Printed Some Color Inserts!

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
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I just wanted to congratulate nick_th_fury on his OUTSANDING achievement that is his Shock Troopers insert. I went to Kinko's today and got a VERY nice print out (on glossy, heavy card stock no less) of this and the Strikers 1945 Plus inserts today and they look FABULOUS. I have taken some pics for all to see. They are not the best, but you get the idea.

Oh, and by the way, yes I did scale these out using Photoshop 5.5 so they a larger than they were originally. As you will see, they are in Big Bear's MVS cases and the whole spine is insert.

Shock Troopers front cover
Shock Troopers back cover

Next, here is the Strikers 1945 Plus insert. This was originally the NGF insert for converted carts. I must say, this insert needed a lot of additional work in order to get it presentable in my mind. The colors were very inconsistent and ALL of the text on the bottom back, blue field I re-did from scratch. In any case, here is what I printed up:

Striker 1945 Plus front
Striker 1945 Plus back

And for all of us puckered, collector freaks, here is how they will look when you have them on the wall!

Cart Spines

And just because I know you are thinking it, no I did NOT adjust the spine when I scaled the images out. The amount of wrap that is present by simply scaling them out it TOTALLY acceptable. You won't even really notice the fact the they wrap a LITTLE bit.

Again, nick_th_fury, FANTASTIC work. I can't wait for more from you and others.

Oh, and the cost of printing the inserts on heavy cardstock??? $2.48. <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">

PS...Yes, that is my unlocked back door in the "Spines" picture. Please do not break in and steal of of my Neo games. <IMG SRC="smilies/crying.gif" border="0">

[ May 23, 2001: Message edited by: RyoGeo ]
 

mvsholic

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They look excellent. <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">

nick_th_fury - Keep up the excellent work.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a Kinkos to go to. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
 

LWK

Earl of Sexyheim
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Please explain how you got those to look so damn good!
 

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
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YES! Please explain!! That looks SWEETER than the SWEETEST CANDY!!
Damn you got over CHEAP!!
Beautiful..just Beautiful! Now this is the stuff SNK News and Rumors should be consistent with!
WAY TO GO RYO!
-BB <IMG SRC="smilies/tickled.gif" border="0">
 

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
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OK. Here are some details on what I did to make these inserts.

Start with quality artwork that isn't yours! <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0"> Seriously, the work I did on these was minor. The real credit goes to those that made these to begin with. Anyway, here are the extra steps I took.

First off, for those of you that perhaps don't know, these files are VERY big. The Shock Troopers file is over 30 Megs and the Strikers is about 24M.

The first thing I did was scale them out to better fit the MVS case format. This is brain dead easy in Photoshop. A good vertical dimension is 9.25 inches. This brings the insert to just inside the cover of the case (no exposed paper). In order to accomplish this, click on the "image" pulldown in Photoshop. From there, go to "image size" and click. Here you will be presented with dimension options. Simply change the "Height" parameter to 9.25 and the width will dynamically change in order to maintain the same ratio. Voila, you now have it sized to fit Big Bear's cases.

Now, as far as getting these printed, I have found that EPS or TIF's seem to print better at the Kinko's down the street. When I tried to print a BMP, it looked like complete, pixelated crap. Now, to be honest, I think this had more to do with the people running the equipment than the file type, but suffice it to say, as an EPS or TIF, there are fewer decisions for them to make thus the image quality does not get degraded.

Now as far as paper stock, when I requested a glossy print, it came on a high gloss cardstock, very similar to heavy photo paper (for all I know, it IS photopaper). I would HIGHLY recommend this for two reasons.

One, it just looks really good. Two, when you're jamming the insert into the case, the thicker cardstock is much less prone to damage and also you are able to really work it down into the sleeve.

On the Strikers insert, due to the fact that it was a scan and not the original digital file, there were color inconsistencies, particularly in the blue stripes and the blue rectangle on the back. If you compare the blue area on the back of my cart, you will see it is different than the file on BB's insert page. This is because all of the blue on the page I totally re-did myself. I also kept the black behind the Strikers logo, because I thought it looked better than putting in on a blue field. When it's on the blue, it's too hard to see the text in the logo.

I made all the blues a consistent color and re-entered all the text on the bottom blue area (with the exception of the japanese which I simply cut and pasted). I also changed the small white box that said "Reproduction Prohibited" to "Reproduction Encouraged." <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">

The edges were not straight either, so I painted in a lot of black as well just to clean it up. All of the letters on the back had whitish centers that I touched up at the pixel level as well. I am just a pefectioninst that way, and I was having fun. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> The image I printed was much more "finished" than the original download, but it was a heck of a start and I am GREATFUL that it was available.

And before any more folks ask me for a copy, these files are HUGE. The Strikers (the smaller of the two) was 24meg as I stated above, so no, I cannot send it to you. I would if I could...but I can't.

Thanks for your interest. If there are questions I haven't answered, please ask them.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I got these to Kinko's by putting them on a ZIP disk and simply taking it down to one of their PC's and got it printed. If you don't have a ZIP disk or maybe a burner, I have no idea how you are supposed to get them made. They're WAY too big for any kind of electronic transport.

[ May 23, 2001: Message edited by: RyoGeo ]
 

chimpmeister

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WOW, great job on those inserts RyoGeo!! They look awesome!! Especially in Big Bear's new MVS cases, these look really great.

The new Shock Troopers insert looks especially nice, great job by nick_th_fury on that one!!

One thing I'd point out, am I the only one that finds the !Arcade! Strikers 1945 Plus insert BLOWS AWAY the NGF one? The new landscape-oriented Strikers insert by !Arcade! really looks beautiful . . . would be nice if his company could manufacture the home cart of this game! However, barring that, I hope that his insert becomes available to the general public someday . . . <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">
 

RyoGeo

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I agree 200% on the Strikers insert Chimp! Had I had access to it, I would have used it instead of the one I did. I really LOVE the landscape style cover image. That, and I really like that style of plane as well (P-31, I believe). Anyway, thanks!
 

LWK

Earl of Sexyheim
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This is turning out to be a very sweet conception, just imagine what a complete MVS collection can look with the red case and quality made insert, this adds a new level of creativity to the roster as well.
Lets take a look at the that strikers insert, that camoflauge type blue is exquisite!
I must be a part of this BB, and nick_th_fury!

MVS ALL THE WAY!
I have a collection like you previewed which shows mvs carts on a rack like trash, I need to get in on this!!
I have almost two shelves completed of mvs carts sitting like garbage.
Lets all hope that this stays novel though and does not end up in the rarity list, but AGAIN IT CANT ITS ALL FAN BASED!
We should all make inserts with snk art and of course call them unofficial, and have a monthly contest, could be a great idea!
Hell, if crappers like dion can do it we can do it better. KINKOS HERE I COME!
 

JMKurtz

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I still think Trey's Strikers 1945 insert is the best of the three I've seen... We need to get these homebrew inserts back on-line!

I have a couple more I'm working on and will share as soon as they are done.

Jeff
 

RyoGeo

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Trey (nick_th_fury) made one too??? Dang! I must have forgotten about that one. I would love to see it as well. For $2.50, I may end up just replacing the one I already made.

Trey and Jeff, I know you guys have more that are not up yet. You should really get them on BB's server (like your Shock insert) for all to see and enjoy again. I used to go to Trey's site just to look at the inserts periodicaly because I thought they were cool.

I wish I were more handy with the art tools. I would make some myself. I have no experience with the Raster tool set. I have PhotoShop 5.5, but not a lot of experience using it. Do I have raster capabilities in Photoshop?
 

nick_th_fury

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ou should really get them on BB's server

Thats the plan.
BB offered to host my site, so its coming.
It just takes time, but ill get it eventually.

Do I have raster capabilities in Photoshop?

Lol,
Why yes as a matter of fact.
Photoshop is one of the best for mac & pc.


(nick_th_fury) made one too?

Although its not up,
you can see a pic here:
Strikers
 

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
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Hey, that grey cammo looks really cool! Now that I see it, I do remember this insert on your site.

That's great that all of your stuff will make it to BB's server. Glad that you are getting that in gear. I think you have made inserts for more of the games that I have. There are only a few currently hosted that are of games that I actually own.

Most of my MVS's are the staple type games that pretty much anyone would get (Real Bouts, Sam Sho's, Metal Slugs, etc...). People haven't made inserts for these, I believe, because they are all regular release home cart games...so there wasn't really a reason to make them. Now that there are cases and more MVS buyers, there is a real need.

Guess I need to figure out how to use my PhotoShop! <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">
 
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