Digital Duplicates: Reviving though Reproduction

Digitalization is a relatively new way of preserving heritage. Whether family heirlooms or documents of cultural significance, digitizing allows us to keep history safe and share it with others as facsimiles or electronic images. While some items can be safely digitized at home, here at The Center we often see items of extreme delicacy, brittleness, or constructed in such a way that makes do-it-yourself scanning a risky prospect.

Antique hand-colored photograph before, and digitally reproduced. Delicate surfaces such as this should not be pressed onto a scanner bed.

All reproduction work starts with our professional-level scanning equipment. Unlike a commonly found home or workplace scanner, overhead scanning equipment provides greater safety for the object being scanned. The overhead scanner does not touch the object's surface, which captures images and converts them into digital images by LED light. Overhead scanners also allow for the careful duplication of bound books, as the binding does not need to be pressed onto the flat surface of a conventional scanner.

Bookeye overhead scanner — Detail of digitization process with BookEye Scanner. This style of scanner prevents excessive handling of the document.

Digital reproduction work is overseen at The Center by Digital Production Manager Mike Simi. Often, scanned images undergo digital restoration, where the duplicated image is repaired using digital editing software. The digital restoration process is not easy; it requires significant skill and patience. With an artistic eye, digital restoration can remove scratches, stains, and other types of damage from an image or enhance areas that have faded over time.

Digital reproduction Lillian Trotter’s journal. — Digital reproduction of artist Lillian Trotter’s journal.

Photographs, family documents, journals, sketchbooks, letterbooks, and archives are all excellent candidates for digital reproduction. We find that libraries, universities, museums and historical institutions, and corporations can all benefit from the effective archival management that digitization provides. With the talents of professionals such as Mike and the proper equipment to ensure safe scanning, digital reproduction is a practical way for audiences to safely use a replica without putting the original at risk.