What's the best way to go about getting a panel scanned without removing the mounting hardware nowadays? Large flatbed scanners seem to be a thing of the past, and the roller-fed ones won't take a panel that has hardware on the underside.
How to scan a panel?
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Really there are only 4 options (that I'm aware of), from best to worst IMO.
1. Find a print shop with an enormous flat bed scanner, the best option, without question.
2. HP ScanJet 4600. This is a weird scanner that essentially mounted the scan bar inside the lid instead of the base, the result is that you can remove the lid and place it on large objects for scanning in sections... which also makes it great for arcade artwork. Many KLOVers have used it to scan cab side-art and the like.
http://www.andysarcade.de/projects_starhawk.html (about 3/4 of the way down the page)
3. A "wand" scanner. these are small scanners that you move by hand over the thing you're scanning, mostly designed to travel and quickly scan stuff out of magazines or books. I have a few of these, one interesting benefit is that they can scan some curved surfaces. overall though these are super cheap/low quality scanners and you usually have to scan the thing multiple times because if you don't have a really smooth hand you'll get a wavy scan. I HIGHLY recommend buying one with 2 rollers as that will help greatly with stability in the final image. Also in theory these should be able to scan really long things (like panels, but in practice most of them are arbitrarily limited to about 17in or so.
more info here: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=253321
If you want a hand scanner let me know I think I have an extra one I can send, just pay shipping.
3. Take a picture. if you manage to get the resolution high enough and the conditions perfect such that you're photographing perfectly perpendicular to the art and there is no glare or uneven light, then you'll STILL have to combat the fact that camera lenses are round and every lens will have a subtle fish-eye effect on the thing you're photographing. The best way to combat this is to photograph the art while laid flat on top of a grid (or framed with ruler markings on all sides). that will allow you to more easily correct the geometry issues from the captured image... even in the best case scenario it's not as good as a scan though IMO.
I believe this is how they normally digitize museum art, so maybe there is more to it for better results.
1. Find a print shop with an enormous flat bed scanner, the best option, without question.
2. HP ScanJet 4600. This is a weird scanner that essentially mounted the scan bar inside the lid instead of the base, the result is that you can remove the lid and place it on large objects for scanning in sections... which also makes it great for arcade artwork. Many KLOVers have used it to scan cab side-art and the like.
http://www.andysarcade.de/projects_starhawk.html (about 3/4 of the way down the page)
3. A "wand" scanner. these are small scanners that you move by hand over the thing you're scanning, mostly designed to travel and quickly scan stuff out of magazines or books. I have a few of these, one interesting benefit is that they can scan some curved surfaces. overall though these are super cheap/low quality scanners and you usually have to scan the thing multiple times because if you don't have a really smooth hand you'll get a wavy scan. I HIGHLY recommend buying one with 2 rollers as that will help greatly with stability in the final image. Also in theory these should be able to scan really long things (like panels, but in practice most of them are arbitrarily limited to about 17in or so.
more info here: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=253321
If you want a hand scanner let me know I think I have an extra one I can send, just pay shipping.
3. Take a picture. if you manage to get the resolution high enough and the conditions perfect such that you're photographing perfectly perpendicular to the art and there is no glare or uneven light, then you'll STILL have to combat the fact that camera lenses are round and every lens will have a subtle fish-eye effect on the thing you're photographing. The best way to combat this is to photograph the art while laid flat on top of a grid (or framed with ruler markings on all sides). that will allow you to more easily correct the geometry issues from the captured image... even in the best case scenario it's not as good as a scan though IMO.
I believe this is how they normally digitize museum art, so maybe there is more to it for better results.
1 doesn't exist in SoCal any more unfortunately. I've called 30 some odd places now, each one going "We retired ours a while ago, but maybe try place X and Y, they used to have one."
I'll throw a post on KLOV and see if anyone down here has one and can give me a hand getting it scanned. If not I'll ping you about borrowing the handheld (and thanks for offering!). I'd like to get both the Vewlix Dia and the Egret 3 panels scanned for the community since those two seem to be elusive.
I'll throw a post on KLOV and see if anyone down here has one and can give me a hand getting it scanned. If not I'll ping you about borrowing the handheld (and thanks for offering!). I'd like to get both the Vewlix Dia and the Egret 3 panels scanned for the community since those two seem to be elusive.
maybe see if you can find people who work at galleries/museums who have one of these bad boys:
http://vikmans.com/product/widetek-36-art/
http://vikmans.com/product/widetek-36-art/
That thing is COOL.
I was offered hi-res DSLR scanning and stitching from an architectural company that does digitizing of blueprints and the like, but they wanted $3-400 for their services given the size of the panel... He said they have the camera on what more or less amounts to a CNC machine.
I was offered hi-res DSLR scanning and stitching from an architectural company that does digitizing of blueprints and the like, but they wanted $3-400 for their services given the size of the panel... He said they have the camera on what more or less amounts to a CNC machine.
Egret 3 scan can be found here: https://segamadebaddecisions.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/hey-i-heard-you-like-cabinet-art/
One of them anyway! Unfortunately the one I'm getting...
Every panel maker has said that's completely impossible to find, and here you find it in under an hour.
So for this kind of thing you're realistically going to need to redraw the art from scratch to have a decent repro/print. Basically goes back the long ass shit I posted in that thread about scanning posters. That Egret 3 scan is a good example, if you try and print that it will look like ass.
So if you're redrawing things already, and you have CAD for the holes etc, then it's pretty easy to correct any minor distortion from using photographs.
For instance, put a couple sawhorses or something down, with a board, lay a DSLR on that facing down, and shoot a few shots of the panel, sliding the camera along the board to keep the distance and angle consistent. Easy to stitch, and any little issues with barrel distortion will not only be minor but will vanish on a redraw anyways.
So if you're redrawing things already, and you have CAD for the holes etc, then it's pretty easy to correct any minor distortion from using photographs.
For instance, put a couple sawhorses or something down, with a board, lay a DSLR on that facing down, and shoot a few shots of the panel, sliding the camera along the board to keep the distance and angle consistent. Easy to stitch, and any little issues with barrel distortion will not only be minor but will vanish on a redraw anyways.
I count 3 minutes between when you mentioned Egret 3 panel scan and my post
but thats because I knew I had a copy of that scan in my art folder and remembered where I got it
@twistedsymphony any chance you have the one with the pyramids on it? 
pyramids? I'm not sure I know which panel you're talking about.@twistedsymphony any chance you have the one with the pyramids on it?
Looks like the expected person has already done the Vewlix Diamond panel too
https://www.trfightstick.com/taito-...jnm74718-ed4bf37a-edd2-4811-8980-feccf36261ae
I swear there's one with pyramids on it. I'm looking for a pic now.pyramids? I'm not sure I know which panel you're talking about.@twistedsymphony any chance you have the one with the pyramids on it?
On the other hand, there is one with a cityscape that's blue and purple and says "E G R E T" across the bottom.
Well that's what I get for trying to help, I guess. Though I would venture a guess that that's not a publicly available file (and he's not selling the panels it looks like, so that's not help either).Looks like the expected person has already done the Vewlix Diamond panel too
https://www.trfightstick.com/taito-...jnm74718-ed4bf37a-edd2-4811-8980-feccf36261ae
TRIPLE POST.
Pyramid panel was made by Highway Star. Still looking for a pic, but have confirmation I'm not crazy and they do exist.
Cityscape pic stolen from uh, I forget his username on here... I know your name, but I don't know your username, so apologies ahead of time!!!!
Pyramid panel was made by Highway Star. Still looking for a pic, but have confirmation I'm not crazy and they do exist.
Cityscape pic stolen from uh, I forget his username on here... I know your name, but I don't know your username, so apologies ahead of time!!!!
I've seen that cityscape panel but every close up picture I've seen of one has looked BOOTLEG as all hell; like beginner level photoshop printed in sections on A4 and applied with glue-stick, bootleg.
even the fact that it just says "EGRET" without a number leads me to believe it's not a licensed Taito panel.
I have access to a 48” x 70” flatbed scanner that can handle objects up to a couple inches deep. Basically a high art scanner. This is what I used to scan the artwork for the Sega swing and egret 29 marquees I’m having reproduced.
So...if ya need to some of this stuff scanned let me know
So...if ya need to some of this stuff scanned let me know
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The scanner that I use is a Canon CanoScan LiDE 210. You remove the left and right plastic trim pieces, shave some of the sides with a Dremel, and you have a completely flat surface horizontally. Scan your art in parts and then merge in Photoshop.
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/tutorials/perspective/en.shtml
I've had really good results with the camera method too. I use Hugin for perspective correction. Rectangular control panels are super easy, because you set the control points on the edges of the panel.
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/tutorials/perspective/en.shtml