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

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Is Your Microfilm or Microfiche Reader Printer Broken?

The Problem of Obsolete Technology

Many organizations have been contacting Generation Imaging recently about replacing, fixing, or finding an alternative solution to their broken microfiche or microfilm reader printers. There is a level of panic because without a microfilm or microfiche reader, the organizations are unable to service clients or perform their daily tasks.

microfiche reader

Microfilm reader printers have been great machines for many decades, and have helped many government agencies, libraries, researchers, and businesses, however in the 21st century they are archaic because new technology has taken their place.

Panic Attack

However there is a sense of urgency now because many of the original companies no longer support, maintain, or have the parts to fix these old reader printers. Or, of they do, the cost is too high. This is the main reason why organizations are having major issues and are reconsidering their current methods of using reader printers.

What Are Some Common Reader Printers?

Microfilm and microfiche reader printers are designed to view and print microforms. They have self-contained print engines that use dry toner and plain copy paper while others send the data to output on laser printers.

Popular microfilm or microfiche reader printers are made by Canon, Alos, Micro-Image,  or Minolta.

What Are Microfiche or Microfilm Readers Used For?

Organizations use microfiche or microfilm reader printers to find account numbers or documents which are currently stored on microform. A person must first find the microform, which may or may not be organized by a policy number or alphabetically, walk over to the reader printer, fast forward the roll film (or place the microfiche on the glass platen) and find the specific documents. Frames can be saved individually (one at a time) as a digital image, and be printed, faxed, or emailed.

Many insurance companies, government agencies, schools, financial institutions, and other organizations must deal with requests for records on a daily basis. Others just occasionally have a need to provide this service but must comply with these requests in a timely manner. It can be awfully embarrassing if these “pulls” are not satisfied, and in some cases there may be legal ramifications.

The Alternative to Microfilm Readers

Microfilm scanning (or microfiche scanning, the generic term is microform scanning) bypasses this entire reader printer method. An organization’s entire collection can be converted to digital image all in one shot. It it is much faster for Generation Imaging to scan an entire roll film collection in a short period of time and to give every image on every roll (or microfiche). The entire collection can be indexed or named by the specific fields and data needed to pull up an account.

Price of Microfilm Printer vs Microfilm Scanning Cost

The low cost of a microfilm conversion or microfiche scanning project may surprise you- well, at least the price from Generation Imaging (we can’t vouch for other microfilm scanning companies). Feel free to contact a Generation Imaging representative by phone, email, or office to request a free scanning conversion quote.

Then it’s time to calculate the cost of getting a new reader printer ($3200-$6000), fixing it,getting a used reader printer with no warranty, buying into a maintenance plan, and the current cost and time it takes employees to perform the task of pulling requested accounts.

Is It Time to Change Your Workflow?

Now even if your calculations show that the cost is around the same, you must consider “going forward” would you rather continue to deal with a machine prone to breaking down with the inconvenience of having someone manually look for an image, or have a fully digital and searchable collection that allows the request to be instantly made available?

What is Generation Imaging?

Generation Imaging is a microfilm scanning service bureau located in South Florida. Unlike some other microfilm scanning companies, G.I. Partners (Generation Imaging) does not subcontract projects to any other scanning company or use any overseas indexing service.

Generation Imaging was founded by Damian Hospital and Dan Gandul. Both men have decades of microform experience, and have worked together on all kinds of media, software, scanners, and have written numerous technical information, manuals, guides, bids, and standard operating procedures.

How to Contact Generation Imaging

Damian Hospital or Dan Gandul can be contacted directly via phone, email, or scheduled office appointment. All of the contact information is on this website. Most clients or potential clients use email to make initial contact, but any method is OK. Dan and Damian will work with you to get the necessary information to perform your scanning project.

Generation Imaging will not bait and switch your scanning quote. There are no setup fees (hidden or otherwise), and no pushy (or otherwise) sales pitches. There is no need to be shy or skeptical, contact Generation Imaging for a free microfilm or microfiche scanning quote today.

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Microfiche Scanning for Vehicle Manuals

Microfiche scanning is a technique to digitize analog fiche that contain owner manuals, parts manuals, repair manuals, and technical manuals for various vehicles, such as motorcycles, automobiles, snowmobiles, trucks, SUVs, vans, and others to digital image.

If you are a mechanic, hobbyist, owner, or researcher you may have noticed that getting manufacturer’s manuals for obscure and even popular manuals results in them sending you fiche. Well, how do you print a parts manual from microfiche? The quickest way is to send the fiche to Generation Imaging for microfiche scanning.

 

Microfiche scanning results in digital images, such as PDF, TIFF, or JPEG that you can print from, load on your computer, and actually read. Your other options are trying to locate an old fashioned microfiche viewer or reader printer.

Generation Imaging has a very special flat rate microfiche scanning cost if you have a handful of parts manuals on step-and-repeat microfiche.

Generation Imaging is located in Florida and received and sends microfilm via USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex, and other carriers. There have been no mail mishaps. So if you are are tired of running around trying to find a way to convert parts manuals on microfiche to digital image, please give G.I. a try with our microfiche scanning service. You won’t be disappointed in the quality or turnaround time, that’s for sure.

Generation Imaging’s crew has been in the microfiche scanning industry since the 1990s and has converted hundreds of thousands of step-and-repeat fiche that contain parts, instructions, and service manuals. There is no need for you to waste your personal time trying to figure out a way to go about this on your own.

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Convert Microfiche

Although there are technically several ways to convert microfiche to PDF, TIFF, or JPEG, only one of them will deliver to you a high quality product, in a fast amount of time, at a low price. That method, of course, would be to send your microfiche to Generation Imaging in Florida via USPS, Fed-Ex, UPS, DHL, or via courier. But let us quickly go through the other methods to convert microfiche and see why they aren’t truly options:

  • Buy your own scanner. Sure you can get a ScanPro 2000 for a few thousand dollars. We have one of those- but we wouldn’t dare use them to convert microfiche for you. The reason why the ScanPro is inexpensive compared to the high production microfiche scanners is because the optics are poor for scanning microfiche; the high reduction ratio of microfiche (24x to 48x), lack of advanced quality filters, and rudimentary camera optics are all factors that are obstacles for creating a quality image. I didn’t even mention that you have to load one card at a time for the ScanPro. Although the ScanPro has its uses for other media, and it does come in handy for us for odd microform we may come across (it’s our business to receive all types of weird film) it’s not suitable for producing an acceptable quality to convert microfiche.
  • Buy high-end scanners. High production/high optics microfiche scanners (what Generation Imaging uses) can run you anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 each depending on make and model. In addition to maintenance costs, you must consider training, managing labor, workflow, and technical support.
  • Flat-bed scanner. PC scanners are unable to convert microfiche (the magnification is too low).
  • Reader printer. Reader printers cost around $3000 to $8000. The manual labor is very time consuming to convert microfiche to digital image (one frame at a time).
  • Used scanners, used reader printers, etc. Although used scanning equipment sounds good on paper because the prices are cut by thousands of dollars, they don’t come with any warranties. When you consider that reader printers are known to break down and parts are needed, and the same can be said of microfiche scanners.

Ultimately, it is more cost effective and safer to allow Generation Imaging to convert microfiche for your project. You can plug the numbers yourself and weight the risk factors. If you have a small volume project which requires you to convert microfiche, it’s a no-brainer to use Generation Imaging.

how to convert microfiche

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