What resolution do you scan your DVD covers i have been using 240dpi has this seems to give the best compromise between quality and file size for uploading. Is there an official dpi you should use?

100dpi is too low for reading the smaller detail on covers, even after sharpening,  so I scan at 150dpi. That's high enough for my needs in my own database and good for keeping the backup still within a reasonable size for removable media.

I have been doing covers at 800DPI for two years now, up from my old standard of 300.

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Just to ensure that we're all talking about the same thing, my understanding is as follows:

a standard Front or Back DVD Cover is 5.12 inches wide and 7.25 inches tall
Scanning at 100 DPI would yield an image 512 pixels wide and 725 pixels tall.
Scanning at 200 DPI would yield an image 1024 pixels wide and 1450 pixels tall.
Scanning at 300 DPI would yield an image 1536 pixels wide and 2175 pixels tall.
Scanning at 800 DPI would yield an image 4096 pixels wide and 5800 pixels tall.

Similarly, an image that is 800 pixels wide and 1132 pixels tall would be 156.25 DPI, which doesn't indicate that it was scanned that way, but means that if you wanted to print it and have it be the same size as a DVD cover, you would need to print it at 156 DPI, or somehow mark it as a 156 DPI image.

Quoting dirk_steitz:

Quote:
I scan at 300 dpi but resize to approx. 500x700px before submitting the image.

Dirk

Yup -- no larger than 500 or 700... That way, what you submit is exactly what comes out.

If submit anything larger, the automatic controls take over and who know what comes out.

'Tis best to keep all larger images local. because a 300 dpi 1500 pixel wide submitted image will lose 2/3rds of its information, and you (the submitter), have no control over how the color, sharpness, moire patterns, etc. will turn out.

Actually it would appear that cover scans are resized to fit into 500X700 pixel rectangle.
If you check a number of images you have down loaded they are not all exactly 500X700 pixels.
If you submit a cover that doesn't fit in that little box it be compressed again and more than probable change look of the image.

That's why an image that may satisfactory to you in your db and on your screen will not look the same to profile reviewers or when downloaded.

example: a 500X707 pixel image would result in a 495X700 pixel image in the online db.

Scan at the highest DPI you can, and the highest bit rate you can.  Also scan to a format that is not "lossy."  Lossy means that whenever you alter something in the picture, including saving, the algorithm will discard any data it doesn't think it needs.  That will affect sharpness, detail, and color depth.  A good choice is to save the initial scan in TIFF format, which is non-lossy.

Using the large image, make any corrections without saving, then resize to 500x700, and save to JPG format.  When you upload to DVDP, no information will be lost because you are already at the right size.

My scanner runs at 48 bit color, RGB mode, saved in TIFF format, which yields a picture approx. 1500 x 2200 pixels.

]sorry clicked on the wrong button.