Scanning Made Real. Apply your skills & implement your workflow!

Scanning Made Real

Apply your skills &

Course Overview

• Project Planning

– Guiding Principles & Strategies – Phase 1- Setting the Stage

– Phase 2- Scoping the Project

– Phase 3- Implementing the Workflow • Hand’s On Session

– Color Management – Photoshop Tools

– Sample Workflow for Preservation Scanning • Online Resources

Plan

Project

Overview

Guiding Principles

• A well-planned project will have a significant impact on the efficiency of your workflow and operation

• Document all aspects of the project in central space accessible to all

• Be realistic in your estimates for timeline & budget

• Establish clear lines of communication

• Define roles & responsibilities, but avoid single points of failure

• Secure institutional support for preservation projects before starting

Phase I- Set the Stage

 Define Goals, including

Desired outcomes for source material

Functional requirements for digital assets

 Determine selection criteria

 Assess copyright

 Assess physical characteristics of material

 Define audience; establish use cases

 Determine preservation plan

Define Goals of Project

– What are the benefits to having the

material digitally available?

– Is your main goal to make the material

more widely available (access) ?

– Are you looking to replace or

supplement originals (preservation)?

– Are you looking for both access &

Desired outcomes for the source materials • Do you want to limit future access to source

materials?

• Do the objects need conservation treatment? Functional requirements for the digital

reproductions

• What kind of access do you need to provide to the material?

• How will the material be used?

– Different goals/outcomes determine

scope of digitization project, for

example:

• Access-only digitization

• may lower scanning requirements

• require less long-term planning (depending on project)

• lower overall costs of project • Preservation digitization

• will require a robust archiving system • may require conservation treatment

• may increase your scanning requirements (higher dpi, etc)

Determine Selection Criteria

• Support learning,

teaching, and research • Increased accessibility • Exhibitions/publications • Space savings

• Promoting collections • Support new forms of

use

• Preservation

– Reduce wear and tear – Reformatting tool

Assess Copyright

• Copyright can derail digitization

• Investigate public domain status and

calculate ROI on seeking permissions

Copyright

• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the U.S.

–

• Copyright Office

–

• Copyright Renewal Records

–

• WATCH File

Assess physical characteristics

– Assess physical collection; handling requirements;

conservation requirements – Determine format (slides/

negatives/monographs, etc) – Color

– Size

Assess collection metadata

• Any existing metadata that can be

utilized?

• Collection or item level data?

• What are the discovery and search

requirements?

Define audience

– Consider possible use cases

– Explore delivery options based on user

needs

– Explore metadata options based on

user needs

Determine preservation strategy

– Long-term preservation - Continued access to digital

materials, or at least to the information contained in them, indefinitely.

– Medium-term preservation - Continued access to

digital materials beyond changes in technology for a defined period of time but not indefinitely.

– Short-term preservation - Access to digital materials

either for a defined period of time while use is predicted but which does not extend beyond the

foreseeable future and/or until it becomes inaccessible because of changes in technology.

Secure Funding

– Possible sources: grants, foundations,

special interest groups

– Consider long-term maintenance costs

– Establish institutional commitment

Phase 1 Documentation



Goals / Outcomes



Selection Criteria



Rights



Physical condition (assessment)



Metadata assessment



Audience / Use cases



Preservation Strategy



Funding

Phase 2: Scope the Project

 Determine material requirements,

including conservation needs

 Set Imaging Parameters

 Define Master vs. Access Images

 Determine Quality Control Metrics

 Determine Storage Requirements

 Set Metadata Requirements

 Determine Delivery Method

 Establish Preservation Plan

Preparation

• Conservation

• Disbinding

• Tagging

• Organizing physical volumes, slides,

etc.

• Safe handling and storage directions

• Metadata analysis

Digitization

Benchmark image requirements–

align technical requirements to project goals

– Resolution / PPI-DPI – Bit-depth

– Threshold

– Color Space / Color Profiles – File Formats

– Compression Techniques – Filenaming

Image Processing

– Master vs Access Files

• Dpi

• Color space • File formats – OCR

– Derivative creation

• Static or multi-resolution formats • On-the-fly conversion

Scanning methodology

– Capture device

• One size doesn’t fit all- flatbed, overhead, bound book, slide/film scanner

– Scanner settings

• Document type

• Exposure (auto exposure or no?) • Quality

• ICE or ROC?

Quality Control

Key factors in image quality assessment:

– resolution

– color and tone

– overall appearance

Procedures

– Consistent approach

– Defined scope and methodology – Control QC environment

– Automated & Manual

Define Metadata Parameters

• Metadata types

– Descriptive, structural, administrative, preservation, technical

• Metadata standards

– e.g., Dublin Core (DC), Open Archives Initiative (OAI), Persistent URL (PURL), Encoded Archival Description (EAD), etc.

Determine Access

Mechanism

– Delivery options

• Luna Insight, DLXS, DPubS, DSpace, Greenstone

– Levels of permission and access

– Search mechanism

– Out-of-the-box vs. customized

platforms

Preservation

• Technical strategies

– Bit preservation – Refreshing

– Migration

– Emulation, technology preservation, digital archeology

• Organization strategies

– Policies and best practices

– Technical and organizational infrastructure – Funding and staffing

– Technology forecasting and risk assessment – Securing institutional support!!

Determine Budget

– Conservation requirements

– Digitization costs

• Equipment/Software

• Collating/ organizing material

• Scanning • QC • Post-processing • Storage – Metadata • Staff • Software – Project Management • Staff • Software

Determine Budget, cont.

• On average*

– One third of the effort will be project planning,

preservation preparation, management, and oversight – One third of the effort will be archival description and

indexing

– One third of the effort will be the actual digitization – The actual percentages of time spent on various

activities will vary depending on the project

Project Assessment

• Evaluation

– Plan for outcomes assessment

– Conduct usability and functional testing – Conduct interface and robustness

evaluation

Phase 2 Documentation



Material Preparation



Digitization Settings



Image Processing



Quality Control Metrics & Methods



Metadata



Access



Preservation



Budget

Phase 3: Implement Workflow

 Coordinate Overlapping Processes for conservation,

digitization, and metadata

 Assign roles & responsibilities  Hardware & space considerations  Establish digitization workflow

 Scanner settings  Color Management  Archiving

 Post-processing  Quality Control  Write training guides

 Scanning & Post-processing  Quality Control

Workflow Coordination

• Not necessarily a linear process

• Allow for overlapping workflows for

conservation, digitization, and metadata

creation

• Determine rough flow of events

(conservation-digitization-metadata), but

allow for flexibility

Roles & Responsibilities

• Provide clear guidance to staff

– Defined job parameters

– Expectations for deliverables (time and

quality)

• Avoid single points of failure

– Have back-ups for staff

Hardware Considerations

– Capture device

• One size doesn’t fit all- flatbed, overhead, bound book, slide/film scanner

• Quality

• ICE or ROC?

• Color management devices – Computer

• Memory & Speed

• Back-up for local drives • Archiving

– Network

Space Considerations

• Temperature/humidity requirements

• Space for multiple devices allows for multi-tasking

• No windows near overhead devices (mixed lighting)

Establishing Digitization Workflow

• Set Scanner Settings

• Filenames

• Archiving methodology

• Color management

• Photoshop

• Assign device profile/ Convert to working space • Image adjustment (levels, curves)

• Image repair (clone tool, selection, layers) • Batch processing

Digitization

Workflow

Create training guides

• Scanning guides should include:

– Capture device settings (auto-exposure,color management on/off, etc?)

– Dpi

– Color space

– Processing specs for master & derivative images – Calibration methods – Filenames • Quality control – Methodology/ frequency – Image settings

Digitization strategies

• Batch / Automate as often as

possible

• Quality Control early and often

• Benchmark for project goals

• Write effective training guides and

keep them located next to scanning

devices

Phase 3 Documentation



Overall workflow plan with

contingencies



Roles & responsibilities



Hardware & space requirements



Digitization workflow & parameters



Scanning & QC Guides

Sample Project Scenario

• Digitize collection of 2000 early 20

century, fragile photographs from

Rare Library for patron & faculty use

in ARTstor

Sample Project Scenario

Phase 1

Goals:

Source Material:

Reduce handling /Preserve Functional Requirements: Zoom; Search; Export; Print Selection Criteria: Collection based Preservation-worthy Established faculty-need Copyright: Cleared (pre-1923) Material Assessment:

Fragile/Special handling req. Conservation clearance Cyanotypes; Silver Gelatin Metadata Assessment:

Collection-level metadata EAD finding aid

Descriptions on back of photo Audience:

Scholars; library patrons Use Cases:

Slide Lectures

Possible Faculty Publications Preservation:

Long-term plan– library assets in need of preservation combined with enduring access

Assessment:

Should involve faculty feedback & user testing Funding: Internal grants Phase 2 Conservation: Treatment required Image Parameters:

High resolution, 24 bit images TIFF masters with JP2 derivatives Color managed workflow

Metadata requirements:

Migration of existing data to VRA 4.0 w/ full search capabilities Quality Control:

100% QC Delivery:

ARTstor

Preservation needs:

Storage with triple redundancy plan Premis metadata administrative/descriptive/technical Institutional policy Institutional support Phase 3 Personnel: Conservation specialist Scanning Tech Metadata specialist QC tech Project Manager Software/ Hardware: Flatbed scanner High Speed Computer High end monitors (x 2) Storage with back-up Adobe CS4 Suite

Color management software Space considerations: Temperature/humidity controlled Workflow plan Conservation-imaging-meta Digitization workflow:

Filenames: Collection prefix followed by sequential # Color management: Calibrate monitor Characterize scanner Workflow guides: QC Digitization Metadata Conservation

Digitization

Workflow

Color Management Basics

• In digital imaging systems,

color

management

is the controlled conversion

between the color representations of

various devices, such as scanners, digital

cameras, monitors, and computer

printers.

Color management terms*

• Calibrate: The process of adjusting a device to known color conditions. Commonly done with devices that change color frequently, such as monitors (phosphors lose brightness over time) and printers (proofers and other digital printing devices can change output when colorant or paper stock is changed).

• Characterize- Measurement of device in relation to standard color target. This process creates a profile that describes

the unique color conditions found on a particular device. • ICC Device Profile- A file that describes how a particular

device (e.g., monitor, scanner, printer, or proofer)

reproduces color (i.e., its specific color space). Profiles can be either generic or custom.

Color Targets

• - best for manuscript material and silver gelatin prints

• - ideal when not utilizing color management system

• - best for contemporary photographs (color glossy paper) Software – –

Implementing a Color

Management System

Creating a scanner profile

• You will need the following: – Color target

– Installed Color Calibration Software, preferably InCamera Plug-In for Photoshop

• Scan Target in Photoshop – Clean Scanner glass

– Turn off all automated color adjustment

– Place chart face down, handling only the edges – Crop to edge of target

– Scan at high-resolution (600 dpi)

Creating a scanner profile, cont.

• Create the profile

– Open scanned target in Photoshop – Clean image, removing any dust, etc

– Open InCamera in Photoshop : Filter/Picto/InCamera4.5 – Adjust as necessary to fit squares in the middle of color

patches. – Click Ok

– Save file as Device_MB_Date.icc • Using the profile

– Scan without any auto color adjustment

– Archive Master file with profile & target scan

– Assign profile & convert to working space for derivative images (See scanning manual for more information)

Photoshop Tools

– Levels & Curves (especially curves) – Clone Stamp – Unsharp mask – Profile assignment/conversion – Batch Processing • Tools to avoid: – Automated levels – Brightness/contrast – Sharpening

Sample Workflow for Preservation Master

• Turn off automated exposure, automated color, etc

• Capture “raw” file

• Can either capture with a kodak color chart or archive with profile & macbeth target

• Check white/gray/black values for consistency across channels (if scanning RGB) and tonal range

• Archive raw file; make adjustments in PS; archive adjusted file as well.

Online Resources

• Federal Agencies Digital Guideline:

– Excellent overview of digitization process & workflow

–

• Jisc Digital Media Guides

– Cross-media advice to the creation of digital resources

Listservs

• ImageLib Listserv

–

• Museum Computer Network Listserv