FAQ

DAB is able to photograph documents, meaning they are not damaged or destroyed by excessive handling required for conventional scanning methods. Documents are then supplied as JPG, TIFF and PDF as required.
Photographic restoration is done with the utmost care, handling the images as little as possible to scan them in using a Hi-Res scanner and saving them at Archival Quality Standards.

Scanning older documents brings with it plenty of risks. Old paper is often fragile, and should not be handled more than absolutely necessary. Traditional scanners require the document or book to be placed face down, placing the entire weight of the book onto each page, lifting it to turn the page and repeat. Excessive light can also degrade the inks used in the document, as well as heat the page, degrading it even further. Our methods use LED light sources, which illuminate the document without the heat source that traditional lighting can cause.

We can repair most damage caused by age, as well as wear & tear. This includes folds, tears, rips, ragged edges, fading, age spots, silver-rot, some stains (within reason!) and even reverse the damage caused by previous attempts to repair the photo, often with glue, tape or similar.

The resulting files will be supplied at Archival Industry Standard. This means that all documents that are photographed will be at 300dpi TIFF, allowing the sharpest level of detail possible. This is above industry standard, meaning that the resulting imagery will be the best results for the purpose required. Although these files are not user-friendly (images in TIFF format are not generally web-friendly, but can be opened in many different software packages and browsers), a duplicate set will also be provided in JPG format, allowing viewing and uploading to web-based storage if required. For multi-page documents, an additional PDF/A document will be created, which can be viewed in any PDF Viewer or Browser. This will allow easier viewing of the individual pages, and where possible, allow searching of the text within the document. Handwriting cannot be made searchable, due to optical recognition issues.
Photographs will be scanned at a minimum of 600dpi, with the ability to scan as high as 9600dpi, allowing for potential enlargement of a segment of a photograph to full size, without loss of visual quality.
These resolutions are in line with Industry Standards, however if you would require an extra set of files at a different resolution for your own use, we can also provide these in addition to the above formats.

This is a tough question, as no two projects are the same. Document photography is a much faster method than scanning each page. An example would be that a traditional scanner can take ~60-90 seconds for each page at Hi-Res, with extra time required to flip the book over, turn the page and place it back onto the scanner. Photographic methods involve turning the page, ensuring it is flat and snapping the image. This takes ~5-10 seconds per page or spread. This could allow a book of ~300 pages to be captured in a little under an hour, whereas with a standard scanner, the same book could take up to 5 hours. We would be happy to meet with you to view your documents and photos and give you an idea of timeframe.

DAB can provide the final files in a number of ways, from digital transfer, DVD, USB, or onto a Portable HDD of your choice. Files will be saved in multiple formats, from JPG (Hi and Low Resolution), Archival TIFF, as well as PDF format, to allow for fast browsing and searching. Where possible, an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) service will be applied, meaning that files will be searchable and indexed. This would only be possible on typed documents, as handwritten documents are not easily recognised by this method. DAB will not transcribe files manually, but can offer solutions that can engage members from your organisation to participate.

DAB will not keep copies of your archive for access, however we will provide multiple copies to be copied or stored in different locations. Alternatively, if you have allowed for a 3rd party to receive your files, these organisations will have your archives available on their respective web portals or onsite for public access.

There are several great options out there to host your digital files, from Cloud-based off-site storage, a RAID server that is stored offsite, or a publicly accessible service such as Flickr, Google Photos or similar. We have several contacts in the web-design and hosting industries that can assist, depending on what you are wanting to share, how you are looking to store it or make it available, or any other specific requirements. Alternatively, we can help to explain what you might need to ask a web-developer of your own, allowing you to contact a 3rd party developer.

Contact us directly and we will be glad to answer any questions you might have.