New Coin Photo Template ideas, help me decide

I'm trying new Coin Photo Template ideas, help me decide which one to use.

I'm looking for a way to present my coins that don't already have PCGS TrueViews or Great Collections GreatPhotos. These would mostly be NGC coins.

I have my old tried and true template Circa 2012 (Option #1)

I used to love the black, but now not sure if I should do Blue (like GC) or White (like PCGS) or something else.

Problem with my old templates is that they are fairly small by modern standards. Can't really zoom in.





Below is my first attempt at a 2024 version (Option #2). This one is 4000x2000 pixels, similar to GC and PCGS. ~3x as large as the original.






Update: On your device, it likely wont go as large as it is natively, CT appears to limits files dimensions / file sizes. So I can't even show you just how much larger / higher resolution the new version is.

 

Will do.

 

This whole coin photo thing, is worth every penny you pay PCGS, GC, NGC or a private coin photo person on one of the forums.

What a royal pain this process is. Between designing the template, takes multiple rounds of photos, sourcing the gear itself, altering the light based on the type of coin, dealing with multiple software packages, Naming and organizing the files, etc.



$5-$10 per coin is a bargain! Keep that in mind next time you're going to grumble about paying for TrueViews, if you were ever inclined to do so. Worth every penny by a long shot.

And I like doing this stuff, and these are my own dang coins! I'll be back in a few months once I get the next 100 coins processed, LOL. Whose big idea was it to undertake this coin photography template update? Oh yeah, me!



Black Test:



Gray Test:




White Test:



Ivory Test:





I will probably stick with Black and the Blue, unless there is overwhelming response to the white / gray / ivory color.

In the end, I think consistency is really more important than the background color. Meaning, if all the "frames" around the coins are the same, across the 100 coins, the overall collection will look COHESIVE, which is really what I am aiming for here.

 

I realized that all of the photos I like the resolution of, the really crispy macro shots, are very dull looking, as I think I used way too diffused light.

So really, once I get the templates figured out, my real task it to take a lot more photos.

The morgans I have for instance, really show the details nice, but are just dull dull dull and just about all the actual luster is stripped from the photos.

What say you?


Example:



So, this will be an ongoing thread of my trials and tribulations as I figure out the workflow and setup to get the photos and templates married up.


I am 10+ years out of this game, so I am re-learning some of this. And also I need to actually improve upon what I have already done in the past.

 

Black test with matte proof, silver coin with little to now shininess.



Looks like black template is winning the hearts and minds.


I am still partial to the blue one, as it has the slight black "shadow" behind the coin, and just looks less stark overall. Maybe I need to add some fancy watermarking at a 45 degree like PCGS and GC do to add some point of interest to the background. Subtle of course, so as to not distract from the coin.