The Importance of Visual Card Presentation Online

[mouschi]

Have you ever had a card that looks ugly on the computer, yet when you see them in hand, they look incredible? I've had it both ways, but nothing as eye popping as these: The 1998 E-X Essential Credentials parallels. Tidel144 posted online that baseballcardpedia.com had been updated, most notably (to me) the E-X set. They are doing the Lord's work over there, and I gotta give them props!

When I first got in the FUTURE Canseco parallel #/61, I was surprised by its beauty and was mesmerized by it, so I placed it at the top of my list to try to get it back into my collection after I sold. I personally had NEVER seen either card for sale previously. Because the only scans I saw online of the NOW /40 version, I didn't have much of an urgency to add it. Here is a scan of both together .... (FUTURE on the left and NOW on the right.)

Then I saw a Ripken NOW, and loved how it looked. Plus, holy crap - look at the end price!

I was finally able to track down the NOW Canseco, and in doing so, was happy to finally be able to take proper pictures of them together:

I don't know if I've ever seen as big of a visual discrepancy between scan and picture as I have with these. All I know is that if I didn't see anything other than scans of these cards online before, I may not have been interested in picking them up! What about you? Have you ever experienced something like this before?

 

[MrMet]

Wait, the two you took photos of, in the 3rd picture are the same two cards as the one in the 1st picture?

Holy crap dude, you ain’t kidding, whoever took the scans did these cards no justice...


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[gracecollector]

First scan was just poor. A little color correction on the first scan would have helped.

 

[WCTYSON]

I've started using my phone with an app for pictures, instead of my scanner. I haven't bothered to turn on my scanner since. Some cards, like refractors and foil cards, get much better results showing the attributes than with the scanner. It's the flexibility of adjusting the lighting to showcase exactly what you want, that you just can't get with a scanner.

 

[mouschi]

Wait, the two you took photos of, in the 3rd picture are the same two cards as the one in the 1st picture?

Holy crap dude, you ain’t kidding, whoever took the scans did these cards no justice...


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Yup, the same 2 cards! Well ... not the EXACT same two, but the same kind of card. The scans I showed you were the only ones I ever had to go by since they've never hit eBay for as long as I've been collecting.

First scan was just poor. A little color correction on the first scan would have helped.

You are right - it would have helped quite a bit. They weren't my pics to begin with though, and as such, that was all I had to go by, which is what happens when you are searching for cards you don't yet have. Regardless of how nice the scan is, the beauty of these Now & Future cards are grossly misrepresented unless they are in hand or you have a nice picture. From colored acetate to holographic foil, there is simply too much going on with them for a scanner to do them justice!

I've started using my phone with an app for pictures, instead of my scanner. I haven't bothered to turn on my scanner since. Some cards, like refractors and foil cards, get much better results showing the attributes than with the scanner. It's the flexibility of adjusting the lighting to showcase exactly what you want, that you just can't get with a scanner.

That's what I started doing also when I was keeping up my site! I heard some people use Office Lens, I think it is? I used Cam Scanner, and that worked very well, also.

 

[WCTYSON]

That's what I started doing also when I was keeping up my site! I heard some people use Office Lens, I think it is? I used Cam Scanner, and that worked very well, also.

Office Lens is exactly what I use but I will check out Cam Scanner, then compare the quality and features. I would also like to add though, if someone wants an idea of the surface of a card, scanning is the only way to go.

 

[mouschi]

Office Lens is exactly what I use but I will check out Cam Scanner, then compare the quality and features. I would also like to add though, if someone wants an idea of the surface of a card, scanning is the only way to go.

I actually think I already have office lens on my phone as well, but am not sure if I've even tried it. I'm sure they are probably pretty comparable to each other.

 

[linuxabuser]

Which app [MENTION=11981]WCTYSON[/MENTION]?

 

[WCTYSON]

Which app?

Office Lens. It's a free app and all of my recent postings are from using it. Check it out, it gets the job done and it's easy to use.

 

[cardcop05]

Digital camera pictures can destroy the way certain cards look especially. Like many have said; vertically stand the card up at an angle and you get fantastic digital camera pictures if angled just the right way.

I used to always only use a scanner from 1997-2007, but they don't do high tech cards justice at all.
Good points here, thanks!