Vinyl Jukebox Strip Generator

CanuckAB

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Donor 2020
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Hello all,

I wanted to create some strips for my 1977 NSM Prestige E-160 Jukebox so I did a search. I was a bit shocked and dismayed at what I found -- sites with generators that feel like they were written in the 90s and paid software.

I am a software engineer by trade (and CTO by day) so I budgeted 2hrs to write a strip generator that could:

a) read a text file
b) allow me to pick the colors of my strips
c) give me the choice of quoted or unquoted titles
d) allow me square block artist sections or blocks with chevrons
e) that would make something either original looking or nice (or ideally...both)

I took a quick look around and found that TEMPO or AMERICAN TYPEWRITER were the typical fonts for my machine. Both of those were paid products so (being I am being ridiculously cheap on this effort) I opted for 'nice'. I went with 'Caveat', an open source Google font that looks like nice writing. The code I wrote also has both 'EB Garamond' and 'Roboto'. Both of these are nice and looked 'good enough'.

To make a long story short, I took my 2 hour time block and wrote a strip generator, which I am contributing to the community. I have attached it here as 'stripper.html.txt'. KLOV won't allow me to attach an HTML file (good for them!!!) so just remove the TXT extension and open in in your browser (sorry....only tested on Safari on Mac).

When it opens it will give you a little diatribe on how to use it, and why it exists. It also tells you how to create the TAB delimited CSV file (I was lazy and didn't want to deal with commas in strings, so comma delimited won't work). You can pick your colors, choose quotes or no quotes, use a chevron artist block and of course, generate title strips. I tested it with a file of 1000 entries and it works no problem. (unofficially, did that x10 and it still worked :) )

My goal was to put it into a single file that didn't reply on anything external (except for the Google fonts). It does not need a server -- simply open it as a file in your browser. When it prints, it will only print the strips, not the other stuff.

It is set up to have 'the other stuff' expanded into various selections, font pickers, etc.... in other words kewl features. I hope someone takes that up.

It is completely encapsulated in one file so it can be distributed. Please do... I am holding no claim on it other than to say don't claim it for yourself unless you add some significant value (I won't react, but I may call you out on your b*llsh*t).

It has a selection of colors but they can be easily tweaked to be darker (I think I might for mine) or changed to add custom colors. The CSS is pretty clear.... go wild.

The artist styles are 'default' (square) and 'chevron' because those are the only two I like, but the CSS is pretty simple and the code will accommodate you writing some of your own awesome styles (ie: holiday or artist themes).

If you decide to change the font feel free to do so, but be forewarned that you may need to adjust some sizes in the CSS. Note that I did most/all of the sizing in MM (millimetres) so you could use callipers to measure things in the real world and adjust accordingly.

If any text is too long, the CSS will truncate it and add an ellipsis (...) to the end.

In summary, I deliberate wrote this so it could be shared, modified, and most importantly expanded and customized (background images, patterns, etc). So please do.

I have attached a couple of images, one being what the strips look like in the browser (Mac, Safari) and in my jukebox. I'll likely darken the colors, but I think it's a good v1.

NOTE -- this is posted without warranty, guarantee, or support. I may improve upon it and I will try some different fonts. If you find this useful... yay. If not, I got some strips out of it so I did. :)

Enjoy
 

Attachments

  • stripper.html.txt
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  • Screen Shot 2021-06-27 at 5.11.13 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-06-27 at 5.11.13 PM.png
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  • NSM E160 Strips.jpg
    NSM E160 Strips.jpg
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That's really cool! Mike's Arcade has a killer one as well that dumps to pdf. Yet another reason to support his business!!!


I liked Mikes, but I wanted different things for different strips. If he can grab any of the bits in this and use it, that'd be awesome. I could just printed the web page as PDF and because it was all done to scale, it just worked. I plan to take it in (ie: Staples) to get it printed on a little stiffer stalk once I get the font/color/style how I like it

As I said, I did it for myself, but put it out there for others to use/expand upon. If I want to print 10 strips, in 10 different colors on one page, I was not finding anything 'free' that could do it
 

^ is all you'll ever need.

it looked promising, but was Windows only. Had it ran on anything else, I probably would have bought a copy if for no other reason that to support a boutique developer.
 
Mine are from Mike's arcade, more options than I'll ever need.

For me, it's just about having a clear font and getting the balance right.

You can tweak them when there's artists on different sides, or long titles, by putting two or three extra spaces at either end of the names or titles, you csn then get a small gap on the card at both ends so the words don't completely fill all the available space.

In this. I have.

Blue for my Motown, R&B and Soul collection.


In this.

Brown for 50/60s pop, green for 70/80s pop, blue for doo-wop, pink for jazz standards


And these for my wall boxes.

Brown for Motown etc,. blue for jazz, green for pop.

 
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i dunno - i opted out of all that label making, since i constantly rotate my 45's like hundreds and hundreds a time a year and constantly purchase 1000's of new 45's.

TL;DR: it's hard to just keep 100 selections in the juke. always changing the music up 24x7! :)
 
@thegleek I hear ya... I just got this thing up and running and I fear I may end up the same way. I've already changed it three times in the last few weeks and now I have an envelope full of the printed inserts. The LAST thing I need is yet another obsession :crazy: 🤣
 
@thegleek I hear ya... I just got this thing up and running and I fear I may end up the same way. I've already changed it three times in the last few weeks and now I have an envelope full of the printed inserts. The LAST thing I need is yet another obsession :crazy: 🤣
I do change my records now and again. If I take one out, I put the title card together with the record in a sleeve and it goes into my "retro" record rack, in case it comes into favour again.
 
@Doghouse those are beautiful jukeboxes! Feeling a bit jelly over here :)
Thanks for that.
I mostly play them when I'm doing a bit of gardening, they live in our summerhouse at the bottom of our garden. (but I spend more time playing golf).
It's surprising how much work is required in a "low maintenance garden," I did all the landscaping over thirty years ago.


 
Thanks for that.
I mostly play them when I'm doing a bit of gardening, they live in our summerhouse at the bottom of our garden. (but I spend more time playing golf).
It's surprising how much work is required in a "low maintenance garden," I did all the landscaping over thirty years ago.


WOW... beautiful! I love that style of landscaping

I was thinking "..that looks so lush, like ex-inlaw's place in Ross-on-Wye..." and I noticed you're in the UK.

Again... gorgeous!
 
I do change my records now and again. If I take one out, I put the title card together with the record in a sleeve and it goes into my "retro" record rack, in case it comes into favour again.
THAT is a smarter way of doing it than my ever-fattening envelope. I find now I'm not changing so many at once; that I change a few at a time, so that's why I made the script. I can just print a few (like 7) and each can be different. I haven't quite settled on a style yet (colors for genres or colors for strips). I hope Mike and others can scavenge pieces of it that they may feel add value, and add it to theirs. I claim no rights, just put it out there if someone else sees value in it
 
WOW... beautiful! I love that style of landscaping

I was thinking "..that looks so lush, like ex-inlaw's place in Ross-on-Wye..." and I noticed you're in the UK.

Again... gorgeous!
Thanks for that, we're in "The Tropic of Mersey," (south Manchester)

I did all the hard landscaping in 1986/7 It was a bit different to as it is now. Hence the Japanese theme.



But in 2019, it developed a serious leak and the work required to replace the liner meant that everything around the perimeter would have to be removed. So I reverted to the "plan B" I had in my head when I built it, when my wife said, "What will you do with a five foot deep hole in the ground if you ever decide to get rid of it?" I told her not to worry, she likes it better as it is now.
A couple of guys filled it in with 20 tonnes of eco-friendly small hardcore and paved over it. I created a break in the rock formed border opposite the house to allow access. The fish went to a good home two doors away. That was important to me.
 
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