Is there a program that can aid in this difficult conversion.

I've got some VHS only covers that have full size graphics, so its very difficult to convert manually. I would have thought this would be available in some form or other, web or program based but google hasn't revealed much unfortunately.

Anyone know of a program for this task. I have just bought a scanner so have my vhs covers scanned and ready to be spliced and diced.

Photoshop U lazy bugger

We're talking full size graphics with writing spread top to bottom.

I'll refer you to the squiggles and graphical symbols ordered to form a description of a problem, and a question, scribed in the English language regarding a problem to which photoshop is, quite clearly, not an answer

here is a testing i did on a vhs cover scan might be blurred on the bottom left but was just a test scan

original scan was at

w= 5493 x h=4388 at 600dpi scan of course is to big to put on here

but i reduced it at

w= 1000 x h= 799 at 600dpi using photoshop

this is what i get

also like to add that is a good movie

isn't that spine far too big for a DVD case? Infact those dimensions don't fit in the DVD case do they?

See what happens to this Indiana Jones VHS cover:


They are now all fatties

I'd also like to add, that that movie has Adrian Edmonson playing a one eyed German in it

I think that's what PN was getting at. The relationship between the sizes of the VHS cover and its spine and a DVD Cover and its spine are entirely different so a simple scaling of the whole thing won't work.

So chopping up the cover in photoshop and scaling/sticking back together is your only hope. It would work in the case on the Indy cover becasue the spine is separate from the rest of the artwork. For a cover where the artwork crosses over onto the spine (like the face on Video-man's cover) it would be more difficult and a case of creating your own custom I guess.

Software to do the job would be an interesting project for you Spud.

Could be done easiest with java, but I'd need to get my head round the dimensions first, which as you can tell isn't my best trait.

I dunno what all those dots are on the cover either, they weren't there in the 2mb jpg i didn't think

yeah soz bout lack of detail in my post but had jus got home after a 12hr shift!! 12 hours of tech support n couldn't be arsed to elaborate futher

DJ got it right in that i meant you have to 'split' the scan and then resize each individually and then paste into a new composition. afaik you cant record 'macros' or the like to automate such a task in photoshop tho if someone knows how to do it would be way cool.

Yeah you can, you can record an 'action'. I don't know whether it'll work with selecting areas and scaling etc, but you can certainly record repetitive tasks and play them back in the traditional sense of a macro.

yeah i realise that actons can be automated but dont think they are quite as 'advanced' as is required for this task...

well i downloaded a dvd template from some site then i get my vhs scan and cut into 3 parts: front, back & spine then i play about with it on photoshop.
if you want the template contact me on msn: nhbkid@hotmail.com
i've been working on a "the keep" dvd cover but it's not finished yet

That's probably the best way to do it nhbkid, I created a custom DVD cover for the Scream Greats: Tom Savini documentary from a scan of the VHS cover. One tip though, it's worth re-typing the text on the back cover if you can be bothered because it makes everything look much crisper than scanned text. (Not always possible though).