Bob Dylan — Highway 61 Revisited: How to Identify a First Pressing

• Cover: The cover photo was taken by Daniel Kramer a few weeks before recording began, showing Dylan sitting on the front steps of manager Albert Grossman's Gramercy Park residence in New York, with Dylan's friend Bob Neuwirth standing behind him (included to 'add some extra colour' to the shot).
• Other: The stereo and mono editions have different running times: the total time listed for the stereo mix is nearly 3 minutes longer than the mono mix, with the difference concentrated mainly in tracks 3, 6, and 8 — a rough way to check whether a copy is the mono or stereo edition.

• Other: A Hybrid SACD edition and a remastered reissue have both been released for this album, both of which postdate the 1965 original vinyl.

• Later remastered editions differ from the 1965 original in mix length and dynamics, and the original mono and stereo mixes themselves already have a systematic difference of roughly 3 minutes in running time — buyers need to first confirm whether the copy in hand is the mono or the stereo edition, rather than simply assuming it is the latest remaster.

discogs.com returned a 403 this time and could not be accessed; the English Wikipedia entry was used instead. That entry does not give a specific catalog number or matrix-etching information.

• Read the runout (the smooth area between the last groove and the label) with the disc tilted under a lamp: matrix numbers, stamper codes and mastering initials are the strongest evidence.
• Label details change between pressing plants and years: rim text, logo style, address, "Manufactured by" wording.
• Cover printing shows the plant and era: printer credit, catalog number position, barcode presence.
• Match all three. A first-press disc in a later cover, or the reverse, is common.

Shoot the label straight on in even light, then the runout with the disc tilted so the etched text catches the light (a phone torch from the side works). Add the front and back cover, the spine, and any inner sleeve or insert. The app reads the label and cover; the runout photo is what confirms the pressing.