Praticing taking Photo's and croping

Thank you @CoinDoctorYT , I will be trying to do something like that , I really like the kinds of backgrounds that can be put with the coin.

 

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Those look pretty good @bcuda . I use remove.bg to clear out the background and you can choose backgrounds. I usually go with black.

My pictures certainly aren't great (@dougsmit takes amazing photos) but they work for me for now.

 

Yes that helps.. thank you.

Here is the seller's picture of the same coin.. which I think is much better than mine:

 

Here is a super quick video for those who want to merge photographs with Pixlr...

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/easy-coin-pic-editing-tutorial-vid.318697/

 

Great thread for me. I stopped taking photos of my coins last year, gave my cameras to my grandkids and dismantled my photography setup - but now want to take coin photos again - mostly using my iPhone and iPad! I will be taking separate pics of both sides of the coins and then combining them into one photo.

I would like to use PhotoShop to mostly perform the above operation (but I will use it for other editing functions also) and have installed it on my iPad - I have never used PhotoShop before. Of course, I will have to wade through the online tutorials - I am afraid that will entail a long learning curve for me at my age!

I am hoping some of my CT friends here will help me by offering occasional advice and tips as I embark on this journey - all assistance will be much appreciated!

James

 

Thank you @Clavdivs - I am going to try that. That video is marvelous - who would have thought, Eine kleine Nachtmusik as background music! Nice rendition, too. Mozart in the afternoon while being educated - it doesn’t get any better than that for me!

Edit: And thanks are also due to @chrsmat71

 

If you are a Mac user, Keynote which comes bundled with all Macs provides an "alpha" feature that allows you to replace the background of the coin. The original background should be very uniform, not granular in any way, and a different color than the coin itself, and the edges of the coin. Here is a quick before/after example:

 

The technique/software that I would like to know about is the "floating" coin simulation that @TIF, @AncientJoe, and others have shared with us on occasion. This may have been covered here before, but I've missed it and my searches have come up empty. I've hesitated to ask in case its a trade secret, but I've lost my inhibitions today.

 

I think they do it by using a reflection background, which will create depth in the photo.

 

James,
I use my iphone 6 for most of my pictures. I think they turn out pretty good considering I don't have a fancy camera, stand, or photo editing software. You can definitely take some great pictures with just your phone nowadays.

I can't help with photoshop as I have never used it. I've only used Gimp, the free program similiar to photoshop.

After having read through your website and your posts here on CT, I think you will have no problem learning a new program

 

Thank you @furryfrog02. Yes, I do like your coin pictures - do you take separate photos of both sides of your coins?

 

I take pictures of each side, crop them either using remove.bg or gimp, then put them together in mspaint. I am pretty low-tech when it comes to my “set up” haha.

 

Sometimes you have to adjust brightness and contrast as a last step, using a photo editor software. Also color, etc.
I took the liberty of using Photoshop on your posted image, but you have to be careful to not alter the actual coin characteristics. Not having the coin in hand, I tried to emulate your initial photo, but I fear I added too much brightness and contrast:

 

Thanks! I was actually trying to stay low tech also but I have always wanted to “play” with Photoshop.

 

I like your pics.

I'm on a long learning curve. Once I take my photos, I load them in to Windows 10 photos using a USB link (I'm very old tech). From there I copy the images and paste into Photoshop. I'm still learning about backgrounds, but right now my images don't have one. Then it is a matter of adjusting, if needs, sizing (cropping) to an acceptable file size of upload and save the file as a JPEG.

I prefer to work in filtered sunlight, in the hallway, where there is a sunlight.

My best results, so far, have been with silver coins. Bronzes can be much more challenging to photograph, especially when they are dark and grainy.

 

Limes' initial processed photo:

 

You can see what a mess I made of my latest effort (without Photoshop):


TIBERIUS AS, TITUS RESTORATION ISSUE, 80-81 AD

 

It will be very hard to add background using the easiest way in Photoshop (Paint bucket) if you take pictures on a patterned background as above.
You can resize the reverse in Photoshop so as to match the obverse. Keeping the camera in the same distance for each side is the easier way.

 

A quick crop and tweak made your coin look pretty good IMO.
It is a great looking coin to begin with. I've always been impressed with your collection Gives me something to aspire to one day.

 

The illusion of depth can be created by adding a drop shadow. Compare these two coin collages, the top one without any drop shadows, and the bottom one with drop shadows for each coin: