Scanning Fiche

From: Stephen Dauphin <ai705_at_osfn.org>
Date: Sun Dec 6 18:19:41 1998

On Sun, 6 Dec 1998, Zane H. Healy wrote:

> I've thought a 35mm slide scanner would work well, but I don't believe they
> are constructed in such a manner that you could scan the fiche without
> destroying it.

I don't know the answer, but I have some thoughts. There are now flatbed
scanners with a separate slide/picture scan "tray" that pops out the
front like a CD tray. Whether it is large enough for the fiche, I can't
say. Does that stuff come in standard sizes? There is also an Artec
ScanRom 4E, a miniature tray scanner (parallel port & Windows) for
stuff like 4" x 6" drugstore photos. DPI is your biggest problem.
Neither of these solutions exceeds 600 or 800 dpi, while with dedicated
35mm scanners, that number is supposedly the high 1,000 to the middle
2,000 per inch.

Are we talking jpegs/pdfs or ocr? How low a dpi can one go? Keeping in
mind that everything aimed at consumers seems to reward routine scanning
at excessive dpi, one could probably live with 200 dpi, if desperate,
perhaps less. Assuming that the fiche corresponds to a standard sheet of
paper, then it is possible that a true scanner resolution of 600 or 800
dpi will net 75 dpi for the finished product. Not so hot but might be
workable.

I could suggest optically blowing it up via a photgraphic enlarger and
then scanning the enlargement, but there is still the problem of cutting
to fit and the whole process would be time consuming.

What about projecting it from the microfiche reader (either directly or
using the screen) into something like a camcorder and then capturing as
stills via a live feed?

I assume there is a legitimate commercial way of scanning microfiche, but
I suspect it requires a significant outlay of money.


                                           -- Stephen Dauphin
Received on Sun Dec 06 1998 - 18:19:41 GMT