Scanning the Backglass

The Flash backglass has a lot of problems. It is flaking very badly on the right side, nearly to the point of being unusable. Our original plan was to recreate this art in Photoshop, and then print a replacement translite. Backglass reproductions are available, but cost several hundred dollars, and doing our own translite allows me to control the artwork.

So I pulled out my trusty flatbed scanner, and scanned the backglass in sections, then used Photoshop to stitch them together, just like I have done on the playfield. But there was a problem. The images consistently came out slightly blurry, and a dark banding effect was visible in the final image. As it turns out, this is an artifact of the painted artwork actually being 1/8" away from the scanner surface, due to the thickness of the glass. This confused me at first, since I used the exact same method on the Jungle King project, with great results. But the Jungle King's backglass was only 1/16" thick, which apparently didn't cause this problem. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get a crisp image on Flash. The image above looks fine at the resolution used on this page, but when it is magnified, I just don't judge it suitable for a reproduction project.

So I have to find an alternate means of getting this artwork. I have decided that I can use a digital camera, as long as the axis of the camera is perfectly perpendicular to the plane of the glass. I will have to photograph in sections to get the proper resolution, and will have to take every single picture at the exact distance from the glass, or distortions will occur. My current thinking is to build a framework for the camera that will allow the camera to move around on sliding rails at a consistent height. This project will take some thought.