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[Yoshi]

I am currently working on custom covers for my N64 games and I really like the Japanese cover artwork. Sadly, there are a lot of logos on the cover that make it difficult to use the image and I cannot find it "clean". However, the manual has the image in a form that with some mild editing it could be usable. I can not find any good resultion scans of the manual's front though. Does anyone here have the Japanese manual of Diddy Kong Racing and could be so kind to make a scan of the front page for me?

 

[Rayderism]

Google image search seemed to turn up plenty of pics of the manual cover.

 

[Yoshi]

I want to use the image for a cover and sadly, the (few!) images of the Japanese cover are too low resolution for that purpose. Maybe I'm just too stupid, but I really only find pretty small images of the Japanese manual (or photos that are large but contain other things as well, so the part where the manual is is small) .

 

[Zenaku]

Best I can find are on this auction page:

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t582105323

 

[Geki-D]

Isn't the image on the manual the same as the box art? And what rez are you after?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The only large-ish images I could find were for the box, not the manual.

Since your goal isn't to get either the boxart nor the manual -- but the art in the background without all the logos -- maybe search through Rareware art complications, DeviantArt, etc for fans who've stripped out the logos in some fashion.

Good luck!

 

[Yoshi]

Isn't the image on the manual the same as the box art? And what rez are you after?

It is, but on the manual other parts (less easily edited parts) are obfuscated by logos and text. on the box, a missile, part of Diddy's propeller and part of Diddy's balloon are blocked by logos. Ideally, it would be 1550 pixels in width because that is what I am using for my box inlays, but any reasonable scan would do; a good photo can also serve the purpose, but it is more difficult to work with (at least for a rookie in image manipulation as me).

Since your goal isn't to get either the boxart nor the manual -- but the art in the background without all the logos -- maybe search through Rareware art complications, DeviantArt, etc for fans who've stripped out the logos in some fashion.

I have tried that and also used TinEye, but if I haven't missed anything, there unfortunately is no collection that includes this image . I have asked Kev Bayliss who did the art, on Twitter, but unfortunately he does not have it anymore.I have made a Frankenstein monster out of the images I have found on Google image search (thank you Zenaku , in terms of resolution that is the best image of the manual so far), but the manual part is the troubling one for me, being pretty low res and thus giving less than perfect results.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I have tried that and also used TinEye, but if I haven't missed anything, there unfortunately is no collection that includes this image . I have asked Kev Bayliss who did the art, on Twitter, but unfortunately he does not have it anymore.I have made a Frankenstein monster out of the images I have found on Google image search (thank you Zenaku , in terms of resolution that is the best image of the manual so far), but the manual part is the troubling one for me, being pretty low res and thus giving less than perfect results.

Bummer. The only other suggestion I could make would be to start with the highest-res image of the box and then patch in the best snippets from a variety of manual pictures. This will allow you to "erase" the logos.

But it sounds like you've already attempted that, too.

I did try searching for any posters or promotional art yet came up empty-handed. Maybe your luck is better than mine.

 

[Yoshi]

Bummer. The only other suggestion I could make would be to start with the highest-res image of the box and then patch in the best snippets from a variety of manual pictures. This will allow you to "erase" the logos.

But it sounds like you've already attempted that, too.

I did try searching for any posters or promotional art yet came up empty-handed. Maybe your luck is better than mine.

Actually there was one more even better thing, the Japanese guidebook, but I couldn't find a scan of that one either and I thought the liklihood that someone has the manual was higher: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PPYAAOSwdU1W~Nmb/s-l1600.jpg

 

[Space Runaway]

Actually there was one more even better thing, the Japanese guidebook, but I couldn't find a scan of that one either and I thought the liklihood that someone has the manual was higher: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PPYAAOSwdU1W~Nmb/s-l1600.jpg

The official Nintendo Japanese guide seems the cleanest though there doesn't appear to be any high-res scans that I'm aware of. Sorry.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Nice find, Space Runaway

 

[Zenaku]

Found the guidebook myself, on amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4091026125/

You can buy a copy from connectvision for 304yen, they seem to ship international.

 

[Yoshi]

I have now built this monster from three different sources:

Should someone happen to have the Japanese manual I would still be very happy for a scan, but I think this might be OK for the cover I am making.

 

[Geki-D]

Well, using that auction photo, I had a go in Photoshop, not sure if this is of any help:

I might be able to change it a bit more in PS if there's anything you want changing.

Edit:
Did a bit more shooping, removed the logos, upped the vibrance, got rid of the parts that were not meant to be in there (like the still visible table to the very right), sharpened and blurred here and there:

I'd say there isn't that much more I can do now.

EDIT 2:
I also tried to rework the version you patched together:

 

[Yoshi]

Well, using that auction photo, I had a go in Photoshop, not sure if this is of any help:

I might be able to change it a bit more in PS if there's anything you want changing.

Edit:
Did a bit more shooping, removed the logos, upped the vibrance, got rid of the parts that were not meant to be in there (like the still visible table to the very right), sharpened and blurred here and there:

I'd say there isn't that much more I can do now.

EDIT 2:
I also tried to rework the version you patched together:

Many thanks, the slight imperfections still remaining will probably not be discernible from the usual imperfections of the print, so I am very happy with the result. It's great that you did all this work .