@musicyouneed wrote:
Thanks:
I spend hours taking pictures making sure I have the best one. I know that it makes a difference for you, does it for everyone? I do put in my TOS that the pictures are of the original item. I on the other hand look for pictures that I can use the magnifier.
A bit off topic but have you ever considered using your scanner instead of a camera?
Since CD cases are so consistent in shape and size they are tailor made for scanning which should save time versus photographing. Scanners are always in focus and perfectly lit, to really speed the process use the scanner's advanced software version where autocrop can be disabled, then set a consistent repeatable crop outline probably a little larger than a standard CD case. Some sort of guide is needed to aid in placing the case on the scanner platen so that when scanned (previewed usually) the case is either already accurately placed within the crop lines or can be easily dragged into the correct position. Then do final scan, takes only 15 seconds or so per image.
Most scanner lids are designed to accomodate items of CD case thickness and still scan well. Even so I've often scanned items without closind the lid, one can get inventive here keeping in mind whatever is placed over the item and platen will form a background for the scanned item. Using different materials varies the colours and textures surrounding the scanned item.
Re; the ebay photo magnifier.
I've experimented with how photo size impacts the magnifier function. Bigger is best here preferrably with a border surrounding the item edges. Larger images mmagnify much better than smaller ones. To me 2048 px works best, a square image would be 2048x2048 or if rectangular the longest edge would be 2048 px.
Suggested scanner settings (advanced),
- Use advanced settings
- Disable autocrop!
- Disable most if not all of the image enhancement features especially if the items being scanned are used, the only enhancement I leave on is "sharpen" as this has the effect of highlighting creases and such in the ephemera items I sell.
- Adjust the input settings (cropped area) to suit item being scanned, manually adjusting these settings will change the size of the cropped area, for this example let's use 679x679 px.
- Adjust the output settings (enlarges or shrinks cropped area), for example 2048x2048 px.
- In order to greatly reduce the image file size reduce the dpi setting to 72. The default setting will be much higher, since the image is not meant to be printed on paper it is safe to reduce to 72 dpi which is the standard display on computer screens.
- Be sure to set ouput be saved in jpeg file format
- Depending on storage limitations if any, it may be desirable to run the files through software to greatly reduce individual file sizes. Ebay and other marketplaces compress large files when uploaded so file compression is only an issue if the images are to be used on a stand-a-lone ecommerce site or blog.
