Discounted Microfilm Scanning, Microfiche Scanning, Aperture Card Scanning, and Imaging Services

Tag: Microfilm Scanner

Things Your Boss Expects You Know About Microfilm Scanning

So you are going about your normal workday when all of a sudden your boss has a new priority for you from left field- get pricing for microfilm scanning! You probably haven’t even heard about microfilm, your office never even uses it, but your boss has an opportunity or need to get microfilm converted- whatever that means! So you politely say “okay” and start your search online. Hopefully we can clear up some confusion with this article!

microfilm questions

Confirm and Get the Microfilm Specs

Your ultimate goal is to get a price for microfilm conversion, but the first thing you have to do is actually identify and get details about the microfilm. Now, I know this may be hard if your boss just dropped a request for a roll film quote on your desk without telling you. But you can show off your knowledge to your boss by turning the tables and asking about what type of film it is. The two main types of roll film are 16mm and 35mm roll film. These look like small versions of movie reels. 35mm reels usually have newspapers, drawings, blueprints, or maps on them, while the more common 16mm reels usually have all other types of documents, like medical records, payroll records, school records, criminal records, land and deed records, marriage certificates, lawsuits, etc. If you have any specifications, let us know: DPI resolution (200, 300, or something else), pdf or tiff, bi-tonal or greyscale, and how are the files named?

A common misnomer is to call microfilm “microfiche”. Microfiche is actually flat plastic cards which contain a few frames on them. A microfilm roll is a spool of film.

Once you get the microfilm type, you want to get an estimate of how many rolls are in the collection. The reason for all of this fact-finding is to help us give you a free microfilm scanning quote. The price varied by type and volume. Without this information, it is like contacting a car dealership and asking for a car price without saying which year, model, or spec you desire.

What is Microfilm Used For, Anyway?

As far as why microfilm is still relevant today, there are still hundreds of thousands- if not millions- of rolls that have not been converted still. Governments still produce them to store their records on them because paper takes up too much space. You would think they would just scan the paper to digital image, but it takes too long and is costly. So it is possible that your boss is helping am existing client who also has microfilm but does not know how to convert it to digital image. Your boss may be trying to respond to a bid which has microfilm scanning requirements and your office can perform all of the other tasks but not the microfilm portion. There are dozens of reasons why your boss came across the microfilm scanning opportunity.

Other Important Questions

Your boss probably wants to know if it is cheaper to buy a microfilm scanner and do it yourself vs outsourcing microfilm scanning. We can give you price ranges for both. Generally speaking, it is more inexpensive to subcontract microfilm conversions. Microfilm scanners are very expensive to buy or lease, and you have to figure in the cost to train and maintain. In many ways getting your own microfilm scanner is like setting up a new business. Regardless, we will give you numbers to work from so you can give them to your boss.

Your would probably be expected to know how much it costs to ship the microfilm back and forth. The best way to get an estimate for that is to fill a banker’s box with paper and weigh it, or look at previous UPS, Fed-Ex, or USPS shipments you’ve made and extrapolate.

Other questions include turnover time: how long does it take to finish a microfilm scanning project? What are the images delivered on: external hard drives, USB flash drives, DVDs, FTP transfer.

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Generation Imaging Is The Complete Microfilm Scanning Service Provider

A recent search for Microfilm Scanning Services suggests that many people are looking for some sort of microfilm to digital conversion but may be getting confused with the various naming conventions. It is easy to get lost in the lingo. The difference between microfilm to digital conversion and microfilm conversion to digital, as well as other expressions, all relate to the more general term of microfilm scanning services. However, a microfilm scanning service provider like Generation Imaging can provide many other services that all fall under the umbrella. Microfilm scanning services can also include many other microfilm conversion to digital such as 16mm microfilm to digital conversion, 35mm microfilm conversion to digital and many other microfilm types.Generation Imaging Is The Complete Microfilm Scanning Service Provider

An organization or individual searching for a microfilm scanning service does not need to be an expert in this matter, and should do the best in finding one. Finding a true microfilm scanning service provider helps eliminate some frustrations down the line. As an example, I have talked to customers that needed a microfilm to digital conversion. After further clarification, the customer actually needed a company that had various types of digital microfilm scanners. In this case, the customer identified the source as one type of microfilm when in fact, he had various types that required different microfilm to digital conversion methods. Generation Imaging is a true microfilm scanning service provider equipped with the proper digital microfilm scanners to support all of the customers need.

Microfilm scanning services in today’s age go much further than the traditional microfilm to digital conversion. There are many other things to consider before and after the microfilm conversion to a digital formats. In most instances, the end user is only interested in the end result. For example, John from the genealogical society, wants to transfer his microfilm records to digital so that he can provide all the records online to many interested users. He contacts a microfilm scanning service provider for the solution. Although he has a clear goal, the microfilm scanning service company should provide guidance to keep John out of trouble. A successful microfilm scanning service company should find out how John will be searching for the information and offer solutions like OCR (optical character recognition ), or some other type if indexing format. Also, the microfilm scanning service providers needs to be able to perform microfilm to digital conversion on all of the different types of microfilm that John has in storage so that his image library may be complete. To support this, the microfilm scanning service provider needs to be equipped with digital microfilm scanners for 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, and many other microfilm types.

In addition to indexing and OCR, a microfilm scanning service company should be able to perform data processing to achieve the ultimate goal. After the microfilm to digital conversion is complete, and the data has been indexed according to specifications, the final product may required that the images get wrapped into multi-page pdf files, or some other file structure. The microfilm scanning service providers should be able to handle all of the necessary steps to achieve the best possible results that our current technology offers. Check the services at Generation Imaging for your microfilm conversion needs.

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16mm Cartridge Microfilm Conversion

Microfilm conversion is pretty much a catch all phrase that describes transferring roll film to digital image, such as PDF, TIFF, JPEG, or PNG. Most people visualize roll film as being like small versions of movie film in a mini-spool. Although the bulk of roll film is indeed like that, reels can also be enclosed in plastic cartridges.

There are a few kinds of 16mm roll film cartridges. Some are completely enclosed in a hard plastic, and are held together by screws and a snap mechanism. These were perhaps made famous by 3M, although other companies have produced and continue to sell these hard plastic film cartridges. Completely enclosed, they provide better protection from air, pests, and shipping.

Other 16mm cartridges are made of a lighter plastic and are open, and were created to be inserted into a large roll film shelf.

Generation Imaging has the capability to perform the microfilm conversion of 16mm cartridges.  Let us know if you have any file format and naming preferences. Otherwise, we will digitize the cartridges using standard microfilm conversion parameters, such as 200DPI bi-tonal TIFFs.

Generation Imaging has expert microfilm conversion scanner operators with the experience and technical know-how to convert roll film to digital images in a timely manner.

Most of the time it is more cost-effective to send G.I. your cartridges instead of purchasing a microfilm scanner. If you prefer to deal locally, and are located outside of South Florida, you may be disappointed in the quality of the final product and microfilm conversion pricing you are offered, so give Generation Imaging a try.

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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
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Microfilm scanner costs

Depending on your needs you may be in the market to buy microfilm scanners. I’m sure you have noticed that Mekel, Wicks & Wilson, NextScan, Sunrise, and other microfilm scanner companies don’t go out of their way to publish the final cost of microfilm scanners (for 16mm roll film or 35mm roll film scanning). Here’s a nice rule of thumb: $60,000 for one.

If you are looking for microfilm scanner resellers or want to buy a microfilm scanner on eBay- I’m praying for you. With no maintenance plan, support, or lisenced software it truly is buyer beware. Trust me, if you’ve been around microfilm scanners for the decades that I have been, you would know how a used microfilm scanner needs a lot of mainetence or may not even work at all. You can pick up old  microfilm scanners from $10,000 to $30,000- at your own risk.

If you have microfilm that needs to be digitally converted (no matter how big or small), contact Generation Imaging in Florida; you don’t have to worry about buying microfilm scanners from ebay or direct- Generation Imaging will convert the 16mm or 35mm roll film for you at a cheap price when compared to the time, labor, and maintenance that goes into buying a microfilm scanner on your own.

CONTACT GENERATION IMAGING FOR A MICROFILM SCANNING QUOTE

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