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digitizing of negatives, a complete service to archives and image libraries, bruce cowell, photographer, brisbane, australia
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Digitizing of Photographic Negatives A complete service to archives and image libraries Photographic Conservator - Brisbane |
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The digitizing of photographic negatives demands a different approach to the digitizing of photographic prints. Whereas a print is a finished work a negative is an unfinished one. Digitizing a photographic negative requires as much skill in interpreting the negative as there has always been in photographic printing. If the negatives are ones you have taken yourself this is no real obstacle. With collections of historical negatives though, there are a number of issues to consider before allowing the scanner software to invert the image into a positive (thereby producing what I call an "inverted negative"). Having worked as a photographic printer for many years I know that most negatives demand various controls in printing to achieve a satisfactory print. In most cases we can't know what the photographer intended the print to look like so we have to rely on our own interpreting skills and experience in the industry. In mid 2008 I completed a major project for the Queensland State Archives involving the digitization of over 16,000 negatives. (This project achieved a "Highly Commended" in the Public Works Department achievement awards 2008.) To do this work I first had to assess the negative collection and separate out the polyester negatives (nitrate ones had already been separated). Assessment included physical condition as well as likely historical importance. Although an historical assessment of a photographic collection is not normally done by a photographer I was given this job because of my experience of almost 30 years working with historical images from various museums as a photographer and image library manager.
Institutions and individuals who are responsible for collections of photographic negatives need to consider the following points in relation to digitization.
-A major issue facing image libraries these days is the physical deterioration of photographs on film (negatives and transparencies). Vinegar syndrome is a fact of life for many institutions. Digitization can be an alternative to keeping deteriorating negatives or it can be a strategy to allow access to images while the negatives are in cold storage. -Digitization of negatives is desirable even if prints of those negatives exist. To obtain the maximum amount of information in an image it's best to digitize the negative rather than the print. This is because the negative holds more information than a print in terms of tonal range and sharpness. Overall image quality is better from a negative especially if the image will be enlarged in printing.
Taronga Zoo, Sydney c1916 (6x10cm cellulose nitrate negative)
- Digitizing for preservation can be done more cheaply if access copies are not required. Preservation copies should be stored as a raw file without any compression, editing, sharpening or resizing. It could also be argued that preservation copies should be stored in the "negative" form to show that it is an unfinished image. Digital files can be sent straight from the scanner to the storage media thus saving time and money.
-This is the big issue with digital images, they require vast amounts of storage space as well as an active program of backing-up and media redundancy management. Preservation images should be stored as TIFF or DNG files
-It's often not practicable to digitize every image . Somebody will need to assess the collection of negatives to make a selection of those to be digitized. It takes experience to "read" a negative and many people have great difficulty. It may be necessary to work along side a suitably qualified person to make the selection.
-It may be tempting to do it yourself but there are many issues to scanning negatives that most people won't be aware of. I would strongly advise that the person doing the digitizing have a photographic background. Regardless of who does the digitizing the costs in money and time are significant. It would be a shame if only second rate digital images are obtained through a lack of understanding of the issues involved in digitizing negatives.
Family group, Brisbane c1916 (6x10cm cellulose nitrate negative)
- The cost of scanning is mostly in the time involved. Negatives need to be scanned at a fairly high resolution and are generally slower than scanning a print. Some scanners are capable of batch scanning which allows the operator to do other things while scanning is in progress. Usually though the time taken to scan a negative can be measured in minutes. Holders of important or fragile negatives are reluctant to put them through automatic feed systems for fear of damaging them. I've been looking at ways of reducing the time taken and so reducing the cost of digitizing negatives and I've come up with an alternative to scanning that could cut the cost by almost half. The latest high resolution digital cameras with high quality optics produce images of a quality comparable to scanning (within reasonable archive file sizes). Combined with a specially designed lighting unit I can digitize negatives and transparencies in a fraction of the time taken by scanning (the three B&W images on this page were produced using this technique). Any size negative on any base (plastic or glass) can be digitized using this technique. Click on the image of the family group above to see a higher resolution photo made using this technique (approx 30 sec download time at 56kbps). If raw preservation images in their "negative" form are all you require then this technique will cut costs even further. Access copies as jpg files in the "positive" form can be produced from the raw files now or in the future. I can also produce high quality digital images suitable for printing from the raw preservation file. This technique is not just a cheap alternative to scanning. It's an integrated program that includes assessment and selection of negatives (includes re-housing if necessary), digitizing to raw file for preservation, production of access copy files, archiving of image files to hard drive or gold disc. If you decide to do some of this work in-house I can provide any part of the process as required.
For a quote on this technique or for scanning of negatives, transparencies or prints contact Bruce Cowell at: 6 Poznik Close, Bracken Ridge, Brisbane, Australia 4017 Ph: 07 32612246 Mob: 0419 736 541 E-mail: BrcCow@aol.com or bruce@brucecowellphotographer.com.au
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