your worldwide imaging partner.
Types of Mircrofilm
16mm roll film is used primarily to record 8.5x11 and 11x14 documents that were
created by manual methods. Documents, especially ones that have signatures such as
employment records, contracts, hospital records, etc. have been committed to film due
to archival requirements. A normal roll of 16mm will contain roughly 2000 to 5000
images. These types of records are found in most governmental agencies. The County
Recorder or Clerk of Courts offices have the responsibility to maintain all Official
Records indefinitely and many have acknowledged the need for automation (conversion to
digital media) and are actively working towards that goal.
35mm roll film is most often used for large drawings such as plat maps and
engineering blueprints. These A (8.5x11) through E size (44x34) drawings can be
found in every Cities' Building Department and large architectural firms. The
film is created by a photographic process and requires a development process to
complete. The images are normally stored on small reels (300 to 500 images per
roll), boxed, and hand-written identification is placed on the outside.
Image Types
Images may have been filmed as simplex (one document per frame), or duplex
(two images side-by-side on each frame). Many times the duplex images contain
the front and back of the original source document. Most reels are simplex,
but we process duplex rolls easily. Depending on your needs, we can scan both
document sides in one frame, or split out the two documents into separate
images.
There are many variations of image quality. For instance, images can be filmed
positive or negative, with variable image lengths, and different sizes. There
may also be inconsistencies in regards to image density due to film degradation
or inconsistencies in the original development process.
However, our production team and technical experts will always bring out the
best potential from any form of media.
Processing after digitizing
The value of the converted media is greatly increased when it is properly
indexed. Index information can be manually encoded in the end product. As
an option for film that contains "blips" (small counters created when the
film was made), we can extract the information those blips represent. For
example, a roll of ilm may contain medical records with a "big blip"
indicating the start of a new patient's folder, and a "small blip" indicating
the pages within that folder. The output file name format for
blip-extracted images can be arranged in any way you would like -
in a multi-tiff, in sub-directories, or by indexing each master blip.
Kodak Oracle Bar-code extraction is another of our capabilities. Similar to blip-extraction, we can retrieve data from Oracle bar-coded frames. When the bar-codes are consistent and clear, we can use this data for indexing purposes and/or provide the information as the image file name.
We have indexing software that can accommodate documents that have a book and page numbering system. That coupled with our quality control and validation, would assure that the pages match their proper file names. We can also index other types of documents using software developed in-house to meet any type of format. We also have systems to match your images to your databases.
Quality Assurance
As with other media, a project plan is developed as per your
specifications. Each roll of film we receive is logged into a
production database which is used to track the job through the
entire process. Each roll is checked to determine proper scanning
settings and focus; several images are printed for manager approval
before scanning actually begins. Each scanner is monitored during
the scanning process, to maintain quality and to locate any defects
on the film. When scanning is complete, each roll is stored
until the entire project is complete. If there are any changes from
the original test, we will contact and notify you.
Pricing
A microfilm pricing calculator is available for
our partners (login required). However for a firm price and production time estimate,
send a representative sample of the media to our Florida Headquarters.
Please include the required DPI, and a definition of any indexing requirements.
