Resolution
and Color DepthHow good is our scanning process?
We scan at various resolutions from 300 to 9,600 dpi depending on the physical size of the original and the desired size of the image when printed.
Photos and documents physically smaller than 8 x 10 inches are scanned at resolutions that will produce a fine quality 8 x 10 inch print. We have scanned and improved wallet sized photographs that produced a beautiful 8 x 10 inch print. (It wasn't easy!)
Photos and documents physically larger than 8 x 10 inches are scanned at resolutions that will produce fine quality prints the size of the original.
Old 'black and white' photos have often acquired a creamy tone over the years. We scan these in color to retain the tone.
Some of our customers wish higher resolution and/or 16 bit grayscale and 48 bit color. We are happy to accommodate your needs. These higher bit depths do not affect the way you see the image on a computer screen, but are especially important when printing the images and will be greatly appreciated by people using these images in the future.
Please keep in mind that increasing resolution and bit depth does not produce an increase in final quality. A damaged photo scanned at high resolution simply produces a large damaged photo when printed. The real benefit of higher resolution and color depth is to provide more information to image processing programs and smoother shade gradients when printing.
Daguerreotypes
Glass Plate,
and TintypesThe daguerreotype is an early type of photograph, but, unlike modern photographs, it has no negative. Instead, it is an image exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver, housed in a velvet-lined folding case.
We find that daguerreotypes have not fared well over time, so we scan the picture in its case, then scan the image at a higher resolution.
Most daguerreotypes require restoration as shown by this one.
By the way, if you want to know what we think requires restoration, this is an example!
The ferrotype, also called the tintype or melainotype, is a photographic process developed in the United States in the 19th century. These look like small pieces of 'tin' with an images on it. They are usually small, and sometimes hand-tinted.
As for photographs developed on glass plate, we have seen some absolutely stunning examples. This photographic technique captures an amazing amount of detail and is a joy to scan.
Descriptive
File NamesIdentifying the people, places, events, and dates in your family history is imperative. In this example, image number 204 identifies the names of the young women and the date, very helpful for someone looking at this 100 years from now.
The length of a file name can be 200 characters, enough for a valuable short description.
We use our judgement when naming the files or you can provide descriptive information that we will use.
Our reference prints place this file name below each picture.
Standard DVD Media
Your project is written to standard DVD media, and this media is included in our prices. Each DVD is clearly labeled indicating its contents and each is protected in an individual case.
Special Handling
We have seen almost every conceivable way of managing old photographs!
Often we receive complete photo albums having the 'sticky' hardpaper sheets with plastic overlays. We have receive very fragile old photo albums that are falling apart - or the opposite case where the pictures are pasted on pages and cannot be removed.
We have handled photos pasted to glass that has subsequently broken. We have removed pictures from frames and replaced them.
Normally a project does not require this type of care, however if we have to spend a significant amount of time handling the photographs, we track the time and bill at an hourly rate.
35mm Slides
and FilmWe scan 35mm film in strips or individually cut. If you wish only certain images on a strip scanned, simply indicate which ones they are.
In the late 1950's, slide developers began putting the development year and month on slides. We retain this information by including it in the file name. It will not identify the date the picture was taken, but it will identify the date it was developed.
Some slides have handwritten information on the front or back that may be historically important as shown in the image at the left. This information is also included in the file name.
Medium Format Film
Medium format film (also known as 120/220, 2 1/4 inch, or Brownie) is film of sizes 4.5cm x 4.5cm, 6 x 4.5cm, 6 x 6cm, 6 x 7 cm, 6 x 8 cm or 6 x 9cm.
Film images of this size usually benefit by higher resolution and/or higher bit depth scanning. Click here for more information
Large Format Film
Large format film is 4 x 5 inches in size or larger - we can accommodate film as large as 8 x 10 inches. Again, film of this size usually benefits by higher resolution and/or higher bit depth scanning. Click here for more information
Panoramic Film
Panoramic film is usually 6 x 17 cm. Quality scans of film this size can provide an absolutely beautiful print, but high resolution and bit depth can produce files so large many computers simply cannot open or manipulate them, so we take care to ask our customers exactly what they want to do with these images.
Photographs and Prints
Scanning of photographs and prints is done from 300 to 9,600 dpi depending on the size of the original. A very small photo – perhaps of just a child's face that was cut from a larger photo – is scanned at a very high resolution, allowing it to be printed larger than the original.
Photographs that have an interesting border or frame are scanned to include the border. Common white borders around photos and prints are not usually scanned unless they have handwriting or date information.
If the back of a photograph has writing or other valuable information, we scan it as part of our standard price per image.
We can scan photos in any sequence. If you have a preference, just place them in the order you wish and we will keep them in that order.
Paper Documents
Paper documents can be letters, awards, diplomas, newspaper articles, scrapbook items, etc.
Most paper documents we have archived are legal size or smaller such as typewritten pages. If the document is basically black (i.e. pencil or black ink) we scan in black and white. However, if the color of the writing, or the color of the paper, should be preserved, we scan in color.
Our intent is to allow reproduction of the original at 100 % of its actual size.
Books and Diaries
Many diaries, notebooks and journals have been typed or written on a single piece of paper while others are preserved in bound books, some with elaborate and beautiful designs on the cover.
Most likely there is only one copy of the original. Perhaps the original should be in a museum, yet you are reluctant to part with it.
Many times we can open these volumes and scan one or two pages at the same time.
We have scanned front and back of covers of journals and books, so it is possible to reproduce a diary that looks remarkably similar to the original.
Oversize Documents
Oversized documents are larger than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches and smaller than 16 by 20 inches. We have scanned such things as fancy old marriage licenses, maps, handwritten letters, legal documents, ship manifests, land records, the list goes on.
Oversized documents are scanned multiple times in overlapping sections and electronically ‘pasted’ together to create a seamless copy of the original at its actual size. The individual scans and the composite image are included on your CD or DVD.
The Civil War era letter shown to the left is physically 8 inches wide and 13 inches high. It was scanned twice (the upper portion of the letter and the lower portion of the letter), then the composite image was created.
The composite image can be printed (on large format printers) at 100% its original size.
The cost for oversized items is $.80 per individual scan; since two scans were used to produce this letter, the cost is $1.60.
If the letter had been wider than 8 inches, four individual scans would have been required and the cost would be $3.20.
Scrapbooks and Photo Albums
We scan scrapbook pages as one image, and usually place a small black border around the page.
The scrapbook shown on the left is physically 11 by 14 inches and we can scan pages as large as 16 x 20 inches before we have to adjust our price.
Many times scrapbooks contain envelopes with letters in them, cards with handwriting on the inside, pictures with information of the back, double sided papers scotch taped so the reader can turn them over, etc. When we come across these types of things we scan whatever can be seen on the page, then scan again the 'hidden' contents and create new pages of the scrapbook referencing the related items.
The photo album on the right is something we also see a lot. Photos have been pasted, glued, or taped in place and there is writing around them. Sometimes the photos are easily removed allowing us to scan information on the back. Sometimes we like to scan two facing pages of an album as shown in this example.
We scan the covers of scrapbooks and photo albums to capture the feeling of the original.
Reference Prints
When our scanning process is complete, we produce a 'reference print' file in .pdf format of your entire project. We usually place six images per page on standard letter sized paper. You can print the file yourself or take it to a print shop to have it printed for you. The file name of each image is printed directly beneath the image. A heading can appear at the top of every page.
We find that printing 6 images on a page (one sided) is large enough to view and enjoy them. The number of images we place on a page depends on their content, for instance we may place only one image on a page if it is a handwritten letter, or we may place 8 per page if all the images were exactly square.
Reference Prints are simply a pretty good way to see the contents of the archived images from your DVD when you do not have access to a computer. They do not represent the fine quality images actually contained on your DVD.
Color, Contrast and Focus Correction
Our price includes adjustments to improve colors and contrast, to remove dust and scratches, and to bring out detail in shadows if necessary. If the content of the image appears to be very important, simple restoration is applied. We find that most slides and some color photos have had some color fading depending on age and storage conditions.
Interestingly, we see that pictures taken in the 1970's and 1980's are often in worse condition than photographs taken 100 years ago.
We also do our best to correct out of focus conditions. Many pictures, slides and negatives taken by hand held cameras can benefit from this process.
Extra CD's or DVD's
Your first set of DVD's is included in our price (unless you request the Archive Gold CD or DVD media). We label each one to identify its contents and place each in a slim jewel case.
We will provide extra copies of all or some of the DVD's at a slight cost.
Archive Gold Media
Mitsui Advanced Media, Inc. manufactures extremely high quality CD and DVD media which has an expected life of 300 years. We have used this media for several of our clients.
We will provide your project on this media if you wish. Please allow extra time for us to special order this type of media.
If you prefer, you may purchase the media yourself, and send it to us. We will use the necessary quantity, returning unused media to you.
