Wish I Could Just Send A Link Optimizer Takes To Long

There are enough sites that allow you to store a picture to which you can post a link. There even is a free site that focuses on philatelic stamps. It is run by someone from another stamp board.

However, it takes you less than a minute to use the image optimiser and upload a picture. You have been asking questions on this site. If you cannot be bothered spending a minute on uploading a decent image, why do you expect members to spend time on answering your questions?

Is there an actual stamp-related question or comment that the OP has regarding the tiny images posted?

You can, it just depends upon what you do with your original scan.
I scan everything at 600 dpi, then crop, straighten (if needed), reduce to 25 % of original, and name the image and copy to an appropriate file.

This image is 72.2 KB, the scanned image is 1.48 MB.

I hate external images. It's preferred they are uploaded here so they don't disappear and make the topic useless when the OP loses interest in a year and deletes them.

There is a shareware graphics editor called Irfanview that also allows you to easily save a jpeg at a size that fits the requirements for SCM. The images I post in here expand very nicely when double clicked directly.

I am sure there are other apps that do the same; Irfanview is simply the one I have used for many years. Here are example images:

When I want to post something here, I scan stamps at 300dpi, items about the size of business cards at 200dpi and covers at 100dpi. I never have to do any subsequent processing. Simple and fast. And I always upload the images. I scan at hgher resolution as separate scans for my own uses.

Thanks for the information I'll try messing around with the ideas you all have posted to get the pictures properly scanned.

So I have been struggling with cropping my covers. each time I do the right 1/3 doesn't come up in the final cropped image. So I haven't been cropping anymore.I can crop a close up of the stamp but not a cover.

Michael, you do not say anything about what methods or equipment you are using, but from your recent thread about a booklet pair, it appears you are taking a photograph, then using the optimizer program to crop it. For all the cover images you post here, why not just get a scanner and produce high-quaity cropped images from the beginning?

I've had the same problem when I let the cover touch the edge of the scanner, now I make sure that the cover doesn't touch metal anywhere. But that makes it difficult to get a straight image every time. I use IrfanView to process the scans. I keep two images, the scan and a reduced version. Ctrl+U opens Rotate by Angle which lets me straighten the image by .1 degree increments.

Edit to add that in the image I posted above I needed to rotate another -.1 it has a little scanner cover showing on the right, that tiny white line.

re: straightness
To retain the most integrity to an image, I want the least amount of post-scanning file manipulation. I want to minimize any need for straightening and cropping whenever possible. One of the problems with scanner is that lifting the lid to readjust the positioning often causes the item to shift. Thus I start with an item, a partial sheet of contrasting construction paper and a few bean bags

I place the item near the center of the glass, cover it with the construction paper, and enough bean bags to hold it all flat:

A preview scan is made. Oops! Needs work.

The entire stack can be shifted slightly to square it up, make new previews of the ajdustments, and then a final scan at a resolution to make a file somewhat under 300k for posting here or ebay or wherever.


The small extra border helps define the edges and corners which are important to evaluating condition, etc. And in this case, the cover is not quite square, so a small border is both necessary and desirable. Try to make a "square" scan of a stampless folded letter!! Pick an edge and go with it.

If I'm scanning for a listing on ebay, I eyeball it once and make the scan. It won't matter if its off by a few degrees. Time is worth more than a perfect image.

https://www.stampcommunity.org/uplo...MG_01102.JPG
Here is an earlier image
This took me 3-4 minutes to post as the draft disappeared on me and I had to start all over again. Actually am happy I can post anything that is reasonable.

I took John B's "preview" image, and in less than 20 seconds I produced the image below. In Irfanview, I custom rotated the original image by 5 degrees to clockwise and saved it. So even a "preview" image (at the desired resolution) can be used vs. doing the extra work of rotating and scanning the materials several times.