Tips on how to get the most out of your Digital Camera - Printer -Scanner
Image processing has been our forte' since our founding back in 1974 when we employed a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-9 mainframe to process planimetric aerial mapping imagery. Though we are no longer offering large format printing owing to the demands of vintage video transfers, there is a wealth of information on this site that will allow you to get the most out of your digital camera, scanner or printer.
Though we no longer offer large format printing, we still provide the following......
Professional Film and Print Scanning
Professional Photo Restoration begins with a high quality - high resolution scan using a quality high "D" scanners. 35mm film is scanned at 5400 dpi utilizing a Minolta Dimage 5400. After the image is captured, we employ the latest technologies such as the pro versions of Digital ICE, ROC, SHO & GEM® Photoshop plug-ins, which can greatly decrease the amount of time required in Photoshop. Though these state of the art software routines will usually make great improvements, final restoration is always done in Photoshop, as there is no software available at any price that will automatically correct 100% of the problems all the time.
We can repair the following physical damage to either prints or transparencies.
Rips
Tears
Crinkles
Dust & Dirt
Water & Smoke Damage
Damaged Emulsion
Faded colors or color imbalances
Reset Gamma curves for the best Dynamic range
Increase detail lost in the shadows
Grain reduction without appreciable loss in detail
Plus artistic services for totally damaged emulsions that may be completely missing
in localized areas.
Digital Photography and computer enhancement has come a long way in the past 30 years.
Our early scanner back in the 70's, was a "flying spot scanner" not unlike the high end drum scanners of today; used for digitizing high resolution aerial negatives. Advances in technology as well as the efficiencies of mass production, have made possible the realization of high quality desktop scanning in components now affordable to even the serious home enthusiast.
The Plus Side
1. Digital cameras offer
reasonable resolution and the ability of being able to display the results immediately.
2. Digital formats may be burned to CD or DVD for long term archival storage.
(80 to 100 years life expectancy)
3. Unlike film, digital image files will not deteriorate or fade over time.
4. Relatively inexpensive image editing/re-touching software allowing powerful
image enhancement & manipulation
unachievable by any other means only a few years ago.
By comparison, re-touching film is a time consuming art
5. No expensive film processing - print only the "keepers"...... right on
your desktop !
6. With appropriate software, image notes - date - time - location - notes
etc etc may be attached to the image.
7. Images are easily sent over the net using JPEG compression
8. Digital formats will not degrade with age - true archival storage options.
The Negative Side
1. Digital cameras have a long way to go to match the resolution, dynamic range & tonal quality, especially of the large format films such as 6x7 or 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 etc. Even larger formats such as 4x5", 8x10 or 9x9" aerial mapping formats will continue to be "Kings of The Hill" for the foreseeable future.
2. Film has a much wider exposure latitude and dynamic range than does any digital camera.
3. With emerging technology, today's state of the art digital cameras will quickly become obsolete and depreciate rapidly. By comparison, the basic design of a Linhoff 4x5 Technica for example, hasn't changed much in 40 years or more. Today, they typically sell for substantially more than their original purchase price.
For the highest quality demanding work, film is still the only choice.
For general use and les demanding quality standards, then the advantages of digital take precedence.
These are but a few of the topics covered on the rest of this site...
A subjective question, but here are the rules of thumb..... Read More....
Flatbed scanners
have plummeted in prices over the past several years. Before purchasing one, carefully
read the specs.......
Not all things are as they seem and what the marketing departments lead you to believe........
Click
here to read more...
Plus Lots More.......
Refer to our "Technical Info" page for a basic tutorial on high quality digital photography & printing !
Last Modified: May 22, 2007
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Video InterchangeMade in Maine
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Video Interchange - PixelPrinters
92 George Luce Rd
Waldoboro, Maine 04572
207-832-5064
Northeast Region - New England
