Peter Amsden sent us this info last spring regarding this issue (when we purchased a new scanner and had concerns about Polaroids - I hope this helps as well. And I hope Peter doesn't mind us sharing his thoughts this way.
...your model, like most of
them, uses a xenon cold cathode light source. Since modern scanners use CCDs
to gather light, the output needs only to be low because these modern CCDs
(charged coupled devices) are very sensitive.
Experimental work has shown that scanning an artefact will expose it to so
little light, that it will only represent a minuscule proportion of that
expected to fall on it during its life time. I mean billionth's.
Now, you have a concern over some Polaroids, and I know that these are
notorious for fading anyway. Even without light falling on them. I have seen
Polaroid's that have been hidden away for years, and are hardly visible.
Once they have
been scanned, they can be cosseted with all known modern technology, and may
never need to see the light again. But you will have excellent copies, and
this is the thinking behind the preservation of many archives these days.
The British Museum has on display some priceless gold objects from pre Roman
times, but what the public doesn't realise is that the real things are deep
in the vaults. if something appears identical, should we hanker after seeing
the 'real' thing? It is one of those interesting questions. If you were
lucky enough to inherit a Van Gough say, would you hang it on your wall?
I am sure that your scanner will do no measurable harm to
the polaroids. In the end this must surely be seen as the lesser of the two
evils anyway. We are fortunate enough to own a number of Daguerreotypes and
I have scanned those. There is no way that they can be left out on display,
so copies go in the family album for all to see.
http://www.btinternet.com/~amsden/archives/camerasinarchives.html
Greg
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the warhol:
Greg Burchard
Rights & Reproductions / Photo Services Manager
117 Sandusky Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
T 412.237.8336
F 412.237.8340
E [log in to unmask]
W www.warhol.org
The Andy Warhol Museum
One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
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-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Richard Grant
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 2:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Scanning Artwork
Hi Rob,
Here is the article on scanning artworks I mentioned. It also has a lot of links to related material.
Go to the article titles "Light Levels Used in Modern Flatbed Scanners" which you will find at:
http://www.rlg.org/legacy/preserv/diginews/diginews2-5.html
Based on this data, the Diebenkorn Catalogue Raisonné Project is scanning some original works that are small enough to capture in a single pass. On a few occasions we have scanned material that requires two passes and then stitching, but find it too tedious to do on a regular basis. Also, we haven't come up with a really efficient, reliable color and exposure correction workflow for the direct scans. Most of our images are made with a high resolution digital camera, and then the RAW images flow right into a color correction process that yields consistent results.
Dick Grant
Richard Grant
The Richard Diebenkorn Catalogue Raisonné Project
3200 College Avenue #2
Berkeley, CA 94705
510-428-1400
510-459-4556 (mobile)
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rob Morgan
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 9:58 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Scanning Artwork
Hello TMSers,
Does any institution out there directly scan artwork? For example, we have a large collection of prints, photographs, and works on paper. It is time consuming to photograph each one of these works. However, (technically) we could scan these works. Obviously, there are conservation concerns, that's why I was curious if anybody out there directly scans works on paper.
Thanks,
Rob Morgan
Collections Database Administrator
The Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21211
[log in to unmask]
410-396-6489 (phone)
410-396-6562 (fax)
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