How to Make Forge Use HQ Pictures

[SphericalCube]

So, firstly, after downloading the program, I chose to download LQ set pics in the "Content Downloader" section, since HQ would take much more time and I wanted to at first try out the app itself and decide whether or not I want to mess with high-quality images in the future. I liked how it worked and decided to use "Import Data" option in order to import the HQ pics I had previously downloaded for other purpose. But for some reason the application seems to not use HQ cards, or not use them in each case. For instance, cards from A25 set look pretty sharp, while 10E is more blurry. Is there any way to fix the problem? Maybe, somehow wipe all images from the holder and then import only HQ pics so that Forge would have no other choice but use them?

[CptKird]

Hi, I'm guessing we're talking about the desktop version of Forge?

First off: there is an option to "Automatically download card art" under "Graphic Options". This is very convenient but will always fetch LQ Pics. If you want to go HQ and like it to stay that way, disable that option.

Then, check the part called "For your second question" in this recent post:
https://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=29919#p244726
It explains how Forge is looking for card pics, how to determine a set folder name, etc.

The HQ fetch option in Forge will not use set folders, which only alows one card pic per individual spell.
If you want all available art variants to show, you need to use set folders and uncheck "Unique cards only" in deck editor (checkbox appears when toggling/clicking on the wrench symbol)

As for acquiring HQ, there are numerous sources, in the Pictures section on slightlymagic (e.g. Mega links in some signatures), torrent files, then there are apps like gatherer extractor, etc

The place to put all cards on Windows is called "Content Directoy" (You can directly access it from Preferences > Open Content Directory button, at the top of the list).
The path is: C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\Forge\Cache\pics\cards
Tokens should go into: C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\Forge\Cache\pics\tokens
How each sets tokens need to be named is documented in each sets' edition txt-file, at the end.

Have fun!
K.

[SphericalCube]

Great! Your info helped me finally localize the folder with card images, which makes a lot of things much easier. Thank you!

[SphericalCube]

One more question, if you don't mind: don't you know a way to download all png card images, named properly for Forge to see them, from scryfall? I saw a link to JPEG pics from this web-site, but PNG ones are readable for the app, too, as long as they have ".full" at the end of their names, and, in addition, they have rounded corners. There were some JSON shenanigans described on their site, but I'm not that good at programming yet, so I didn't manage to get my head around them

[CptKird]

Great! Your info helped me finally localize the folder with card images, which makes a lot of things much easier. Thank you!

You're welcome

One more question, if you don't mind: don't you know a way to download all png card images, named properly for Forge to see them, from scryfall? I saw a link to JPEG pics from this web-site, but PNG ones are readable for the app, too, as long as they have ".full" at the end of their names, and, in addition, they have rounded corners. There were some JSON shenanigans described on their site, but I'm not that good at programming yet, so I didn't manage to get my head around them

I'll advise the following:

Get Gatherer Extractor from here:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/other-magic-products/third-party-products/337224-mtg-gatherer-extractor-v6-7-database-pics

After install, check these options and set them like this:

OPTIONAL: If you like tokens as well (These need to be manually renamed according to the sets' edition txt-file, as mentionend above and placed in the "tokens" folder):

then set the card scan options either like this (This won't fetch the highest res versions, but for mobile it's not really needed, unless you play on a 15" tablet. You can also go lower with jpg quality, 60% should still be looking fine on a 6" mobile screen ):

OR set them like this (to get the original, high-res version of each card, complete with original border. Just get the jpgs. Yes, they have no transparency, but it's the same with scryfall pngs (this depends how the PNGs are downloaded and how they are interpreted by the viewing/displaying app. Gatherer Extractor might reconfigure the image internally for saving, like with JPGs, because you can change compression there, for example). Read below on how to enable transparent corners in Forge mobile! Forge desktop does transparent corners on jpgs by default, btw.):

The option auto-switch is disabled due to gatherer.wizards.com poor quality images.


Then start the "gathering" process:

The extractor starts pulling images:

If you get timeouts and red indicators on single cards, just retry them all after the set has been pulled (the app will skip already downloaded images and only tries the failed ones again).
Good practice would be to pull sets slowly, one after another, NOT ticking all sets checkboxes and download them all at once. Abusing scryfall like this will likely get your IP banned..
Or get the bulk of them from other sources, mentionend above (CCGHQ torrents or MEGA folders) and only use Gatherer Extractor on latest sets.
In any case you'll definately need a bulk renaming tool as well, I use Total Commanders multi-rename function, works even on mobile(!) (With the beta version of TC for Android).


Why did I advise getting the "full"/cropped border versions?
There's been improvements to a feature called "Enable round border mask":

Just enable this and a border is re-added to the cropped border scans, this time with transparent corners:

Border-cropped "...full.jpg", missing corners:

Border-cropped "...full.jpg", added corners, "Enable round border mask" active:

There's an alternative though, getting transparent corners with original bordered card scans:
For example, if you already have some or a lot of full bordered scans ("original" variant in Gatherer Extractor) or simply like to use the full, high-res versions (a mobile phone/tablet with more than 2 Gbyte RAM is strongly advised in that case!), you can simply rename "....full.jpg" to "....fullborder.jpg" and after activating "Enable round border mask", only the corners are transparent:

Original "...full.jpg", including complete border, no alpha/transparent corners:

Original "...fullborder.jpg", "Enable round border mask" option set, alpha corners!:

This should get you started
There will be some individual card images which won't show, maybe. In such cases always consult the sets' edition-txt-file first to check for typos or other errors.

Happy collecting!
K.

PS: With this option, there's really no need to go PNG anymore, except if you want ultimate low memory footprints per image. Also be aware that using PNGs will mess your collection up pretty bad if you enable Auto-Download again in the future, because at the time of writing this, Forge ignores already present and correctly named HQ full.png and re-fetches LQ full.jpg(!) and you end up with an unhealthy mix of LQ and HQ images.

[Xitax]

All the years I've been around and I've never heard of this software before! This is really good.

[SphericalCube]

Tried downloading both jpg's and png's via extractor; for some reason the corners on desktop version for both file formats are not rouned. Well, they are when I don't hover over a card (when cards shown in hand during a game or in the deck editor). When I do, however, the corners appear sharp (either black or white, depending on the selected scan type). I also tried importing a single scan, manually downloaded from scryfall without using Gatherer Extractor or any other additional app (on scryfall there's an option to download an HQ png of a card if you open it in a separate brwoser tab), and it worked out. Maybe, there are some settings in the Extractor that could help me go for these versions of cards?
P. S.: Sorry, I'm not really familiar with the forum and it's interface yet, so the file attachments should, perhaps, be viewed from the bottom to the top

[CptKird]

You are right, the PNGs from Gatherer Extractor and the manually downloaded ones differ, at least in size, possibly in internal structure as well.

But I always see rounded corners in desktop Forge, no matter if JPG, Gatherer PNG or manually downloaded PNG..?

It looks like you enabled "Render black card borders", that's why you see those white corners on Fatal Push. That option expects cropped border cards and adds them back, including alpha corners.
(Your Abbot in deck manager window, left, also has a thicker black border, that's the added rendered border on top of the original black border )
Disable that option and check again with original border images, the corners should be transparent again. For example:

2020-09-28 19_25_25-JMP-Files.png (9.79 KiB) Viewed 11534 times

Aegis of the Heavens.full.png = Gatherer downloaded (HQ, original borders) PNG
Emancipation Angel.full.jpg = Gatherer downloaded (HQ, original borders) JPG
emiel the blessed.full.png = Manually downloaded (HQ, original borders) PNG

Battlefield:

Detail zoom of each card (you can see in the lower corners they are all alpha/transparent):

Works for every one of those

Again, "Render black card borders" for desktop Forge is just meant for cards like these:

Welcome to the many intricacies of Forge settings and general image issues
K.

[SphericalCube]

Yay, it's working! Thank you again for such in-depth guidelines, they've been of great help for me!

[CptKird]

You're very welcome
K.

[icecream]

Really awesome guide on the Extractor! I just got back into this after long hiatus.

Extractor brings in pretty pics, comparable (identical?) to the built-in Forge HQ pic download. For the tokens, after downloading Forge's built-in HQ pics, I had issue with a blank one from OGW's Crush of Tentacles (8/8 Octopus token for its surge). I then tried Forge's built-in Low-Quality set images, ended up getting the octopus -- it has an awkward name of "u_8_8_octopus_ogw.jpg" in the tokens folder.

Extractor, while having more intuitive names in the style of "Name Token.full.jpg", actually misses this one from OGW! I used it to download just Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW) , then did a search for "token" and got just Plant, Elemental, Zombie, Angel, Eldrazi Scion (attached).

As I was writing this, it occurred to me to download the previous set in the block, though Crush of Tentacles is only found in OGW. This set, Battle for Zendikar (BFZ) , did contain the Octopus Token ;D

Side note: I enjoy the Vintage Masters (VMA) images more than the originals at times, e.g. for the dual lands and power 9. So at the moment I'm going through and deleting Alpha, Beta, Revised, Unlimited, etc. images I dislike from their respective subfolders. Forge will then use the default HQ image (seems to be from VMA), from the root folder of %localappdata%\Forge\Cache\pics\cards

[anonymous1989]

I just wanted to put it out there that it's not only CPU that's responsible for fps in a game. It is more of a graphics card job. Most screens today are either 50 or 60 fps capable. Also If you don't want to change your pc to something else here are some methods to boost fps, let me be your D&D Guide here )) So depending on your preferences your computer might be in a low or balanced power mode if you turn it to high performance it should boost fps. Also, you should close background apps which eat your performance. Also if your drive is full it might affect fps so I suggest freeing some space. On Windows 10 there is a game mode I suggest you turn it on for a good measure.

[SylvanWannabe]

Has anyone already changed their Forge to have all HQ images, including Tokens?
If so, it would be great to attach the data folder here as a zip or something. Otherwise, if I ever get to do that, I will, but it might take months for me to find the time, what with my wife, our two-year old and myself getting used to our newborn in our lives.
'^^