Covers FAQ: Difference between revisions

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==Can I get all the covers from a specific series sent to me? How can I easily download all the covers in the database?==
==Can I get all the covers from a specific series sent to me? How can I easily download all the covers in the database?==


Due to copyright reasons, we don't re-distribute the covers in any way. We can display them here on the website due to Fair-Use rules of copyright, but we are unable to distribute them in any way. If you are patient, nobody can stop you if you click on each cover you want and save it to your computer. We claim no copyright to either the images or the scans.  An acknowledgment of the fact that they came from the GCD would be nice.
Due to copyright reasons, we don't re-distribute the covers in any way. We can display them here on the website due to Fair-Use rules of copyright, but we are unable to distribute them in any way. Everyone knows that nobody can stop you if you click on each cover you want and save it to your computer. We claim no copyright to either the images or the scans.  An acknowledgment of the fact that they came from the GCD would be nice.

Revision as of 08:47, 17 January 2011

Why have covers?

We have both thumbnails and larger scans attached to our indexes because it completes the indexed data, it's a nice trip back on memory lane and it's a great resource for foreign indexers covering their foreign language editions of the books.

Where do the images come from?

A lot are scanned by members of the team from personal collections, some are sourced from news (there's usually a lot of scans posted every day to alt.binaries.pictures.comics, although not all of them are covers). These are quality checked, then retouched, trimmed and rotated if necessary. Most are now submitted through visitors to the website.

How should I scan covers? What settings should I use on my scanner?

The minimum scan size is 400 pixels wide in "portrait mode" (i.e. a normal cover). For odd formats, the shortest side should be minimum 400 pixels. Maximum size depends on your internet connection - we are happy to receive 2000x3000 scans but these might result in server timeouts while the upload is taken place. If that happens frequently to you it might be better to use smaller sizes. Your comic-book should be scanned at 100% @75-200dpi. 75dpi gives a scan close to the minimum requirements (approximately 450 pixels wide), 200dpi gives a larger and better scan. Although we appreciate large scans, there is no real need to go beyond 200 dpi, and a sweet point between quality and size lies at around 150dpi.

The book should be scanned without any bags or other plastic casings to avoid reflection. The scan should be perfectly straight and trimmed, i.e. no borders around the book. Some post scan rotation may be needed as not all scanning software do this automatically. Save the image as JPEG format, with approximately 70% quality. If in Photoshop, quality settings 5 to 8 is OK.

How do I submit covers?

Search at the website http://www.comics.org for the comic you want to submit. Each series has a section called "Cover Status". If the cover you want to submit isn't on the website, the Cover Status should show that issue as white. Click the number of the issue and, if you are logged in, you will be taken to a page asking for the name of the file. Click the "Browse" button to find the cover on your local computer. If you have gotten the cover from an external source (please ask if this is OK) mention it in 'Source', maybe tick the mark (in case of a bad scan for a rare comic), wraparound or gatefields buttons and then click the "Upload" button. If for some reason you can't submit covers this way, feel free to contact the editors via the Error Tracker at http://errors.comics.org . Covers can be attached to the error report after it is submitted or, alternatively, one of the editors could contact you with an email address that the cover can be sent to.

Variant covers can be submitted via the 'Add/replace cover' link present on the issue page, the large cover view and the series galleries.

Are there alternate ways to submit covers?

If for some reason you can't submit covers online, feel free to contact us through the Error Tracker http://errors.comics.org (report an error of type "cover scans"). One of the editors will contact you with a street address that a disk of cover scans can be sent to.

If you have a large collection of covers we do not have there might be other ways to bring them online. Please contact us using the address given on our front page.

The cover I submitted got marked for replacement or deleted, how come?

There are two major reasons why we delete covers. One is, the cover you uploaded was the wrong cover. Sometimes there are different series with the same or similar names or dates. The other is that there was a "watermark" on the cover, such as from Mile High Comics or Ebay. We don't accept watermarked covers because the watermark can make art identification more difficult and the original scanner probably watermarked the cover because they didn't want other people to use their scan. Sometimes we just mark a cover for replacement. This is usually because they aren't cropped properly (i.e. there is white space around the cover) or the actual comic was damaged (i.e. writing on the cover).

If you notice a watermark on an existing cover, please submit a deletion request, making a note in the comments of the exact location of the watermark, since it can be difficult to notice for someone not familiar with the book. Alternatively, you can submit a replacement cover if you have an acceptable scan.

I have a cover to a comic you don't have listed. What do I do?

Please see the Series Skeleton Requirements to get the info to us to add a missing series.

I have a cover to a comic you already have, but mine looks better than yours. What do I do?

Replacement covers can be submitted via the 'Add/replace cover' link present on the issue page, the large cover view and the series galleries. If you are replacing a cover, please make sure that the cover you upload is really better than the one that is already there. If in doubt, for example if the colors just differ slightly and it is a matter of taste, monitor and scanner calibration, we keep the current cover and reject the replacement.

Can I get all the covers from a specific series sent to me? How can I easily download all the covers in the database?

Due to copyright reasons, we don't re-distribute the covers in any way. We can display them here on the website due to Fair-Use rules of copyright, but we are unable to distribute them in any way. Everyone knows that nobody can stop you if you click on each cover you want and save it to your computer. We claim no copyright to either the images or the scans. An acknowledgment of the fact that they came from the GCD would be nice.