Tag: microfilm conversion

May 17, 2010

Northwest Microfilm Scanning Services

Many states and regions around the United States, like the Northwest, may be engaged in a microfilm conversion project to digitize their microfilm records, or a microfiche conversion job. Other cities in the Northwest that have not scanned microfilm or microfiche records will probably look at this possibility in the near future.

The end clients of these companies and the County, City, and State Governments in the Northwest may have great benefits from the microfilm conversion and microfiche scanning if performed by Generation Imaging. As an example, a government in the Northwest could have many millions of public records stored on microfiche. These records may need to be available to many users or have been mandated to be archived as a backup. Northwest companies may need to make sure that thousands of rolls of microfilm are inventoried in an efficient manner so that the microfilm can be located as needed.

It is also very important that in this case, companies or governments in the Northwest maintain a temperature control room to protect the microfilm from damage. In a case like this, they would also need to have staff available to manage the work related to this process. Another step towards protecting the integrity of microfilm may require that the Northwest business or government create a duplicated of each microfilm roll for a backup. Any time a duplicated roll is made, it may represent additional cost.

Once all the records are digitized, Northwest companies that have microfilm may be able to take advantage of an automated system. A digital storage and retrieval system may alleviate these Northwest microfilm bureaus from the continued burden of maintaining an enormous library of microfilm rolls or microfiche cards. A Northwest government agency may also be able to save customers time and reduce their own cost with a digital system in place. You may have fast access to records from a digital retrieval system. It is possible to have fast view of record by searching though a computer and not have to deal with microfilm rolls again. A system like this can save Northwest businesses and government entities lots of money and also save time.

If you have a need to convert rolls of microfilm, microfiche cards, aperture cards, or other types of microfilm, to digital format, contact us for additional information. We can help you create your own digital storage and retrieval system if you use microfilm rolls or microfiche cards.

Although Generation Imaging is located in Hollywood, South Florida (between Miami and Fort Lauderdale) we provide microfilm scanning services from all over the United States, including Northwest microfilm scanning services, and around the world. If you have any reservations about sending microfilm or microfiche from the Northwestern part of the United States (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Southeast Alaska, Nevada, Northern Utah, Northern Colorado and California) contact us so we can alleviate your concerns.

April 26, 2010

Looking for a Microfilm Scanning Bureau?

Generation Imaging can handle all types of microfilm conversion, no matter how large or how small. There are many microfilm bureaus out there, so find out the capabilities of a microfilm scanning bureau and how much time they need to accomplish your microfilm scanning project, as well as an upfront cost analysis. Find out significant information that will help you in the process. Be as prepared as you can and ask about all you need to know. Generation Imaging is a scanning bureau that you can partner with to get your projects completed.

There are different types of microfilm but not all microfilm scanning bureaus are capable of dealing with all types of microfilm conversion. A microfilm scanning bureau that has completed comparable jobs to yours may be better prepared to take care of your needs as well. Generation Imaging’s staff has processed thousands of projects. If you know what equipment is needed to perform your microfilm conversion, you can ask if they have those types of resources. Some equipment is better than others and there may be quality differences in the results as well.

Some microfilm scanning bureaus invest in better equipment and upgrade the systems to use the latest scanning technology. Other microfilm scanning bureaus may be using older system less capable of producing top quality microfilm scanning.

Roll film contains identifiers that can help reduce cost during post scanning. This microfilm company can let you know how this information can save you money. Blips are marks besides documents on the microfilm that often represent significant page breaks or document sets. The microfilm scanning bureau should be able to use these marks on the microfilm or microfiche and group the digital records for you. It is vital for the microfilm scanning bureau to have experienced personnel to make full use of these equipment capabilities.

Other types of automated image identification may include Optical Character Recognition or OCR. A microfilm scanning bureau that has all of these tools may be of great help for your microfilm conversion needs. If your microfilm scanning bureau does not have all of the tools required, you will need to find a partner who can. You may be able to achieve better quality and a better price from a scanning company that has all of the advanced tools.

This microfilm scanning bureau will supply you with image processing options that will help your microfilm scanning project become a winner. Ask your microfilm scanning bureau about files types, file formats, and how they may affect the quality of images . A microfilm scanning bureau should present samples for you to confirm the resulting quality and formats, and Generation Imaging does that.

September 24, 2009

Microfilm scanning conversion

Generation Imaging provides the best quality microfilm scanning services at the lowest prices in the industry. Why? Would your microfilm scanning be performed overseas? Nope.

Generation Imaging has perfected scanning microfilm with no corporate overhead; Generation Imaging is made up of microfilm scanner operators and managers with over 20+ years of experience. Your microfilm conversion to PDF, TIFF, or JPEG will be done at wholesale microfilm scanning prices. You will be going DIRECT to the workers themselves as opposed to a CEO or middle-men doubling profits.

Is the quality good? Generation Imaging uses the latest generation of microfilm scanners to produce the best quality bi-tonal or grayscale images. Before Generation Imaging converts your microfilm job, you would be e-mailed samples for you to approve and your expectations would be realistic.

Microfiche scanning pricing – Generation Imaging operates high-volume microfilm scanners with no middle-men or corporate overhead, and therefore offers the lowest best pricing in the microfilm digitization industry.

Microfiche Scanning Turnaround Time – Depending on the microfilm volume, Generation Imaging can operate 24/7.

Microfiche Scanning Experience – Generation Imaging’s staff as scanned over a billion images for clients in virtually every industry.

Generation Imaging’s microfilm scanning services include:

16mm roll film
35mm roll film
16mm duplex roll film
Duplicated microfilm
Duo microfilm

COM roll film
3M cartridge roll film
Kodak cartridge roll film
Continuous microfilm

September 13, 2009

Microfilm Scanning Quality

When performing a microfilm scan, there are many issues that need to be considered to assure that the resulting quality is the best possible scan.

To start, you need to determine how much information you want to capture from the film. At first, this may seem to many like a dumb question, thinking that the more the better. In many instances that is the case, but there is a limit to this benefit and at one point there is a cost to pay that counteracts some of the benefit.

The two question to answer before starting the microfilm conversion process with respect to ultimate quality are Film Scan Resolution and File Type.

The film scan resolution is often refer to as DPI or “dots per inch”. The DPI is important because it determines the size of the dots or points that make up an image. If you look at a one inch by one inch square of an image and zoom in on it so that you could see the dots that make an image, you would be able to see rows of dots that change color. A resolution of 100 would have 100 dots going across the one inch. A 300 DPI image would have 300 dots in this same row. To fit more dots in the same distance, they would have to be smaller and more compact. More dots means that the image would have better chances of been higher quality.

More dots also means that there is more information. More information also means that the image is bigger in terms of file size. This is the down side to a higher DPI. End users are sometimes affected by this issue for a couple of reasons. One is the hard drive space that will be needed to store the images. If the project is large, the difference in drive space may be significant. The second issue has to do with the end users system and its ability to handle the images quickly. The larger the files are, the more information the system needs to process. If going with larger DPI, the end user needs to make sure that the operating system, the processor in the computer, the network, and all other components, are ready to deal with the larger images and can achieve the desired results.

In addition to the DPI scan resolution, determining the file type is also important. There are various image types, including gray scale, j-peg, tiff, and others, and some various compression types withing these selections. Grey scale images offer the possibility of generating very high quality images with lots of details but it is usually much higher in file size.

CONTACT GENERATION IMAGING FOR MORE INFORMATION