A Step by Step demo on Scan manipulation - Stage 1

[Stronguy]

I don't know... I did a websearch and picture after picture showed that the writing is a different color than the brown background... it's a bluish grey. Here is a sample from around the web:

...

IMHO, either it's a true varient, or else its a restoration or photoshop job on the Heritage brown-label version...

Ok, looked at my copy. Letters are blue.

Now on with the show...

[Arty]

Heritage scan of Curator AF15 is so dark that both brown and grey areas are almost black. After redhook lightened it, Spider-man blurp turned brown.

Heritge scans usually don't present colors accurately, that's all.

 

I'd also like to note that some copies of AF15, have same kind of uneven brown color areas - similar to Hammer's copy. That curator scan is not a good example, because brown areas are too dark - lots of contrast was lost when it was scanned.

 

take a look at this heritage 7.5 copy

 

[Aces]

That 7.5 has got some serious chipping and pre-chipping.

[samurai007]

That 7.5 has got some serious chipping and pre-chipping.

 

I agree... looks like way too much damage to be 7.5... not that we should turn this into a grading debate

[Red Hook]

Having an all day Yard Sale today so may not get a chance to post the next stage of the retouch till Sunday.

[Calamerica]

Keep up the good work, Redhook. You have proven your worthiness to help the Comic Book Community and earned respect. I salute you sir!

 

CAL

[Aman619]

Heritage scan of Curator AF15 is so dark that both brown and grey areas are almost black. After redhook lightened it, Spider-man blurp turned brown.

Heritge scans usually don't present colors accurately, that's all.

 

I'd also like to note that some copies of AF15, have same kind of uneven brown color areas - similar to Hammer's copy. That curator scan is not a good example, because brown areas are too dark - lots of contrast was lost when it was scanned.

 

take a look at this heritage 7.5 copy

 

 

 

this is an interesting post comparing three AF15 tops. When I explored Hammer's AF15 wet dream book from ebay I also looked hard for cloning etc. I noticed the splotches on top, but wasnt convinced it was the result of Dannys work, There were lots of other areas that proved his "comic book" was a sham..... but the tops were not proof . If he was cleaning his scan to the nth degree, it would have been easy to smooth out the brown splotches too, no? Also they looked familiar.

 

ALL copies of AF15 have a messy top, as you see from these three copies. The splotches are consistently placed and only vary in th eamount of ink (whicjh is consistent wiht books on press). It would be interesting to know how the cover art was inked and colored. I think the brown was created in black ink with a brush dipped repeatedly in the bottle, someareas thick and 100%, andf other areas washed out and only 80% The photostatting resulted in an uneven black which mottled on press.

 

but - - - just a guess. Dannys a crook, and a retoucher... but he didnt work on the splotchy top, just the corners, spine and edges.

[Red Hook]

Something else to note.....is that an "M" in the upper left hand corner of the cover? Look how different it looks in all three copies. Also, I do agree that the brown areas in Hammer's scan are probably not digital retouching.

 

Boy, it sure would be nice to see a truely hi-end scan of that book. But it ain't gonna happen.

[Aman619]

Something else to note.....is that an "M" in the upper left hand corner of the cover? Look how different it looks in all three copies. Also, I do agree that the brown areas in Hammer's scan are probably not digital retouching.

 

Boy, it sure would be nice to see a truely hi-end scan of that book. But it ain't gonna happen.

 

yeah. I noticed the M thing in the corner. Interesting thats its just an M-type shape on the 2 "real " copies, but a REAL M on Dannys. Im trying to find an M on the cover he may have cloned it from! Same shape as the M in the MC box, but only cloning darken only or multiply would place it there but ...whyy would anyone dothat and try hard to justget the M not the C or th ebox/??

[deathlok]

what happened to the X-men book, Red? I want to see the final digital wet dream that is X-men #1.

[Red Hook]

I was busy with my yard sale, trying to raise dough for the new house. But I'll be back on it today. Also, HAD to watch the 3 hour American Chopper MIA/POW custom bike marathon.

[Red Hook]

Spent a little time this morning cleaning up the logo, repairing the hairline around the issue # and the green subhead box. Continued to massage pixels within the figures......did some work on the beast, again, kind of making it up as I go. I will probably have to go to cloning from another issue when I get to working on the lettering across the top of the cover. It's really washed out.

 

Also continued subtle repair of edge along right side.

 

[comicmankev]

Congrats Redhook, you are the Matt Nelson of the e-restoration world

[burntboy]

Congrats Redhook, you are the Matt Nelson of the e-restoration world

 

[Ze-man]

Perhaps we should all pitch in and put up an auction on Ebay..

List these 2 photos ... state that the items are not for sale..unlees the bidder is aware the scans are different. and the one on the left is original.

 

But..write a nice little story about Hammer/keys/koos and what he is doing with his scans, in Ebay auctions.

And describe how the scans were altered in photoshop.. and in our honest opinion.. we think this is what Keys is doing in his auctions.

..

And clearly state that it is only our opinion... but for biddders to at least be aware of the possibility that Keys is not on the up and up with his auctions/scans.

 

List it in the gallery featured for $20 , so all will be sure to see it.

 

How long do you think it would take before it got pulled?

 

 

I dunno , just a thought.

 

Zeman

[comicmankev]

And we'll time the listing to finish at the same time as one of his major listings. We'll give it the same title too!

 

example:

 

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 4 ... F/VF to VF- 7.5- - BETTER THAN THE ABOVE LISTING!

[Rip]

Speaking as a full time Senior Graphic Designer, that scan of Hammer's is a real joke. The back scan isn't so great either. I could say with 100% certainty that the scan has been doctored. Its not that the corners/edges on that book are improbable, but they are impossible. Not to mention simply putting the book through curves shows the lack of minor imperfections.

[OldGuy]

Perhaps we should all pitch in and put up an auction on Ebay..

List these 2 photos ... state that the items are not for sale..unlees the bidder is aware the scans are different. and the one on the left is original.

 

But..write a nice little story about Hammer/keys/koos and what he is doing with his scans, in Ebay auctions.

And describe how the scans were altered in photoshop.. and in our honest opinion.. we think this is what Keys is doing in his auctions.

..

And clearly state that it is only our opinion... but for biddders to at least be aware of the possibility that Keys is not on the up and up with his auctions/scans.

 

List it in the gallery featured for $20 , so all will be sure to see it.

 

How long do you think it would take before it got pulled?

 

 

I dunno , just a thought.

 

Zeman

 

Nice idea, but when I posted the issue of CBG, that outed him, for sale on E-bay it only lasted 2.5 days. With him reading this board and his Powerseller status I don't think it would last 24 hours. But it may be worth a shot, who knows.

[Red Hook]

Funny, as I was working on this image, I had the same idea....what if someone put this image up as a legitimate auction. I guarantee that even if I sent someone a super hi rez image of the cover, 99% of the folks out there putting down money would never know the difference until the actually had the book in their hand.

 

And thanks to RIP for chiming in. Any really good graphics pro would laugh their asss off looking at Hammer's scans.

[Red Hook]

Here's a bigger closeup of some of the book.Check out the beasts left arm and leg and Marvel girls uniform. Just made it up as I went. If I wanted to nail it, I would use reference from another copy.