We digitise (or “scan”) microfilm by using specialist advanced equipment to capture extremely high resolution images.

During the image capture process, we can also organise the digital image files by incorporating metadata into the filenames; such as the date they were taken or what equipment was used to capture them.

All types of microfilm can be scanned including:

• 16mm Roll Film
• 35mm Roll Film
• Master Jacketed Microfilm
• 35mm Aperture Cards

Digitising microfilm collections can ensure that unique and valuable content is preserved in digital form, in case the worst should happen and the originals become damaged or destroyed. This high resolution digital back up can then be used to reprint the images if necessary.

Once you have a digital library of microfilm images we can help you index, transcribe and add appropriate metadata. We can help you maintain your image collection by importing the files and metadata into our PastView content management system (or into your own existing system).

If you are interested in displaying your images online for the public to view then we can build complete archive websites (or web pages that sit within your existing website) that allow fast advanced searching and incorporate payment gateways so that the public can find and then pay for physical prints or digital copies of your images. Find out more about our Software and Website Design services.

We can also provide improved access to your collections and increase the speed of finding images, by enabling searching. Attaching metadata to the digitised images allows for quick keyword searching through the digitised collections.

As specialists in digitising fragile archive collections, our scanning staff are fully trained in professional handling procedures for working with delicate books and employ a gentle, “white gloves” approach at all times, to ensure no harm comes to the materials.

We do not use any rollfeed equipment to digitise your microfilm. We utilise unique, specialist flatbed scanners, which place the absolute minimum of pressure on the photographs and mitigate any chance of damaging the precious original materials during the digitisation process. We can scan any microfilm in a variety of DPI and output types.

We appreciate that your microfilm collections are very valuable and so you may not want them to be moved from your premises. For this reason we offer an on-site digitisation service and are happy to travel to your premises with our staff and equipment to scan your microfilm.

However, if you are comfortable allowing your collection to be transported to our digitisation studios for scanning, we are also happy to collect and return from your premises, using our own specially trained staff and GPS tracked vehicles. Find out more about our on-site & off-site scanning service.

We will generally produce image files in TIFF and JPEG formats, although we can produce other file formats such as PDF, PDF/A, JPEG 2000, BMP etc. Images can be produced in full colour or greyscale and we can enhance or graphically restore them too.

Once you have a digital library of images we can help you index, transcribe or OCR, and add appropriate metadata. We can help you maintain your image collection by importing the files and metadata in to our PastView content management system (or into your own system).

If you are interested in displaying your images online for the public to view, we can build websites or web pages (that sit within your existing website) that incorporate search engines and payment gateways, so that the public can find, pay for and download your images. Find out more about our software & web design services.