Image improvement programme update

 

  • Image improvement programme update

    Posted by Huw, 13 Mar 2013 05:18. Filed under Brickset.

    While news has been slow over the last week or so, I've been working on image improvements, and I've now finished scanning my instruction book covers and polybags.

    In all, I've scanned 1529 items, which is virtually everything I own that was released prior to 2009, plus sets that were not available at shop.LEGO.com released in 2009 or later. For those that were available, we have official images which I don't intend to replace with scans.

    I've also added over 400 scans submitted by users, and I'm pleased to say that they are still coming in thick and fast. To make it easy for you to see which sets you own that we still need images for, I've added links at the top of the My Sets page, in the yellow box, that'll show you.

    I have also made the full-size scans, and hi-res versions of the official LEGO images, available.  You can view them by clicking on the normal-sized images on the set details pages which, if a large version is available, are shown in a grey box, like thumbnails usually are. There are currently 3173 hi-res images, and I still have more to add, from the user-submitted scans. When that's done, we should have some 4000, which is 40% of all sets.

    Someone recently questioned 'ownership' of the images, given that they are being sent in by the community. All images are, of course, (c) LEGO group and are displayed here in accordance with  LEGO's fair play policy. Brickset does not claim copyright or ownership of individual images and given that it's been a community effort to gather them, over the 15 years that the site has been running, they therefore 'belong' to the community. What that means is that you are free to use them on your own sites, wikis, blogs, eBay listings, or whatever, as long as you, too, comply with LEGO's policy.

    Having said that, it is a lot of work to maintain the database and the image library, so Brickset does claim ownership of the image collection as a whole. It would not be appropriate, I think you'd agree, for someone to take all the images and use them on a competing site. So, limited extracts are fine, but not the whole lot.

    Thank you to everyone that has sent images, and continues to do so: keep 'em coming!


    13 comments, latest one posted 2 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Lego34s in United Kingdom, 13 Mar 2013 06:11

Good morning, your re-scanning has reminded me of something I must confess I was very interested about 15 years ago. I originally collected Lego Space sets and I tried to build most of the alternatve ideas as pictured on the back of the boxes. nowadays the backs of boxes show the model and its features. I Assume other 80's and 90's models , Town etc did this. With the massive following on Brickset would this be something of interest to others and would it be possible. You get 2-3 models for free by re-using the parts in the box and its a challenge at times to make as there or no instructions just a single picture to go off. Sorry as it would be a lot of work. Thankyou for you continual efforts and improvements.

Posted by icey in Denmark, 13 Mar 2013 06:46

@Huw I'm sure you already have asked LEGO about some kind of corporation with collecting images, since (it seems) both Brickset and TLG would promote their own ends from working together. So, I'm actually curious about what they replied to your request?

Brickset is the leading set-database (?) and you do work together in some degree with the FB-set-on-my-timeline app.?

Posted by Kiveton in United Kingdom, 13 Mar 2013 07:07

Good effort getting all those scans done.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 13 Mar 2013 07:46

^^^ I'd love to add those, but at the moment I don't think I could cope what with improving the main images. Eventually I want to make it possible for anyone to upload set images, but obviously I need to think carefully how to do that.

^^ I think there are several issues here. Of course LEGO must have a complete archive of images it's created, particularly those done digitally. But my attempts to get hold of them have so far not been successful. I've asked the CEE team and also the affiliate manager, and while I get the impression they want to help, they most likely don't have access themselves, and those in the company that do, don't have time to assist.

I believe there is some form of extranet available to partners, like DK, which contains the archive but it might not be in LEGO's interest to make that available to me, thus effectively putting those I publish into the public domain.

The 'FB-set-on-my-timeline' app used Brickset's images and data because, I am told, they were the most readily available, which perhaps indicates that if there is an internal archive it's not organised and/or accessible.

In terms of 'working together' we were granted access to the vault in Billund in 2010 for photography purposes. We were there for 2 days and photographed all late 1960s/1970s sets and Dacta and Fabuland, to fill gaps in our collection at the time.

Posted by legoguru in Hong Kong, 13 Mar 2013 08:14

Thanks for all your effort so far

Posted by lego613master in United States, 13 Mar 2013 09:32

Slow news WEEK!?!? Slow news month is more like it!

Posted by Markey in Belgium, 13 Mar 2013 11:01

I own 2 sets that don't have an image yet. Unfortunately I don't have a scanner.

Posted by BooTheMightyHamster in United Kingdom, 13 Mar 2013 11:25

Excellent work, Huw.

I'm happy to see the 'fair use' policy too - I recently started a LEGO blog and have used a few images from the Brickset database. I've credited them in each case, but did wonder whether it was 'not the done thing'.

Posted by Si_Dorking_Surrey in United Kingdom, 13 Mar 2013 15:11

Great work Huw, thanks for all the effort.

Posted by disneywizard in United States, 13 Mar 2013 15:31

Thanks Huw for all your work. Thanks to the community for your support as well. This has really become an awesome site for supporting our hobby/obsession around the globe. :)

Posted by Cmdr_Roy in Australia, 14 Mar 2013 01:30

Huw, just wanted to say top work on all this scanning, it is a community service and i want you to know its appreciated. Also you own a lot of sets :p

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 14 Mar 2013 07:16

Thanks everyone for your comments...

Posted by danielhg1487 in Mexico, 15 Mar 2013 14:30

Excelent, thanks for that, in fact I´d like to be a designer of the lego company, I´m from Mexico and I´d like to show you my videos of my creations of lego. I´ve seen instructions here and I have an account in youtube with the name danielhg1487, like here and the url of my chanel is http://www.youtube.com/user/danielhg1487?feature=mhee , I hope you like it.

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