Digitising and Reproduction

Museums and archives protect analogous collections of irreplaceable value which, despite the best precautions, are exposed to a progressing deterioration depending on the material or can even be destroyed by sudden events in the worst case. Most of the treasures are kept as safe as possible and therefore difficult to access. Every withdrawal from the depot involves risks.

Thanks to high-quality digitisation, the inventories can be made accessible to permitted user groups for the majority of all applications without having to remove the analogue original from the secure storage. Accessibility in suitable databases does not only mean

• easy access to copies of the digital original or to application-specific working copies, but also
• simple and complex search in millions of digital assets for scientific work and public presentation in a global context.

Although the analog original is irreplaceable, the digital original also serves as a welcome additional backup.

With its roots in a traditional photo lab, some of us have lived through the ups and downs of digital technologies as service providers for many years. We are well acquainted with the challenges of the intersection between photo, graphics and computer.

Digitisation of large formats up to 2.20 m x 1.35 m at 300 dpi in one piece without montage

CDS Gromke e. K. has invested in the ultimate scanning technology Rencay Super Fine Art to digitise special formats in high resolution without digital image montage.

• 26,000 x 16,000 pixels corresponds to approx. 2.20 m x 1.35 m at 300 dpi
• non-contact scanning
• portable equipment allows digitisation on site
• no color fringes due to real color capture in each pixel (no Bayer matrix)
• consistent color management

With Rencay Super Fine Art and Phase One IQ in parallel operation, mixed stocks of engravings, graphics, plans, paintings, textile patterns (tapestry etc.) and special formats can be digitised in best quality in one batch without having to sort out “problematic cases”. We do our work either in the air-conditioned workrooms of CDS Gromke e. K. or on site in the collection, if the originals are not allowed to leave the house.

Digitisation of historical glass plates and sheet film negatives far exceeding the requirements of the DFG Guideline on Digitisation

Historical glass plate and sheet film negatives are often larger than the film formats up to 4 “x5” that are commonly used in later times. They contain valuable detailed information, which requires high-resolution scanning technology in the macro range. With the Rencay Super Fine Art scanning system, CDS Gromke e. K. offers digitisation with the ultimate technology that goes far beyond the requirements of the DFG Guideline on Digitisation 2016:

• Original 9×12 DFG Requirement 1,200 dpi
  -> with Rencay SFA max. 4.500 dpi
• Original 18×24 DFG Requirement 600 dpi
  -> with Rencay SFA max. 2.250 dpi

This maximum achievable resolution does not always make sense. Depending on the quality of the originals, the best resolution has to be selected, which captures all details but does not generate any superfluous data ballast.

High-quality historical large-format originals require special scanning technology. In particular, problematic surfaces and fragile originals require special recording methods in order to digitize them in a high-quality, contact-free and extremely gentle manner.

Particularly noteworthy is the special light control, which illuminates even originals with poor flatness extremely evenly with the lowest possible light exposure.

With our digitizing station, we can scan originals up to a size of 2.20 mx 1.50 m at 170 dpi or A0 at 300 dpi in one go.

Larger templates are partially digitized and the individual files are then assembled into one file. Sufficient space and additional side tables to support significantly larger templates are available.