:01am
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Hi Steve,
I copied one of your pages and it was 800 wide - I resized it at 135 percent which made it 1080 wide - still should fit on the page fine and the stamps are a bit bigger (they were fine before as well). I didn't notice any degradation in quality either but my eyes aren't 100 per cent.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Thanks Carol
I will try wider pages for my next Book.
Maybe I'll try 900 px wide.. (sneak up on that 1000 px width Slowly :-) )
Cheers
Steve
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Steve your images show up with a width of 9 1/2", with a size of 600x897, at least for the one image I checked. Don't know if you are intentionally sizing to a 600 size. I do that for ebay, resizing for a specific width. For SOR I just let the scanner and the software do its thing, uploading after resizing to 45%. Sometimes I have to reduce it a little more as it is too big for the max picture size upload. For individual items I resize anything over 300kb
Greg
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APS #222602 and Internet Philatelic Dealers Association #439
17 May 2016
05:39:54am
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I appreciate when the head of a project suggests that I should be doing something, I truly believe that is their job.
I also do not think the Approval Moderator has over stepped in any way, shape or form to ask the members their opinion of the scan. There is no rule as to the size or format. I'm seeing all sorts of DPI's being used. Normally for my store I scan at 600. Try it here and the image is way too big. I cut it down to 100 and it is just fine. I trim the image to get rid of the margins. If a customer wants to see a better scan of the stamp, whether front or back, they can message me and I'm more than happy to send it along. I'm sure other sellers will do the same thing, at least I hope they would.
Anyway, feedback is just that, feedback. Getting a feel for how others are doing a project. It will not be written in stone one must do it this way or that way. And who knows, with all the suggestions, maybe someone has said, oh I didn't think of that, I'm going to start doing it that way.
Keeping life happy. That's my very humble opinion.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I'm going to play around with getting the scans under 1000 and see how it goes. I've never resized - just made one scan at 150 with the normal pre-scan and crop.
What graphics programs are you all using? I currently have Picasa, but it seems to have some flaws - is there a better program?
Thanks for all the scanning tips!
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Scanning - Media Impression 2, resize - Jasc Paintshop Pro. I'm old school. Jasc does everything I need. Its a 2001 program I think
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
When I scan it is at 300 dpi, then using Irfanview I hit Ctrl r enter 900 (pixels) then Ctrl s to save, hit end and add an a or b to the file name and it is saved in the original folder as a resized image, quick and easy.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I just looked at Irfanview. Does it convert images, particularly does it convert .img images which is the format Bidstart saves images in, which makes them unreadable after downloading them. Thanks
Greg
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07:58:55am
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Greg,
Just did a "Save image as...." direct from Bidstart and it goes to my desktop in Microsoft Office Picture Manager" as a .jpeg.
I've been transferring pix back and forth to Ebay for years using this method. But you have to use the "Save image as ..." function from the right click dropdown and save to desktop to make the conversion automatic.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Carol it doesn't do that for me. When I do save image as the only choice I get is to save it as an .img file. The only other choice in the drop down is all file types but then you have to go through a series of steps to open it with a program etc. No other site does this. Auctiva is nice and simple as is ebay. I can go into Hipstamp and do it but because they have the magnifying thing going on you have to look at page source to do it. A pain no matter what. Of course I am using XPSP3 and things may have changed with WIN7
Greg
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08:48:12am
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I'm using Win7. I don't remember if it acted the same in XP or not. I still am using the old Office 2003 suite however.
I tried loading the Bidstart pix onto hipstamp but was not happy with the quality so decided to enter everything from scratch and am scanning at 400dpi before using the stamp bursting program.
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I don't do much with the converting of old BS listings to Ebay or anyplace else. I would like to easily download my postcard images as I am going to be moving them off BS and into other sites. Otherwise I have to reshoot them all. Not a huge deal, and definitely quicker than when I scanned them to get them there to begin with. I've always felt that BS intentionally saved images with an .img extension knowing that they would be tough to work with in that format.
I could try my wifes pc which is a win7 machine and see if it is any different.
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09:08:21am
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
"I could try my wifes pc which is a win7 machine and see if it is any different."
Might as well give it a try - it is quick and saves a lot of time. I'd use it on hipstamp but the magnifier is not forgiving,
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Greg, here is a link to the file formats supported by Irfanview.
http://www.irfanview.com/
There are also a huge number of add-ons that can be downloaded to accommodate various file attributes. If you explore the Plugins page or even pose the question I'm sure that you will get the answer you want.
Vic
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12:08:17pm
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I use the free program Photoscape to edit images. It has many features and has been a reliable tool.
-Les
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I'm thinking of switching to another scanning programs and I've heard several mentions of Irfanivew - would you recommend it?
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Theresa, I personally use it all the time, it is my default viewer. It has the ability to create negative images or able to play with contrast/brightness and gamma correction, various colour options and you can crop within or outside selected areas. You can enlarge, reduce or sharpen images at the touch of a key.
You can create panorama images vertically or horizontally or thumbnails should you wish.
It is able to handle video, audio and dozens of file types. Resizing is simple a great Free program with absolutely no nagware or embedded malware.
Download is quick and easy, try it, if not to your liking just uninstall the program, I have used it for probably 10 years or so with no problems whatsoever.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I also use Irfanview, and I love it.
I usually scan at higher resolution, than downsize by 40 to 45 %.
I also almost always crop the image to get rid of the blank edges, which makes the stamps bigger when you view them, as the program will automatically rescale.
Given that my scanner is pretty cheap (with optics that could be better) I always sharpen the image.
Then I save as a jpeg file directly to the folder I made for each and every book.
I highly recommend Irfanview..and the price is right! . After you get the hang of it, this whole process takes less than one minute per scan. The big time consuming element in Approvals, as far as I am concerned, is selecting, ordering and assembling the material on each page of the book you are putting together. I have experimented a lot and I have it down pat, and I wish my stamps were better organized..and did not require occasionally being soaked, because that is where my time is wasted. The rest is not time consuming.
rrr...
PS: On your last book, Bermuda..etc, which I just reviewed, your scans are PERFECT for my screen and computer. Right size, right sharpness, nice contrast, clear visible labels... a good example of what a good Approval Book (format wise) looks like
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I never do anything special for my scans - I just use the scan program that came with my HP printer and reduce the size using Paint. No one has ever mentioned they have issues with the scans I have in the approval books and I guess since I sold so much here from them - my scans are acceptable ! Steve
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Hi Everyone;
Just thinkin' too much again....
@ Theresa;
A while back I bought a few of your approvals, and on a few pages there were images that
I felt were too dark. I wasn't sure what I was looking at so I passed over them without buying.
@ Everyone;
Here is a solution. Stamporama software, seems to darken images slightly. I knew I needed to
lighten them, but not how much. So I opened two browser windows, and re-sized them to pro-
duce a split screen. On the left I displayed my original scan, and the right was my stamporama
approval page.
Next I renamed and saved the scan file and lightened it. I then replaced the approval page
with the lightened image. I took several attempts to get the approval page to look exactly like
the scan. I kept a record of my adjustments and used that recipe for all scans.
@ Webpaper;
I know what you mean by scanning at hi-res and resizing, and can't see any improvement in
image quality. This is how I improved mine, and feel free to try this yourself.
I always scan at 600 dpi. I then resize to 940 pixels. this will eliminate scrolling side-to-side on
a monitor set to 768x1024 resolution. Most computers have a means to set screen resolution
in the "Control Panel".
Just after re-sizing the image down to 940, I perform a "sharpen lightly" in my image editor
(Photostudio by Arcsoft). Other programs will call this adjustment by a different name, but most
all of them have sharpen available.
To get the best result from sharpen, use it after all other editing is finished. This may include;
Brighten; Contrast; Saturation (intensifies colors); Hue (shifts towards red or green for color
correction); re-sizing; and cropping. When all these tweaks are complete, then apply sharpen.
@ Theresa;
Yes some of your images need to be scrolled side-to-side. Also I noticed that your pages have too
much open space. I would recommend placing stamps 1/8" apart, and adding numbers in your
image editor just below the lower left corners. Select text color as white to stand out against
black backing.
This method of adding numbers is not more work than your slips of paper. It may seem like it is
slower when you first try it out but after you have been doing it a while, it goes very fast.
I get 56 stamps on a 8-pocket Vario page using Machin definitives. Your approval book of
Bermuda on page one has only 21 stamps I can nearly double what you have on that page. I
will e-mail you a sample of your page privately so you can see the difference.
By doubling the number of stamps on your pages, you would actually save a bunch of time by
doing less pages, and your pages would not need to be scrolled. In addition lots of storage
space on stamorama servers would be saved.
If anyone wishes to try any of these suggestions and have limited computer skills, don't be em-
barrassed, just private message me for more tips or ideas. If you have any other queries about
tweaks that I have not mentioned you can PM me for those also.
Your images look very nice, and these are only suggestions, to help save you some work.
Just gettin' a headache from thinkin'....
TuskenRaider
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Ian 6631 page 2 looks the best on my monitor. I did not check page size for every page but that one the image I think was 1067 x something.
Greg
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Ken - could you let me know which of my pages appear 'dark'? Thanks! And - yes - a few of the pages at the back have to be scrolled. Ugh! I'll correct that problem in the next book.
Also - re numbering - I number the pages once then leave them. I leave that much space between stamps so that I don't have to keep moving all those slips of paper. Once the pages are numbered I never have to do them again. Also - crowding them too close together leads to problems with the paper shifting and obscuring the perfs. I tried digital numbering but found it sheer drudgery but thanks for the tip. I can make the scans a bit smaller and crop more off the sides.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Ian: Same here 6631 page 2. Pictures on some of the other books are way too small for telling what it is, for my taste, and my failing eyesight!
Theresa: I like the extra space around the stamps. I think cramming 50 stamps on one page is very unsettling, overwhelming and artistically unpleasing! Blank space on the edges of the page can easily be cropped out, if needed, but genrally the definition of the stamps on your pages is more than adequate. Also, blank spaces can be used to advantage to delianate various sets, years, or natural breaks in one's book. Not scanning an extra page should not be a good reason to justify cramming stamps on a page to the point of congestion. Esthetics is very important in stamp collecting.
rrr...
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
"Please look at my approval books. Nos 6630, 6631, 6632 and tell me which one you like best please."
Looked at page 1 of those Books on my laptop - #6631 is the best at 761 wide x 130 res. Could be bigger.
I resized the page to 900 Wide x 100 Res. - Still fits the laptop easily loads quickly and Resolution is still good.
Steve.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
""Please look at my approval books. Nos 6630, 6631, 6632 and tell me which one you like best please.""
After seeing Greg's post (above) I went back and looked at #6631 Page 2 - 1065 px wide x 150 Res - It is nice and clear but I had to scroll from side to side to see it all.
Just a bit wide for the allotted space on my Laptop.
Cheers
Steve
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Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Here is what I would do - but it does take a bit of involvement from Tim to make it work:
1. do not impose any rules on image sizes or resolution unless it is impractically big, i.e. images of 5 MB or 5000 pixels wide.
2. implement one of the many php image resizing scripts (some custom made, others readily available in the standard php install) to automatically fetch the screen width and adapt the image width accordingly, if the image is wider than the screen.
JMHO...
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
I haven't done anything here at SoR with the auctions or approvals. So, I can't speak to scanning and preparation of images for those specifically. However, I've been scanning using semi-professional scanners and Photoshop since the 1990s. I've produced fairly large prints using images I enlarged from scans, and will make two quick points that may help.
Don't bother scanning at a larger size and then reducing the image after scanning if you don't ever expect to use the larger size. It's a waste of time and computer storage resources. In other words, if your only interest in scanning a stamp is for the auction or approval book, scan at the final size and resolution you intend to use. If you intend to use your scans for another purpose later on that involves enlarging the image, then by all means scan at the larger size and/or resolution. The rule of thumb is: scan at the largest size you think you may ever need and nothing more.
Although I have used Photoshop for my work since the 1990s, I also have Irfanview and use it for a few tasks where it works better than both Photoshop and the Windows 7 tools. I've never used it for scanning, but it has so many useful tools that I suspect everyone could find it useful in some aspect of their work. If nothing else, it's a great tool for viewing JPG images, or multiple images if you want to compare one with another. Simply go to your image folder, right-click on the JPG you want to open and then click "H" and then "I". At least that's what works with my setup. If you use Irfanview, don't forget to make a donation via PayPal! It may be free, but making a donation helps keep it alive and improving.
Brechinite, I have looked at very few books since I've been a member here, but I agree with rrr that page 2 in 6631 is the best presentation of the examples you presented. I'm no longer buying stamps, but if I were I wouldn't purchase based on the smaller images on the other pages and books. Fifteen years ago when I started selling on eBay, smaller sizes (mine included) were common. Hard drive space on our PCs was more expensive. Internet speeds were much slower. And eBay server space was expensive. (Didn't eBay even have a file size limit back then?) All of those factors no longer matter very much when it comes to presenting sale items online. In fact, I believe eBay now requires images to be at least 500 pixels in the longest dimension! The drawback to using larger images, of course, is going to be the presentation of multiple larger images on a book's page.
I hope this helps!
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Hi Everyone;
@ everyone;
To clear up everyone's confusion on what whitebuffalo just said, screen size doesn't matter.
Screen resolution does matter a lot!
I just opened my "Control Panel" to view these options:
A) Screen Area (resolution):
640x480
800x600
1024x768
1162x864
1280x1024
B) Colors:
256 or 8 bit
65,536 or 16 bit
1,000,000,000 + or 32 bit
The above terms 8 bit; 16 bit; 32 bit; describes how many memory bits will be assigned
to each pixel (how many different colors displayed). The resolution settings 640x480 means
640 pixles (picture elements) wide by 480 pixels high.
This is how to find these settings:
Menu > Settings > Control Panel > Display > "Settings" tab
These are the settings available on my 17" monitor, running under WIN98 OS. However the
settings are also depend on how much video ram I have installed. That factor is usually hard-
ware upgradeable tho. Also your computer, may indeed have very different options available,
depending on physical screen size and memory available!
If I attempt to use the 1280x1024, the software will default to 256 colors. Also my screen will
appear as tho I'm looking backwards thru binoculars. If you have never viewed a graphic at
256 colors, try it some time. The image will appear very much like paint-by-numbers!
My machine's hardware doesn't have enough ram to support 1280x1024 at 16 bit color. So it
defaults to displaying less color.
If I attempt to set my color depth at 32 bits, the software will default to 800x600 pixels setting.
These settings are interactive and depend on how much video ram is installed on my machine.
Some computers use regular system ram for video. The better quality video circuit cards use
video ram that is physically installed on the video card.
So if your approval page is bigger than 940 pixels, it will be bigger than a 768x1024 resolution
monitor setting. I can bump up the resolution to fix this, but then I'll need to see my eye doctor,
due to headaches caused by eyestrain.
Also, everyone should try this; set your monitor to it's highest pixel resolution, and ignore color
depth. Look at some approval books, see how tiny the images are? Eeeeeuuuuwwww!!!
All of these factors are trade-offs, and there is no one right answer. Whatever works for you as
a seller, is what you should go with.
As a buyer on here, if I have to wait for a page to load, I would rather see 50+ stamps than only
25. I'm not buying aesthetics, but I am buying stamps, the more the better! Just so you all know,
even tho I like more stamps on a page, than 20+, all the stamps I purchased were from Theresa's
approval books, and a couple of her auctions. She has really nice material, that is affordable.
Sorry Theresa, if that works for you with lots of space, thats fine. I like them closer, but as you
all know I put those silly color borders around all my auction and apporval images. So I guess
I'm an aesthetics junkie too.
@ Therese;
You did not have pages that were too dark, but individual stamps on 2 or 3 pages were too
dark to see.
Sorry, everyone for gettin' too Geeky....
TuskenRaider
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Ken you're a technowizard to steal a term from Babylon 5! Excellent info - greatly appreciated.
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Hi Everyone;
In my not-the-least-bit-humble opinion I think the Theresa asking buyers and sellers for feedback, demonstrates that the VC made a good decision selecting her for this important post.
So not humble....
TuskenRaider
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
"I think the Theresa asking buyers and sellers for feedback, demonstrates that the VC made a good decision selecting her for this important post."
I could not agree more. As I am about to fade in the background I second Tusken's comments..Theresa is perfect for the job and has demonstrated to me all the knowledge and judgement qualities that will make a great Moderator. The transition could not have been smoother! "Y'all" are in good hands!
rrr... (almost retired-Approval Moderator)
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03:42:53pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Tuskenraider says:-
"All of these factors are trade-offs, and there is no one right answer. Whatever works for you as a seller, is what you should go with."
Common sense
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re: Feedback requested about scan size in approval books
Awww shucks, Thank you Ralph & Ken!
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