Microfilm Scanning

Microfilm

Dating back to 1851, and used early on by a number of significant organisations for the preservation of print material on film, microfilm was soon approved as a reliable method of storing information.

Microfilm was once the popular method of choice for managing and storing archives but, like many archive related formats, the microfilm was a process that had a number of limitations mainly due to its vulnerability to loss as a result of deterioration over time or through disaster, such as fire, theft or flood. Consequently, this format has been mostly superseded by the emergence of the digital age and the opportunity this offers in terms of scanning and digitisation.

Find out how much your project could cost

Hear what our clients have to say about our digitisation services

I can safely say that with TownsWeb I happily recommended them to other companies for similar scanning and digitisation [projects] because I know they can be trusted. They can be relied upon to get the job done… they get it right, first time, every time.

Chris Amos

Project Manager

Thanks to the digitisation carried out by TownsWeb, we have been able to extend the reach of our collections, for example by using the high quality images on our website. This makes the material available for those that cannot physically get to our museum due to its rural location, but also globally for research and educational purposes.

Aneesa Riffat

Museum Curator & Project Leader

TownsWeb offered us a complete end-to-end service, from scanning and transcription, to web design and content management software. Their work was completed quickly and to a high standard, and we are extremely pleased with the results.

Lt Col David Owen, MBE

Museum Curator

Digitisation Frequently Asked Questions

To increase accessibility and flexibility of use
Speed up access
Compliance with legal requirements for requests for information and related fines as a result of delays.
Safeguarding of valuable records

Microfilm exists in rolls of 100 feet and 215 feet. Thickness can also vary from ‘thick’ at 0.004 inches for a 100ft roll to ‘thin’ at 0.0025 inches for a 215 ft roll.

16mm roll film was a common format for standard A4 documents and both the front and the back can be captured for scanning purposes.

35mm microfilm was the common format for oversized documents, such as newspapers.

16mm Microfilm – Simplex was created with one image per frame and includes:

16mm Microfilm – Duplex
16mm Microfilm – M-Type Cartridge
16mm Microfilm – ANSI Cartridge
16mm Microfilm – Cine
16mm Microfilm – Comic

35mm Microfilm was created with up to about 1,500 frames and includes:

Single-level Blip
Dual-level Blip (Double-blipped)

Calculate the cost of your digitisation project

Enter your digitisation requirements and tick the box to confirm whether you would like us to get in touch to discuss your requirements further. If you’re not quite ready to use our online quote calculator, feel free to call on 01536 713834 or email us [email protected]

Quote assumptions and specifications

Size: Up to 30cm cubed
Folder Naming: One folder per item
File Naming: Sequential (example: “001.tif”, “002.tif” etc.)
Resolution: 4 captures per object (front, back, left and right side)
File Formats: TIFF or JPEG and GIF or MP4
Pre/Post Processing: Image adjustments, rotation, flipping, cropping excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 30cm cubed
Folder Naming: One folder per item
File Naming: Sequential (example: “001.tif”, “002.tif” etc.)
Resolution: 36 captures per object
File Formats: TIFF or JPEG and GIF or MP4
Pre/Post Processing: Image adjustments, rotation, flipping, cropping excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: 35mm Frame
Folder Naming: Excluded
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.tif”)
Resolution: 300 PPI
File Formats: TIFF
Pre/Post Processing: Image adjustments, rotation, flipping, cropping excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 90 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp4”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP4/MOV)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 180 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp4”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP4/MOV)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 90 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp3”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP3)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 800 MB Transfer
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 60 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp4”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP4/MOV)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: 16mm / 36mm / COMBI Frame
Folder Naming: One folder per item
File Naming: Sequential (example: “001.tif”, “002.tif” etc.)
Resolution: 300 PPI
File Formats: TIFF
Pre/Post Processing: Image adjustments, rotation, flipping, cropping excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: 16mm / 36mm Frame
Folder Naming: One folder per item
File Naming: Sequential (example: “001.tif”, “002.tif” etc.)
Resolution: 300 PPI
File Formats: TIFF
Pre/Post Processing: Image adjustments, rotation, flipping, cropping excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 180 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp4”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP4/MOV)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Size: Up to 180 minutes
Folder Naming: Included
File Naming: Unique (example: “Accession-Number.mp4”)
File Formats: Single file format (MP4/MOV)
Pre/Post Processing: Video adjustments, clipping, enhancements excluded
Quality Checking: Fees included

Digitisation

Data Capture

Publishing