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Author Topic: Uploading Via the UPLOAD FILE link - A Visual Tutorial For Sharing Scans on DCM  (Read 19371 times)

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Offline Yoc

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:)   QUESTION - How can I upload a scan to DCM?   ???
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NOTE - ONLY JPG SCANS INSIDE A CBZ/ZIP or CBR/RAR FILE CAN BE UPLOADED -
AND ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS CAN UPLOAD SCANS TO DCM.


DCM recommends using Chrome as a browser when uploading as it will show a percentage uploaded in the bottom left of the screen that Firefox does not show.


Thank-you for wanting to share your scans!    :D
First thing please check the following very important links:


MAC USERS - Please read Step 4 BEFORE making any zip or rar files for sharing on the site!


UPLOADERS - PLEASE LIMIT SINGLE FILE UPLOADS TO 175mb max. 
IF YOUR FILE IS LARGER PLEASE UPLOAD IT IN TWO PARTS.
AND ALWAYS HAVE THE COVER AS THE FIRST JPG FILE IN Pt 1.

DCM uses an Automatic Cover Thumbnail feature we would really appreciate that any new books uploaded have the COVER SCAN as the first file in the book.  The first file is automatically pulled out and a thumbnail added for display on the site.  To be sure your files appear in proper order we STRONGLY suggest you number them at the start when naming your jpg files.  ie 00.jpg, 01.jpg, 02.jpg, etc.  Please be sure to include leading zeroes as we did in the previous example.


This can be a bit tricky so I'm including screen shots of each step for you to follow along and hopefully cover anything you might need to know.

STEP 1 - Confirm the scan is not already on the site.  Please use the SEARCH link above the DCM logo and check if it isn't perhaps under a publisher you might not know.  Some books were published by more than one publisher or reprinted by another company years later.  Look at the Indica (the mouse type on the bottom of the inside front cover or the first page where the title and publisher info are listed.) and search DCM under both the title and publisher names.

NOTE - DCM is devoted to sharing ONLY public domain books.  You will NOT find a Marvel-Timely-Atlas; National-DC; Street and Smith or Archie comic on the site.  Please don't upload anything from these publishers.  And another important point - books newer than Dec 1959 are usually not allowed as well.  If you are unsure of a book's status PLEASE ask here on the forum and we can let you know.
Thanks.   :)

STEP 2 - If you DO find your scans are needed on the site and someone has already uploaded a different issue of the same title - Please name your file so it follows the same name format as those already on the site.  In my example I'm uploading an issue of Ajax's Phantom Lady.  You can see in the example we already have a couple of those.  So I'm left clicking and holding down just to the right of name and dragging across it to the left to highlight it blue.  Now I type 'ctrl-C' to COPY the name.
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/01-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

NOTE - avoid special characters in your file names.  ie: don't use any of the following in a file name: ` ~ ! @ $ % ^ & * < > ? ; : '

File names as they appear on your hard drive should NOT be more than 45 characters in length Including file type.

STEP 3 - To start the upload process left click the UPLOAD FILE link above the DCM logo.  Note the SEARCH button is right beside the UPLOAD link.  See example below.
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/02-DCM banner search.jpg
STEP 4 - A new page will open.  This is the main upload page where you will input all the information about the scan you are about to add to DCM.

NOTE - Remember to upload either ZIP/CBZ or RAR/CBR files only. 
Do NOT rename a Rar to a CBZ or a Zip to a CBR -
or Especially a Zip to a Rar (or vice versa) as it will break the PREVIEW features!



NOTE - PLEASE TRY TO USE THE ZIP/CBZ FORMAT ONLY.  If you must we can still accept RAR/CBR files but we would really rather not.  Thanks!


ATTENTION MAC USERS - The Mac pre-installed ZIP utility app that comes standard on Mac machines adds a __MACOSX folder that breaks our Preview feature and disrupts some PC users.  Please use either of the following FREE archiving apps to create your Zip or CBZ files for uploading:
Click on the names above to be taken to their download sites and read more on these apps.

STEP 5 - The first step is to type in the DOWNLOAD NAME entry of the scan.  This is where you can PASTE the name as you copied earlier if you've found another issue the title is already on the site.  Left click in the DOWNLOAD NAME box and type 'ctrl-p' at the same time.  Now use the left arrow to go back and change the issue number to that of the book you wish to add.

NOTE - this is the name as it appears on the site.  The actual file name can be different than here and not affect anything.

STEP 6 - Next up is DOWNLOAD DESCRIPTION.  This is where you can add any notes about the file that you felt important.  ie - is it fiche?  Missing any pages?  Do you know who the original scanner is if you didn't scan the book yourself?  Is there a particularly good artist or writer in the book.  Anything at all can be put in this section.

New AUTO COVER THUMBNAIL Feature - One of the new features to DCM is the addition of an automatic cover thumbnail to the left of the listing.  This adds whatever the First Jpg is in your file upload.  So we ask that everyone have the COVER as your first file.  Any nfo or scanner pages should come at the end of the book.  Thanks.

NOTE - extremely large cover scans will Break the Auto Cover Thumbnail feature.  Please limit cover scan images to no more than 1mb in file size.

STEP 7 - The next thing you will want to decide is do you want to include any THUMBNAILS with your upload?  It's not a must but they are fun.  (These come BELOW the listing and are not the same as the Auto Cover Thumbnails)  If you DO want to have one type a '1' in the 'Number of Thumbnails' box and hit 'Update Form'.  You can have more than one thumbnail if you say wanted to share a few splash pages.  Again this isn't a must.  See my example below where I've already added the Download Name and Download Description and am about to hit 'update form' to add a thumbnail of the book. 
(Skip to STEP 9 if you don't want to include a thumbnail.)

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/03-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

STEP 8 - Notice the form has now changed and a THUMBNAIL IMAGE entry has been added.  Select the BROWSE button and find the jpg of the cover image you want to use as a thumbnail.  Left click on the file name to get it blue.  Then hit the OPEN button to return the the Upload page.
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/04-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

STEP 9 - Next we fill in the DOWNLOAD entry.  This is where we enter the location of the file ON YOUR COMPUTER that is to be uploaded.  Hit the Browse button again.  See example below:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/05-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

Again we browse to the file to be uploaded, left click it and hit Open to return to the main Upload page.
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/06-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

Remember, your file names as they appear on your hard drive should NOT be more than 45 characters in length Including file type.

STEP 10 - Now we need to tell the site under which Publisher/Title to store your upload.  This is done in the CATEGORY entry.  Left click on any name in the list of publishers - then type the first letter of the name of the publisher.  The list should jump to that name.  ie to find 'Ace' hit 'A'.  Left click on that publisher if it's there.  Next see if the title of your book has it's own sub-category and left click it if there is one.
If there IS NOT A LISTING FOR YOUR PUBLISHER USE THE UNSORTED FILES SECTION (the last option at the bottom of the drop-down list.)
In my example below I typed 'A' twice to find Ajax-Farrell.  We see there is not a Phantom Lady folder within Ajax so I leave the publisher's name highlighted blue and go on to the final step.  See example below:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/07-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

STEP 11 - We are almost done!   :)
Now hit 'PREVIEW' button at the bottom of the page to initiate your upload. 
Depending on your Internet connection the upload can take some time. 
Patience is a virtue here if you are on dial-up. This will take several minutes for sure even on high-speed.
 
See example below:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/08-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

STEP 12 - This can be tricky.  PLEASE Read carefully!
When the upload is finally finished a page will appear that looks exactly like before you hit Preview EXCEPT there will be a 'CONFIRM' link at the bottom of the page. You might have to scroll the page down to see it.  Hit that Confirm button to activate the download link for the entire site.  See example below where the red arrow is pointing:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/09-DCM upload tutorial.jpg

STEP 13 - You should see a message with a green 'information' icon like this:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com//skins/skin2/images/info.gif
See my example below:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/images/FAQ-uploading link/10-DCM upload tutorial.jpg
(click to enlarge... etc,  to see the full size version)  Click Continue by red arrow to finish.

That means one of the admins or moderators will have to do the final activation of your upload.  But your work here is done.
If all went well the book should appear on the site in the next little while. 
If you want to be sure it gets noticed mention the upload in the Message Board Uploads area to get a moderator's attention or send one a PM directly.

If you see this red Error icon and the following message then the upload did NOT work:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com//skins/skin2/images/error.gif
Quote
Error: No file uploads of this type are allowed. If you believe this to be in error, please quote the above error and report this to the admin

Try using a different file type and check the file name doesn't have any of the above special character in the name.

And if you get the following error message:
Quote
"Error: You can not put downloads in the base category. Please select a different category...
That means you forgot to select a Publisher/title folder. 

And that's it for manually uploading single issues to the site.   ;D
For uploading multiple books obviously using the FTP is the easier method.

And that's it!  I hope you found this helpful.
Good luck,
-Yoc

Digital Comic Museum