[X] My Assistant

12 scans in the galleries and I am done. Well, still have two artbooks, but they scare me on so many levels...

Two things I learned that weren't mentioned:
* for bigger (20+ pages books), start from the middle. It softens the spine so that the inner edges of the pages close to the cover are much easier to scan
* a dark smudge can appear on some pages near the cover if the spine is pressed two hard because the page will get "unstuck" in the middle; solution - don't press so hard on the spine

Thanks for all the advice!

Hello,

I heard this is the thread for scanners.

I intend to buy a scanner for my long stay in japan in order to upload and digitalize my purchases (mostly doujinshi, and maybe comics).
I do not mind cutting books for the sake of quality, and I want to maximize efficiency and quality.
I was interested in scanners/printers that can scan a bunch of pages in a row.
Do anyone as experience with those ?
My budget is around 10000~15000jpy. And I would like to be able to scan directly in png (some scanner as jpg compression within their hardware).

Do anyone as a recommendation of a scanner meeting these kind of requirements ?
Thank you.

isn't a sheetfed scanner capable of scanning pages in a row, cuz that's pretty much it


although, scan and quality-wise, it's not worth trying

isn't a sheetfed scanner capable of scanning pages in a row, cuz that's pretty much it

Not really, more the type that automatically add sheet to your regular scanner.
[store.hp.com] Like this one (a bit expensive though)
Those are more affordable sold with printer. I even found an A3 printer/scanner with auto feeding for the scanner, which was amazing (for less than 20000jpy).
The only issue is the straightness of the scan, which I hope can be automatically corrected (yeah it will not be the best). However, I doubt that I can do better than those system in term of alignment and all.

The only issue is the straightness of the scan, which I hope can be automatically corrected (yeah it will not be the best). However, I doubt that I can do better than those system in term of alignment and all.

Just line the pages up with the corner of the scanner. If that fails (not sure why it would, but whatever) it just takes a little tinkering in PS to straighten everything out.

If you're on CS6, there's a straighten tool under the crop menu.

Anyone have any guides for scanning and descreening color pages? I doubt it is as simple as using descreen in Vuescan. I generally scan in 600dpi and use GIMP for cleaning/cropping/etc.

Also best downscale cubic vs Lanczos?

This post has been edited by ilwaz: Jan 28 2017, 04:17

For sharpness over decent/bad blurred pages = lanczos
For softiness to hide horrendously sharpened images or matrixing = bicubic

So I went ahead and bought an Epson Perfection V370 scanner to scan a doujin that I had, and I did a test scan already. I'm using the program that came with the scanner, and my settings are Home Mode, 600 dpi, grayscale, and gamma 2.2 w/ continuous auto exposure. Here's a preview: https://e-hentai.org/s/5d11c31f3dad8fa49a28...1-jpg/1025840-1

(yeah, I had not been taking 100% the best care of this doujin before I scanned it, so you can probably see dust/scratches/the pattern of the paper itself in the scan. I cropped it just a little bit and combined the top edge of one scan with another scan because I didn't realize you could deskew an image in photoshop.)
Any advice on what I should do differently with scanning/editing the scans? Levels, touchup, descreening etc?

I have an Epson v37 because I'm a cheapskate, and I just keep it mostly raw in the settings. After that I make the adjustments on PS, which for my own preference is taking it heavy black and white. But I've found that by softening it up with the Neat Image plug-in to reduce the noise, it makes it easier on the levels since I'm not trying to remove every little pixel.

So I went ahead and bought an Epson Perfection V370 scanner to scan a doujin that I had, and I did a test scan already. I'm using the program that came with the scanner, and my settings are Home Mode, 600 dpi, grayscale, and gamma 2.2 w/ continuous auto exposure. Here's a preview: https://e-hentai.org/s/5d11c31f3dad8fa49a28...1-jpg/1025840-1

(yeah, I had not been taking 100% the best care of this doujin before I scanned it, so you can probably see dust/scratches/the pattern of the paper itself in the scan. I cropped it just a little bit and combined the top edge of one scan with another scan because I didn't realize you could deskew an image in photoshop.)
Any advice on what I should do differently with scanning/editing the scans? Levels, touchup, descreening etc?

I'm no authority in scanning (even if I've scanned dozens of doujinhis), but my experience is that stuff should be always scanned in color mode, even black&white doujinshis.

I'm no authority in scanning (even if I've scanned dozens of doujinhis), but my experience is that stuff should be always scanned in color mode, even black&white doujinshis.

Ooooooh?

I'm no authority in scanning (even if I've scanned dozens of doujinhis), but my experience is that stuff should be always scanned in color mode, even black&white doujinshis.

I have to ask if there is a particular reason for doing that?

There are mainly five tools required for Thin books scanning.
1,Heat gun
2,Heat gun
3,Heat gun
4,Heat gun
5,Heat gun
Put the powder on the remaining glue.

Anyway,do not want to cut, but if want to do it in one stroke,you should use a heat gun.
It's very useful. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

or use an iron

It is bad that I'm still using a microwave to loosen binding glue? lol.

I just use an old fashioned blow dryer. If it helps, try propping it in a way to keep it stationary while you work the book around it.

Side thing I'm curious about..... Has anyone ever attempted to put a book back together? Like for whatever reason you just wanted to keep the physical book.

It is bad that I'm still using a microwave to loosen binding glue? lol.

Sure if you want brown spots all over the place.

It is bad that I'm still using a microwave to loosen binding glue? lol.

Most likely you have mastered it's use by now then.
However not something I would personally recommend to anyone starting out unless they do some practice runs first.