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Solutions for

Bound Materials

DT Heritage

Preservation Quality

DT solutions exceed FADGI 4-Star, ISO 19264, and Metamorfoze-Strict standards. At the heart of all of our systems are our purpose-built cameras offering up to 150mp of resolution at 16-bits of color depth. Coupled with cultural-heritage LED illumination (high CRI, high CQS, and smooth spectral shape), high-resolution lenses, and ultra-low vibration shutters this results in true Preservation Digital Objects with accurate color, tone, and detail. Our raw processing software, with its class-leading debayering algorithm, extracts pixel-level detail and color accuracy previously only seen in cumbersome multi-shot systems. Many manufacturers claim their equipment attains FADGI 4-star or ISO ISO 19264-1 A-class quality but very few others do. 

Joel Meyerowitz Photograph

DT BC100 equipped with DT RCams

Material Handling Options with all DT Book Scanning Systems

  PSI-Controlled Contact Non-Contact
Solution 100° opening 180° opening 100° opening
DT BC100 Native N/A Optional Rare Book Module
DT Versa Optional V-Cradle Native Optional Book Support
DT Element Optional V-Cradle N/A Optional Book Support
DT Atom Optional V-Cradle N/A Optional Book Support
DT V-Cradle Native N/A Native

DISCOVER OUR ADVANCED INDUSTRY-LEADING SOLUTIONS

Why Digitization?

Do it once. Do it right.

With the technology, expertise and services offered by DT Heritage, it is possible to create a very high-quality digital mirror of your original assets, creating an immediately accessible digital archive.

DT Heritage

Production Speed

A collection of “only a few thousand” bound-materials can contain millions of pages. With such volume it is critical to maintain production speed in both the capture and post-processing stages.

Capture Stage
Our systems capture in a small fraction of a second and display almost immediately. The sophisticated material handling systems of the DT Versa and DT BC100 allow the operator to move through the material as quickly as they feel is safe. Therefore, the capture rate is only limited by the condition of the material and whether the system is capturing facing pages or each page individually.

Post-Processing Stage

Capture One CH is a modern solution built on the venerable and widely used Capture One software. It is designed for cultural heritage workflows, supports all modern operating systems, is frequently updated, and can handle massive numbers of files with ease. Checking focus, zooming in on high resolution images, and scrolling through pages for quality control is lightning fast. Capture One CH features book scanning tools such as AutoPPI, Autocrop and AutoDeskew, Page Splitting,  LAB Support, Resolution Ruler, Batch Processing, and Raw-Stage Quality Control. These tools enable the automation of tedious post-production tasks that are inherent to the post-processing stage of book digitization. If your institution needs to OCR text, generate and quality control METS/ALTO metadata, or combine the individual pages to a PDF, our solutions integrate seamlessly with nearly any OCR and digital binding software.

DT Heritage

Extensive Flexibility

The encyclopedic collections of cultural heritage institutions are rarely homogenous. Our systems are versatile, interoperable, and modularly upgradeable to ensure you’re not stuck with a limited tool box. They are also flexible in their use, allowing techniques that are impossible on competing systems.

Interoperable and Modularly Upgradable
Our solutions for digitizing flat art comprise either an all-in-one format or a modular format. Our modular solutions for digitizing bound materials include a reprographics system (such as the DT BC100, DT Element, or DT Versa), a camera head (such as the Phase One Phase One iXH), lighting, and in some cases, an optional DT V-cradle. Each of these components can be purchased, traded in and upgraded separately. For instance, an institution that purchased a [DT Versa and Phase One iXH] for scanning newspapers would only need to add the DT Film Scanning Kit to scan an encyclopedic collection of transmissive materials. 

Big Books? No problem
Many historical collections include oversized bound material that are too large for most book scanners. The DT BC100 glass platen supports scanning pages up to 17” x 24“ with bindings up to 4”. The DT Versa can capture facing pages of up to 17” x 25” in the cradle, or individual pages up to 30”x40” using the included hard top. The DT Element can accommodate facing pages of up to 14” x 10” using the optional v-cradle or individual pages up to 30”x40” using the hard top. For increased versatility the DT Versa and DT Element can accommodate massive bound materials of up to 54” x 70” pages in a single capture, or even larger by remounting the camera to the ceiling. 

Creative Lighting
Most of the time Cultural Heritage imaging is done with very flat proscriptive lighting, typically two lights mounted 45° from the subject. However,  there are situations where more creative lighting is required, for instance, to rake light across an embossed cover to enhance the dimensionality of the embossing. DT systems can provide this creative lighting. With the DT Versa and DT Element the lights are always on light stands and can be easily raised or lowered without limitations. With the DT Atom the DT Photon lights can be removed from the fixed arms and placed on stands in any position. 

Maximum Capture Speeds in Pages Per Hour (pph) for each DT Book Scanner

  Controlled Contact Non-Contact
Solution 100° opening 180° opening 100° opening
DT BC100 Up to 1200 pph N/A N/A
DT Versa Up to 600 pph Up to 1200 pph Up to 400 pph
DT Element Up to 600 pph Up to 800 pph Up to 400 pph
DT Atom Up to 600 pph Up to 800 pph Up to 400 pph

 

DT Heritage

Conservation Handling

The digitization of bound materials such as books, magazines, journals, and newspapers is especially demanding. It requires a solution that delivers conservation handling, preservation image quality, production speed and extensive flexibility. DT systems that meet all of these demands and are ideal for digitizing bound materials.

Bound materials require careful handling to ensure the process of digitization does not degrade their condition. This is especially important with tightly bound materials, delicate parchment, items with friable illuminations, and materials already in degraded condition. Each of our systems provides a range of handling options keeping the operator in control of the material, thereby ensuring their safety.

100° vs 180° Opening

All DT systems support scanning bound materials open to 100°, minimizing tension on the binding and maximizing the per-page capture resolution. Most of our systems can also be configured to capture material opened to 180° which allows both pages to be captured simultaneously for a faster workflow. The BC100 only allows a 100° opening but uses two cameras and thereby maintains that same faster workflow.

PSI-Controlled Contact vs Non-Contact
Contact scanning uses a glass platen to reduce or eliminate page curl. Our DT Versa and DT BC100 use purpose-built pneumatics to offset the weight of the glass platen. This puts the operator in complete control of how much pressure is applied to the materials in order to keep within safe limits for any given object.

They could also be deteriorating and be at risk of being lost forever. By digitizing them and adding them to your content management system — just like you might have already done with your old video and audio — you could turn those precious items into new revenue streams … and create a digital record of your history in the process.

 

Courtesy of The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Photography by Graham S. Haber.

Maximum page size for each DT Book Scanner

Solution Facing Pages Individual Page Individual Page w/ Stitching
DT BC100 17” x 24” N/A N/A
DT Versa (glass) 17” x 25” 30” x 40” N/A
DT Element or Versa (hard top + wedge) 20″ x 30″ or 15″ x 40″ 25″ x 40″ 25″ wide by any length
DT V-Cradle 8″ x 12″ 12″ x 17″ N/A
Ceiling mount No hard limit No hard limit No hard limit
Industry-Leading

Imaging Technology

We can digitize anything at a level of detail you can’t get anywhere else. You have to see it to believe it. Check out our product videos to see the equipment in action.

DT BC100

The DT BC100 is our fastest and most powerful book capture system. Designed and built in the USA, the BC100 utilizes two camera systems to nearly double normal digitization output and quality. Complete with a pneumatic glass platen and optional pneumatic book cradle, and easy-to-use workflow, the BC100 offers complete protection to the original material.

DT Versa

Meet the DT Versa, our solution designed for the digitization of all kinds of collections. The stand, camera, and column seamlessly integrate with our software for fast and easy preservation-grade digitization. The Versa allows digitization with or without glass contact. With the Versa hardtop in place, all scanning is done 100% contact-free. Removing that hardtop reveals a conservation-friendly glass top with a user-settable maximum and with such precise control of the object that the operator can raise the object to lightly kiss the glass.

Celebrating 20 Years of Digitization Excellence - 2003-2023

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