The Atari ST magazine preservation project

[StickHead]

Thanks, Shredder, you're a diamond.

[Shredder11]

All uploaded now plus a few other ST related magazines I have on my drive at the moment.

[Marakatti]

The One for ST Games issues uploaded!

[Shredder11]

Great! Keep them coming peeps!

[StickHead]

Great work guys! I've been busy tonight, but tomorrow work will begin on a simple website to distribute the magazines.

The hosting company use the pleck control panel 9.5 which doesn't give me much control over ftp users (I can only create new 'web users' who have read write access to a single directory, but nothing else) and they do not allow SSH access. So I have no control over permissions, multiple connections etc. I've set up this user for you guys to share what you have with the project and each other, but I think I'll have to set up a simple website to allow you all (and the world at large) to download what you need from the entire collection.

Then I'll start scanning the magazines I have that will fit into my A4 scanner.

Incidentally, if anyone comes across issues of poor quality or missing pages etc. while reading, report it here and we can seek an alternative.

[wongck]

Great work guys

[X3peri_MENTaL]

This is a worthwhile project for sure.

It's not easy to scan well though. I remember a few years ago when I scanned dozens of adverts from magazines for GameBaseST. It was heavy going! ST Format is too damn thick to scan. The One is too damn flimsy to scan etc. You find ways to get around scanning problems though. I situated the A4 scanner on my desktop and built a little platform next to it to support the page not being scanned (if you follow my logic). I then removed the lid/top from the scanner and then carefully held down the page being scanned (without the lid).

If you have the stomach for it then destroying the magazine (break the spine and tease out the pages) is definitely the easiest option. However, this is little short of sacrilegious IMHO. I certainly couldn't face it.

Other general advice I'd give is:
*scan at as high a resolution as possible (200-300dpi). If necessary you can resize down later.
*save in a lossless format (png, bmp etc).
*use the descreen option when scanning as this is printed media. Moire patterns are your enemy! I always cringe when I see scans afflicted with this.

Over the years I also learned a few Paintshop Pro tricks to use on scans such as using the clone brush to remove tears and stains. Bleaching white paper back to white (from yellow). Sharpening little bits here and there. This can be very time consuming though.

Anyway, good luck.

[StickHead]

Thanks for the tips! Truly invaluable information.

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to separate the pages of my magazines in order to scan them. It seems perverse to destroy the very thing I'm trying to preserve. But then again, am I preserving the physical magazines, or their content? I need to give this some serious thought. Many of my magazines were bought by myself as a kid with saved pocket money, it would be very difficult to butcher those with a Stanley knife, for sure.

[alexh]

Anyone got any (or planning to make any) indexes?

Which preview/review/cheat is in which magazine, on which page and with what percentage?

This can then be linked back to the website like over at AMR for searching.

[StickHead]

Anyone got any (or planning to make any) indexes?

Which preview/review/cheat is in which magazine, on which page and with what percentage?

This can then be linked back to the website like over at AMR for searching.

That's part of the grand plan, Alexh, but my php/sql skills aren't up to the task at the moment, so making the magazines available is the first hurdle, indexing will come later.

[Codetapper]

Hi guys, I created the Amiga Magazine Rack site! If you don't have time to create the system for indexing the relevant pages, I would be happy to create some Atari ST magazine entries on the site allowing the indexes to be created, and can link to the scans wherever you keep them. When you get the time to create your own system for indexing, you can have all the relevant records for your own system.

We already have all ACE and C+VG reviews indexed for example - not all the previews and cheats - which would save you a lot of time to enter.

The fields we store are available in the contributor template available at the bottom of the Amiga Magazine Rack homepage. The Hall of Light ID is automatically matched based on the name so you don't need to fill that in!

[StickHead]

Hi guys, I created the Amiga Magazine Rack site! If you don't have time to create the system for indexing the relevant pages, I would be happy to create some Atari ST magazine entries on the site allowing the indexes to be created, and can link to the scans wherever you keep them. When you get the time to create your own system for indexing, you can have all the relevant records for your own system.

We already have all ACE and C+VG reviews indexed for example - not all the previews and cheats - which would save you a lot of time to enter.

The fields we store are available in the contributor template available at the bottom of the Amiga Magazine Rack homepage. The Hall of Light ID is automatically matched based on the name so you don't need to fill that in!

Nice one, Codetapper! That might be a good stop-gap while we wait to implement our own search and index system. Thank you very much! Your site has been a valuable resource over the years, even to ST fans! Any advice you have regarding scanning and setting up the archive website will be a great help.

As preservation and proliferation are the key goals of this project, I will be more than happy to share any scans we have that are relevant to the Amiga with your site.

[Greyfox™]

just reading the last few pages..and want to be of service on this..if you wish I could do front cover magazine graphic previews for the different magazines..all I need is the front covers and I'll do the rest..would make the site's catalogue magazine stand look stylish etc...or any icons or a banner if you wish..let me know sticky!

Grey.

[Mug UK]

Other stuff, mostly going out and drinking beer, has got in the way of my planned search through the TOSEC-PIX archive for what magazines will be of use. I've set tonight (and the remainder of the weekend) out for doing my bit. I can't access the TOSEC site (or any other site similar) due to work's web policies, so if anyone can get a list of what's inside TOSEC-PIX collection, they'll have more of a clue than I will for the time being

[Welsh Wizard]

I have Monitor issues 8 to 21 inclusive, just need to scan them in, as long as it does not breach any copy right

[StickHead]

I have Monitor issues 8 to 21 inclusive, just need to scan them in, as long as it does not breach any copy right

Nice one, I've never seen an issue of Monitor, so that will be really interesting. Cheers, Welsh Wizard

just reading the last few pages..and want to be of service on this..if you wish I could do front cover magazine graphic previews for the different magazines..all I need is the front covers and I'll do the rest..would make the site's catalogue magazine stand look stylish etc...or any icons or a banner if you wish..let me know sticky!

Grey.

From a UI perspective, I can't imagine anything being more intuitive than the actual magazine cover when it comes to browsing, and users finding what they want quickly and easily. However a banner would be great; my Photoshop abilities are limited at best. The site itself will have a clean, minimalist vibe, so if you can knock up something classy to stick up at the top, that would be great. As for icons, I'll let you know. I'm still constructing and shifting things around at the moment, so I have little idea of what I'll need. Cheers, foxy!

[StickHead]

A quick progress report: The site itself is up, but without content. Now I'm looking for a decent .pdf to image converter in order to have both a .pdf download and separate viewable images for people who are just wanting to read the odd article (this will be more pertinent when the indexing system is live).

I've found a few programs that will convert, but at a serious hit to readability. The search continues...

EDIT: Here's the site, a bit basic at the moment, but it's on the way: http://www.stmags.com

[StickHead]

ACE magazines #1 - #35 are now up.

I'm struggling to find a program that will reliably extract good quality .jpg's from a .pdf file, so it's just the .pdf's at the moment. More magazines to come soon!

[Shredder11]

Nice work!

[wongck]

Great STuff !!

[StickHead]

All 55 ACE Magazines are now live: http://stmags.com/?page_id=8

[Greyfox™]

I will be beginning some banner work on this project this week..so I haven't forgotten

Grey.

[Greyfox™]

okay..I've design a banner for the site..if it's too much..please let me know..and I'll do another one..but make sure your comments are beneficial to the site and not another excuse for me to do another banner

banner :



grey.

[Marakatti]

Looks cool. Your choice of ST Format cover "Let's get digital" is very clever

[purpleeagle01]

Hi I have many many German Magazines and can beginning to scan these when they are needed.
Cheers