CoinsAreFun

US Coins, World Coins, and More => US Coins, tokens and medals => Topic started by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 10:18:26 AM

Title: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 10:18:26 AM
I'm playing around with my photo-editing software to see how it looks. Eventually, the ANA 3-Medal sets will become one of my albums. Tell me what you think and don't hold back on the punches.

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: FilthyBroke on February 15, 2010, 11:28:09 AM
Nice crisp picture, I think you did fine.  :ThumbsUp; 

I personally like to inspect every mark and crevass on the coin's surface, so I do prefer a slightly larger pic.  That's just my personal preference, though.  I wish I could get that clarity on mine, I use a Sony DSC-H5 w/macro built in, and it does pretty well overall but not quite the crispness of yours. 
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 12:24:25 PM
Nice crisp picture, I think you did fine.  :ThumbsUp; 

I personally like to inspect every mark and crevass on the coin's surface, so I do prefer a slightly larger pic.  That's just my personal preference, though.  I wish I could get that clarity on mine, I use a Sony DSC-H5 w/macro built in, and it does pretty well overall but not quite the crispness of yours.

I'm using the Canon Powershot Pro 1 with the built-in Supermacro option. The problem you have with enlarging the image too much is that it magnifies imperfections, flaws or blemishes moreso than you would even expect when looking at the coin or medal through a loupe. For example, if you examine a coin under a microscope, the tiniest little nick, 1/10th the size of a pinpoint, can look like a crater on the moon.

I'm still playing with the software, but I'd like to figure out how I can get rid of the shadows on the outside of the perimeter.

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 01:07:58 PM
This is the 1969 set, but I still can't figure out how to get rid of the shadows.

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: FilthyBroke on February 15, 2010, 01:28:59 PM
Do you mean the shadows around the outside, away from the actual coin, that run about 4-7:00 around the perimeter?  I don't mind them at all, but if you wanted to you could lay out a background and crop each coin and paste them to it.  I use Photoscape (free) to crop coin pics and insert a solid background.  It's not a fancy as Stef's templates, but it removes any background distractions.



edited to try to clarify
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: Swampboy on February 15, 2010, 04:06:40 PM
Do you mean the shadows around the outside, away from the actual coin, that run about 4-7:00 around the perimeter?  I don't mind them at all, but if you wanted to you could lay out a background and crop each coin and paste them to it.  I use Photoscape (free) to crop coin pics and insert a solid background.  It's not a fancy as Stef's templates, but it removes any background distractions.



edited to try to clarify

Good idea.
A black background works great from my point of view, and since you're asking for opinions; I would put them against whatever background you choose but not have them touching.
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 05:31:23 PM
What do you think of this?


Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: FilthyBroke on February 15, 2010, 05:48:37 PM
Hmm...I think I like the plain gray background better.  I've tried many of the neat functions on the photo editor, but ended up liking the basic solid background best.  The coins are the main focus, and your pictures are really good. 

Oh, and Stefanie has some neat templates posted here somewhere if you want to try a cut-and-paste thing.
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 15, 2010, 06:03:03 PM
I like the gray, too!

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 16, 2010, 08:09:01 AM
What about this?

I need to make a template so that I can put a little space between the medals.

Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: FilthyBroke on February 16, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
The purpleish border is a bit bright for me, I'd tone it down just a touch.  I'd wait for Stefanie's word on it, she's the pro at imaging and Photoshop, I'd probably check with her for tips. :)
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: Larry on February 16, 2010, 12:26:15 PM
If you use Photoshop, to eliminate the shadows, you can circle crop each medal and place them on a new background with color of your choice.  : )

Then save as a Photoshop document before you merge the layers by doing a Save As for a jpg and you'll have your template for future sets.  ; )

While I like all of the images, I think your image of the 1982 set is superb.  : )

I don't care for the vignetted image.

Also, on my monitor the images are far to the right of the typed text in the posting area.  I'm not sure why.
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 16, 2010, 08:31:17 PM
Thanks, Larry! Actually, I put the least amount of effort into the 1982 set. The only thing I did wrong was to approximate the cropping of the image, first, when all I needed to do was add a border for a balanced image.

I'm having a problem setting the white balance on my camera, a Canon Powershot Pro 1. The photo was taken on a stark white background, but it keeps coming out gray. I don't know what I'm doing wrong in this regard.

Anyway, I'll continue to play around with everything before I decide on the best "formula" for my new album for these ANA Convention medals. Once I do come up with the right mix, I'm going to scrap my crummy looking Morgan album and start over.

I don't have Photoshop. I'm using the ACDSee Pro 3 photo software, but I still haven't figured out all of the bells and whistles yet. The thing I like about this program is that I don't have to use a hosting service like Photobucket. I can upload my photos directly from my computer to any website.

I don't know why you are experiencing the problem on your monitor either. Maybe Stef would know.

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 16, 2010, 08:34:18 PM
The purpleish border is a bit bright for me, I'd tone it down just a touch.  I'd wait for Stefanie's word on it, she's the pro at imaging and Photoshop, I'd probably check with her for tips. :)

A little too bright for me, too! I'm still in the experimenting stage.

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: coinsarefun on February 16, 2010, 08:40:18 PM
Are you shooting the medals one at a time and them putting them into the background?

Even though you use a white background and it comes out grey looking it ok as
long as the color of the coins or medals are accurate



btw......really nice medals :ThumbsUp;
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: cpm9ball on February 16, 2010, 08:52:55 PM
Stef, I'm shooting them as a group. Please bear in mind that it takes this old f@rt a little time to learn things, and I don't know how to group separate images yet.

The color of the medals is accurate.

I'm really anxious to start an album for the entire series, sans the 1981 set which has eluded me for 5 years. They only made 350 sets for that year.

Thanks!

Chris
Title: Re: 1982 ANA Convention 3-Medal Set
Post by: coinsarefun on February 16, 2010, 09:58:48 PM
Since the color is accurate I would not worry about the background color.
If you can shoot them one at a time and use any image software to crop them
and place them together as a set with a different color background.


And...............you can't be that old of a fart............. :Funny; :Funny;