What Resources Do You Use To Add Quality Album Artwork To Your Digital Library?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by mwheelerk, May 14, 2019.

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  1. Robert C

    Robert C Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
  2. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Same here, in reverse order. I also occasionally find images on MusicBrainz or 45Worlds that I can't find elsewhere . . . all subject to editing in PhotoShop, of course.

    When I can't find it "easy," I scan my own.
     
  3. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I adjust the color on my personal scans to what the physical artwork looks like in natural light. It's not that common to find high quality art for non-mainstream classical and jazz albums/recordings on the internet.

    I do not fix defects that are on the paper, that would be too time consuming, for instance the wear on the art below from the case. I want this done fast, I just use the automation that paint.net has in it. Majority of the time just adjusting that one slider gets me 95% of the way to what it looks like in natural light. Usually something that I can do in under a minute.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. detroit muscle

    detroit muscle MIA

    Location:
    UK
    I'm still looking for the full body version of weezer (blue). The one on Discogs has a sticker on it.
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Doug_B

    Doug_B Time Traveler

    Location:
    New Jersey
    For my CDs, I'm more interested in the accuracy of the front cover artwork to what I own, as subtle variances do exist for many albums, perhaps even for the same release of an album. So I eventually replace the artwork chosen when ripping via dbpoweramp, for example, with one I'll scan myself. I usually do a bit of editing after the scan.

    I use the Collectorz software to keep track of my collection, and there I maintain 800 x 800 versions of the scans of front and back cover art per album (this is a task I haven't completed yet; see below).

    In the metadata of the rips, I will usually include the same file for the front cover artwork, but for multi-disc titles, I sometimes prefer Internet images that show the full set of discs (primary examples are all the recent Jethro Tull reissues).

    Now for the obsessive part of it: updating my Collectorz database with the scanned cover art is just the tip of the iceberg. I am in the process of scanning all my albums' booklets and other artwork (gatefolds, sleeves, etc.) and placing these into pdf files. It's a long process, but I have only about 600 albums and am now somewhat more than 1/2 way through. This has taken me about a 1.5 years so far (much longer than ripping the collection). Doesn't include multiple issues of the same album, for which I have many; for these I'll be picky, seeking unique content.

    Doug
     
    KenJ likes this.
  6. Drewan77

    Drewan77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK/USA
    Sorry folks but IMO the best way to enjoy artwork is on original vinyl - unless you are using a large screen or projector, I can't really see the point.

    However, for digital rips I search on google & then add a low/medium quality file via Jaikoz, I prefer the NAS drive to be filled with music itself.
     
  7. mj_patrick

    mj_patrick Senior Member

    Location:
    Elkhart, IN, USA
    What Resources Do You Use To Add Quality Album Artwork To Your Digital Library?

    Album Art Exchange... some of the SH members here contribute to it. ;-)

    Sometimes when you search with Google images you can find clean digitally-sourced artwork (often direct from the record label's marketing).

    Record Store Day's web site used to be an excellent resource for high definition, high quality restorations of classic album covers... until they started watermarking them.

    I would be quick to agree, nothing beats vinyl album cover art. I have noticed when using Apple Music via Apple TV, the artwork that gets displayed on the 65" 4K set in the living room is output larger than 12" x 12".
     
  8. mj_patrick

    mj_patrick Senior Member

    Location:
    Elkhart, IN, USA
  9. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    Album Art Downloader for Windows. It gets artwork from the major online services I usually grab the iTunes version though some times the files can be huge. I tried AlbumArtExchange and while I liked it the site has not worked for me for the past 3 weeks.
     
  10. PTgraphics

    PTgraphics Senior Member

    I use Album Art Exchange and iTunes Artwork Finder if I don't scan them myself. I have contributed to Album Art Exchange but it was mainly years ago that I uploaded the files. I need to add bigger versions of what I submitted.
    I have been scanning my 45 Picture Sleeves, 12" Singles and CD Singles - front cover only - for about 9 years now. I get burned out and sometimes go 6 months and don't scan a thing. I have about 1,200 of my picture sleeves scanned. I keep wanting to put them on a website but still have not done it. I use the picture sleeves scans for the respective songs in the album if it was released as a single.
     
    Ham Sandwich likes this.
  11. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Many many of us (and I’m not being snarky or contrary intentionally here) have our music servers connected to our large TV screen with the player and album covers on display. The music was ripped or dropped from discs and vinyl LPs/45s, and cover art displayed is up there in large view.

    So we are using a large screen 95% of the time. Good quality scans just make the whole thing look classy for our home music server displays.

    Storage is not a consideration any longer, jpgs take up very little space anyway.
     
  12. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    I am on a Mac and don't know if I am just missing seeing the "Inspect Element" but right clicking gives me nothing and in the tool bar above I find nothing called that.
     
  13. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    The out of focus and poor colors are easily seen at smaller sizes on an iPhone, iPad or laptop also but then my job has me looking at the quality of printed material every day so maybe I take greater notice than most would. I always use the analogy of my former wife. She couldn't hear or see things I could, the subtleties of art and music. I could taste or smell the things that she could, the individual flavors or aromas that she noticed were one big smell or taste to me.
     
  14. GreenDrazi

    GreenDrazi Truth is beauty

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    So just use the content-aware fill in Photoshop and you can eliminate the sticker.
     
  15. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Very easy to clone our or air brush out of there is 4 seconds flat.
     
  16. GreenDrazi

    GreenDrazi Truth is beauty

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Sorry Andrew, but that wasn't the OP's question.

    And for the record, I often look at my scans on a 55" 4k monitor.
     
  17. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    GIMP also has a content aware style fill plugin, but for free. I use the GIMP Resynthesizer to clean up scans to remove stickers, dust, glitches, stains, etc. Very handy. And free. I'm too cheep to buy Photoshop.

    GIMP Resynthesizer Plugin | Tutorial to Install and Use

     
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  18. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Something like that would be a breeze for PhotoShop Elements. Just enough tools to mark a round blank space next to the sticker, and lay it over the top. Or, use the smudge tool to just smudge the blue all over it until it disappears.

    Yes, I'm still using software from the 'aughts. :shh:
     
  19. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    Me too. Works great for most titles.
     
  20. Robert C

    Robert C Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Courtesy of iTunes Artwork Finder by Ben Dodson

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    That's not the full body version of the cover. I don't see their shoes. In the special full body version of the LP cover you can see their shoes.
     
    crispi likes this.
  22. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
  23. Robert C

    Robert C Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    :rolleyes:
     
    quicksrt likes this.
  24. ganma

    ganma Senior Member

    Location:
    Earth
    There used to be a good 3rd party add-on for iTunes that would help you find artwork quickly in iTunes, Album Artwork Assistant. However it no longer works so I just use google now and try to get the best looking artwork at around 500px.
     
  25. lwh1

    lwh1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, England
    I use Album Art Exchange, if the picture I want is not on there, then I try Fanart and finally Google.
     
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