Digitisation

Scanning that is worth doing once

Digitisation is usually a one-off act. The originals go back in the box afterwards, and the files you are left with are what your family, your gallery or your institution actually works from for the next few decades. That is the whole argument for doing it at a proper resolution the first time, on equipment built for the job, with the originals handled by a person rather than a sheet feeder.

Every item is captured individually by one of our imaging specialists at our Fyshwick studio. Nothing is fed through a stack loader, and fragile items get the extra time they need - for some objects we build custom stands or holders so they can be captured and stored without being flexed or clamped.

What we can digitise

• Photographs - from standard 6x4 prints up to A2, including old, faded, fragile, damaged and still-framed photographs.
• Film and slides - 35mm film strips and slides, 120 and medium format, black and white film, Kodachrome slides, glass plates and fragile film.
• Artwork - watercolour, charcoal, pastel, pencil and pen, oil paintings and canvas work, captured for archival record or fine art reproduction.
• Posters, maps and documents - up to 4A0, including historical maps and fragile or damaged originals.

Resolution, formats and file sizes

Resolution is the decision that everything else follows from, and it is not a free choice - doubling it from 300 to 600 PPI produces roughly 400% more data, because the scale is quadratic rather than linear. That shows up in scanning time, storage and cost, which is why we match the resolution to what the file is actually for rather than defaulting to the maximum.

• Family photo scanning captures at around 300 PPI and delivers JPG files - enough to view, share and reprint at original size.
• Professional and archival photo scanning offers 600 or 1200 PPI, delivered as JPG and TIFF, with enough detail to print at twice the original size or more.
• Film and slides are scanned at approximately 3200 PPI for 35mm, 2400 PPI for 60x60mm, and 1600 PPI for 60x120mm and 100x150mm.
• Artwork is scanned at 600 or 1200 PPI. For scale: a 600dpi A2 scan is around 139 megapixels, where a photographed artwork is generally limited to about 30 megapixels.
• Posters and maps are delivered as uncompressed TIFF files.

What "preservation" means

Preservation scanning is a specific standard, not a marketing adjective. We scan to the Preservation Digitisation Standards set by the National Archives of Australia, which define the requirements for digitising physical records of archival value so the digital copy works as an effective long-term surrogate for the original - and so that handling the fragile original becomes unnecessary. Those standards are developed in line with national and international GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive and Museum) practice. We can also repack your originals for archival storage afterwards.

This is a different service from our everyday photo scanning, and it is priced accordingly: preservation projects typically start from $25,000 and suit companies, government agencies and institutions digitising a collection.

How your files come back

Digital delivery by download is included with every project. USB, SSD and HDD options are available if you would rather have a physical copy, sized to the number of images. We do not accept client-supplied devices, for security reasons.

Turnaround

Scanning generally runs 1-2 weeks, though it varies by service and volume - artwork scanning typically takes 15 working days, and large collections are scheduled and quoted by volume. See turnaround times for the current guide; we confirm a firm date when your quote is approved.