The Standard Knife Picture!

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:20 am

Dreamland; There should be a tutorial on Ebay, on how to present a knife so a buyer knows what they are buying! Then no-one should buy a knife unless the picture is clear!! . . . . . . . . . . Huh? Whuzzat honey?? OK, OK, I'm awake, I'm awake!! I think I was having a nightmare about fuzzy knives! Yeah, fuzzy knives! I kicked you????? Oh I'm so sorry!!

Real world; A picture of an open knife, flat on so perspective doesn't screw up the blade fullness, and clear enough so you can read the tang stamps. Nothing artsy-fartsy to distract. Plain light background. This shows the true knife, and is the most descriptive picture you can do! Sure you have to describe snap and fit, impossible with pictures, but the right pic is worth the proverbial 1000 words.

I was ignorant of how to turn on my computer in 2000 when I bought my first one, but a decent scanner and a little homework (does that scare anyone?), and you can produce direct pictures that are as good as it gets!

Of course they won't look amazing like Paul M's, or Kerry Hampton's, but they sure will do the job!

These are pretty clear, but I could improve the Challenge so you can read the tang! Sorry! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

tank · Post by **tank** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:49 am

Great scans Charlie.

All the new pics on my site are scanned at 250dpi, touched up in Paint Shop then run thru a jpeg optimizer at 65% to save bandwidth. I think they turned out decent and this one's only 76.2Kb.

marcinek · Post by **marcinek** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:12 am

Those are great scans upnorth! When I scan, I get the same little yellow thing on the bolster you got in that scan! Interesting.

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:03 am

Excellent knife tankman! Let me be frank (even though I am Charlie

)
The knotty background is purty, but it detracts from the stag! Find a nice plain neutral color, and see the difference, IMHO of course!

Sometimes I can get rid of the yellow thingie by scanning it sideways and rotating it after, marcinek! Nice Schatt! Is that peanut sized?

tank · Post by **tank** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:30 am

I value your opinion Charlie, i will try a medium tan, brown.

tank · Post by **tank** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:46 am

Something like this?

knife-nut · Post by **knife-nut** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:50 pm

Tank. That is one beautiful knife you got there. What would you call that pattern? A gunstock? Most gunstocks I've seen before have a different blade configureation. That is really different. Very Nice!

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:52 pm

scans are more descriptive and less deceptive than most pictures you see on ebay. Here is a schrade cut co norfolk whittler.

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:56 pm

Great knife and pic, tank! Nice stag, and you can "click it up" and read the tang. That's entertainment

!

(Maybe I should get out more!! . . . . . .nahhh!)

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:58 pm

Warts and all, MM. That's a nice knife!
If you buy from that scan, you know what you are getting!

tank · Post by **tank** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:05 pm

Thanks Charlie and great idea for a post.

Knife Nut thanks, Fight'n Rooster calls this a Gunstock Cotton Sampler. I own it in Stag and red bone, you can see them here My Roosters
They also make it in Waterfall celluloid but i'm scared of celluloid.
Nice knife Kaleb

SFC ADP · Post by **SFC ADP** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:34 pm

Ok, I need some scanner tips, every time I try the scanner method, the handle looks fine but the blade always turns out Blurry.
I have a EPSON CX 3810, and I scan at 300 DPI.
Any suggestions would be helpful!
Here is an example:

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:55 pm

It looks fuzziest at the point farthest from the screen, SFC. I don't know that scanner, but it's all about "depth of field". Google turned up the scanner you mentioned, which is combined with a printer for less than $90, so as a budget machine, it probably has little depth of field. I paid $300 for mine $10 years ago, and it will do shots like the ones below. It is an AGFA.
I guess you would have to get a little better one to do three dimensional objects, like knives. Try scanning them sideways or upside down and rotating the image after. Sometimes the different light angle helps.

upnorth · Post by **upnorth** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:14 pm

P.S. on the previous post. It seems to need a little explanation;
A stack three knives high! The bottom and middle ones are pretty clear, but the top on is starting to go out of focus. (click the pic twice).
I guess if you are buying a scanner to take knife pics, you want good depth of field.

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The Standard Knife Picture!

The Standard Knife Picture!

the standard knife picture