Scanning Microfiche (was: VT131 needs keyboard help)

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Thu Jan 31 10:11:30 2002

On Thu, 31 Jan 2002, Andreas Freiherr wrote:

> Even if you were using a true 1200dpi device, you would end up with
> less than 30dpi after blowing up the image 1:42 back to it's original
> size. Sure, that's not what we want.

Right. The optics of the original fiche photographing machine reduce stuff
way too small to scan directly.

> But maybe there are devices or even companies specialized on scanning
> microfiche? - How would you load this information into an electronic
> archive on MO disks, for example?
>
> Some years ago, a friend of mine managed to get a couple of frames
> printed off these fiches, but the results weren't too good: poor
> contrast was the main problem. If you'd scan these prints, the results
> would certainly be unreadable.

I've researched it, but I found no affordable solution other than buying a
fiche printer. These are not small units, but still are of a manageable
size. They average about 30-40" deep, 16-24" high, and 18-24" wide. The
better quality ones (not the cheap mimeograph type you'll see in some
public libraries) use a printing system similar much like that of a laser
printer or good xerox machine. The trick to getting good output from
anything optical is keeping it *clean* and getting the image focused
properly. The average used price on a good quality unit can range from
anywhere from $500-7000. I'm looking for a production quality one more in
the $1000-2000 range, but I can't afford it right now.

-Toth
Received on Thu Jan 31 2002 - 10:11:30 GMT