Scanning glass negatives and cased items

mailto:JEH7175@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU
Sun, 6 Nov 1994 14:43:09 -0500

Message-Id: <mailto:199411062028.OAA06840@library.wustl.edu>
Date:         Sun, 6 Nov 1994 14:43:09 -0500
From: mailto:JEH7175@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU>
Subject:      Scanning glass negatives and cased items
To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB

For a project in my Electronic Photography class at Rochester
Institute of Technology I have been scanning a variety of
19th-century photographs including glass negatives, cased
images, and paper prints.  Since I have located very few
articles about scanning old photographs, I am posing these
questions for those on the list involved with scanning projects:

1. Have you written articles or papers discussing the technical aspects of the scanning process? If so, how can I get a copy? 2. Are you including a grey scale or color control patches? 3. How much time is spent "editing" the image in PhotoShop or similar programs? (On such a small-scale project, I have spent a lot of time adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, etc., but I realize that this is not possible in projects of 10,000+ images.) 4. Glass negatives, once inverted, look very blue and the color must be adjusted. Since there usually isn't a vintage print to match, how do you decide the final color (warm/cool tone)? 5. Are there any tips about scanning cased images? (For example, rotate the case 45 degrees to reduce the shadow of the case.)

And finally, in an unrelated question, is anyone scanning photographs for documentation in condition reports?

If there is enough interest, I would be glad to summarize all responses to the list. Thanks--

Joan Hostetler mailto:jeh7175@rit.edu