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Thread: FWW Archive

  1. #1
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    Default FWW Archive

    I would be grateful if anyone with a recent Fine Woodworking digital archive could do a lookup for me.
    I have one up to 2013, and it has some faulty pages that are unreadable. I have asked FWW if they have been fixed in the latest archive, but they seem unable to provide me with an answer, which makes me suppose the problem is still there.

    An example is page 56 of the March/April 2006 issue, where the text in the diagrams, and some around the photos is blurred. The main text is OK.
    Can someone check their copy please?

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  3. #2
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    My copy is 2011 and has the same problem as yours. Sorry, not much help.

  4. #3
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    I don't like your chances, I suspect that they just keep extending the library with new scans as more mags are published , and don't revisit the earlier mags at all. I know that in some of their early archives they had the same file for edition 007 and 008 and it took a long time to convince them that there was an error. I am an online member so will try and get a clear copy that way, I do have a few sets of archives but they are all stored on portable drives that are not easy to get at tonight, but I will try online now.

    OK, I just downloaded the entire article (Outdoor Table p54-61) 1.715MB. All drawings in the article are quite readable on screen in this version. send me a PM with your email add if you can handle files that size, or a postal add and I will put it on a DVD and post to you.
    I used to be an engineer, I'm not an engineer any more, but on the really good days I can remember when I was.

  5. #4
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    This is as good as I could make it. The page looked like it was wet at some stage:



    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    This is as good as I could make it. The page looked like it was wet at some stage:



    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Thanks Derek, what version of the archive did you get that from? Mine looks like that.
    Chris

  7. #6
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    Malb,
    Thanks for the offer, but I no longer need the article, i was only using it as an example of what's wrong - see Derek's post.
    I used the article to learn how to make a circular table - see my coffee table post.
    It's interesting that they have fixed it in the online version, but does that mean the latest USB version os OK i wonder. Still no answer from them.
    Chris

  8. #7
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    Thats OK Chris, just trying to track down a usable copy for you. I don't use the online editions often, as it is quicker to work from the files I have stashed away or the the printed editions where I have them. Feel free to ask if you have issues with other graphics in your archive edition.
    I used to be an engineer, I'm not an engineer any more, but on the really good days I can remember when I was.

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chrism3 View Post
    Thanks Derek, what version of the archive did you get that from? Mine looks like that.
    Chris
    2014 version.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  10. #9
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    For what it's worth I checked the "live" version (I have a current subscription, and therefore don't have a USB/DVD, but do get access to the back catalogue online).

    That copy is less clear than Derek's posted copy here.

    I suspect what's happening is that they're focussing on the text of each magazine, and emplying compression on the images to make loading the various pages across the Internet less download/data intensive. All pages in the online version have super-crisp text where it comes to the main story, but any text contained in images (i.e. like this page) together with the images themselves are a bit blurry.

    This might also only apply to older issues, which would have been digitised for delivery across the Internet back then (when data was a bit more precious), or smaller USB drives etc. I did a quick check on a few pages from a 2018 edition, and everything is crispy-sharp.

  11. #10
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    I have a 2016 version of the archive. Same issues.

    Looks like from issue #189 February 2007 the scanned file sizes have doubled and scans are much crisper. I also suspect that earlier issues were done at lower resolution and with older lossy compression algorithms. Unless they do a rescan of all prior issues I don't think this can be fixed.

    It is worth asking them though as this would be affecting all subscribers and with their recent push to online could be quiet important. Social media like Instagram are a good place when customer service is not helpful.

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by saladonion View Post
    I have a 2016 version of the archive. Same issues.

    Looks like from issue #189 February 2007 the scanned file sizes have doubled and scans are much crisper. I also suspect that earlier issues were done at lower resolution and with older lossy compression algorithms. Unless they do a rescan of all prior issues I don't think this can be fixed.

    It is worth asking them though as this would be affecting all subscribers and with their recent push to online could be quiet important. Social media like Instagram are a good place when customer service is not helpful.
    hanks for that - very helpful if I can ever get them to reply.
    (But I won't be adding to the modern scourge which is (un)social media!)
    T

    The misplaced T above happens every single time I reply to a post - always the first letter - does this happen to anyone else??

  13. #12
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    Thanks Midnight Man, but now I'm confused because that doesn't seem to tally with Malb's post above. He said all was fine online.

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chrism3 View Post
    Thanks Midnight Man, but now I'm confused because that doesn't seem to tally with Malb's post above. He said all was fine online.
    I think he did it a different way.

    With FWW, if you have a subscription, you can browse any edition in a massive library. That library can also be bough on USB or DVD as a stand alone purchase (it now includes 12 months online access though). Accessing it in that way means you're reading the whole edition, a pair of pages at a time.

    Alternatively, as a subscriber, you can find the actual article, and then hit "Download PDF" to get the entire article as a PDF. That way, you're only downloading the single article, minus any ads that were on the pages etc.

    I suspect that comes from different source material, and would be crisper in output.

    I simply didn't think of accessing it that way.

  15. #14
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    I have online subscription as well. I just tested this by downloading this individual article PDF. Yes, the images there do not have this issue, infact the whole article is much clearer and crisp. Proportionally much bigger file size. Both of these things point towards higher resolution scan.

    Interesting indeed...

  16. #15
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    Hi Everyone

    My 2014 copy of their digital archive is clear - very legible - so they must have fixed the problem.

    Incidentally, the junk mail from FWW says that they are currently discounting the 2018 version for US$79. That is really incredible value - copies of all 271 issues of Fine Woodwork magazine from inception in 1975 through to Christmas 2018. Less than 30 cents per issue!



    Cheers

    Graeme

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