Message-Id: <199610221904.OAA11364@library.wustl.edu> Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 14:59:50 -0400 From: "Robert A. Baron" <mailto:rabaron@PIPELINE.COM> Subject: Re: rec on 1) angle scanner and 2) dig camera To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
"Jeffrey S. Erickson" <mailto:jeericks@DAVIDSON.EDU> said: > Some companies which market photographic copystands offer as an
>accessory a "book/document hold-down," usually consisting of a heavy sheet
>of glass affixed to a stage. The glass is hinged in such a way as to be
>able to "float" upwards and thus accommodate fairly thick volumes. I would
>purchase one of these, and proceed as Robert recommends above.
The technique I developed specifically does not use glass or plexi as a hold-down. For rare-book photography the use of glass to hold down two pages often stresses the spines and may actually damage the pages. I used a series of devices (mostly weights, clamps and supports) that held one side of the book up at nearly a 90 degree angle while placing localized pressure on that part of the book being photographed to "incourage" planarity. Scanners that can correct for the curvilinear distortion that is often part of this process might be a godsend. While my pictures may not have achieved "professional" standards by virtue of not having complete control over the disposition of the object, I can say that I never damanged a single book or a single page, and the results are of sufficient quality to be publishable in scholarly studies and monographs.
Robert A. Baron Museum Computer Consultant P.O. Box 93, Larchmont, NY 10538 mailto:rabaron@pipeline.com