DIGITIZATION OF FORMATS FROM MODERN TO OBSOLETE

Transform your Film Collection with conservation image quality

Digitization of film, slides and other transparent and transmissive materials is especially demanding. Whether a museum, library, corporation or university, institutions looking to preserve their cultural heritage often hold common photographic media like 35mm slide film and microfilm. But your collection may also contain more esoteric material like glass plate negatives, nitrate film, lantern slides, medical x-rays, hand-cut film or large format film. Digitizing these collections requires a combination of preservation image quality, conservation handling, production speed and extensive flexibility. 

Image quality is especially important when scanning film. Film grain is measured in microns and depth of field is razor thin, requiring extremely high-resolution scanning and specially-designed lenses. Accurate color reproduction is also critical, requiring lights specifically designed and manufactured for the purpose. Fragile or unstable photographic materials, especially glass plate negatives and films with a nitrate base, need careful handling to protect them from fingerprints, scratches, excessive heat and further degradation. And fast, modern, enterprise-ready software demands output images in multiple formats that integrate into collections management systems.

That’s where DT Heritage really shines.

Our worldwide client base of major cultural and scientific institutions knows us as the authority on heritage digitization, with an in-depth understanding of the issues and challenges of working with your often fragile collections. DT Heritage offers specialized skills, techniques and workflow experience, combined with advanced digitization technology purpose-built by our hardware division DT Heritage. Together, our team of experts in hardware, software, services and workflow optimization work hand-in-hand to deliver a seamless experience for film imaging projects of every possible scope.

FUNDRAISING

• Create new licensing and branding opportunities for the unique items in your collection
• Cultivate relationships with internal or external stakeholders
• Bring new life to digital marketing campaigns with ads, social media posts, and other brand-building efforts that you can monetize

STORYTELLING

• Offer new experiences by combining historical records, artwork and objects of every kind
• Tell new stories about the artifacts in your collection
• Digitally display previously inaccessible and underutilized objects from storage and archives
• Enhance exhibitions and events with immersive experiences

• 35mm negatives
• 35mm slides
• X-ray film
• 120mm film
• 8mm film
• Glass plate negatives
• Sheet film, including 4×5 and 8×10

Many companies offer digital imaging services, but no one understands the particular requirements of heritage preservation quite like DT Heritage. We have decades of combined experience working inside renowned collections including The Smithsonian Institution, and the Getty Research Institute. We expertly deploy imaging devices and software designed expressly for the job by our hardware division, DT Heritage, which was founded by the former Director of Digital Imaging at the American Museum of Natural History. Our cross-functional team of experts blend their unique insiders’ viewpoint with superior technical knowledge to perfect the art and science of heritage digitization. 

That’s who will be working for you — on-site and off — from planning through completion.

There is tremendous value in the film negatives and positives in your collection, and digitization unlocks that value. Reimagine the many ways your staff and all your stakeholders can use these one-of-a-kind heritage assets. You can quickly and easily produce retrospectives focusing on a photographer or genre, or capitalizing on current events. Create ads, social media campaigns, and other brand-building efforts. License images to publishers and advertisers. Inspire a director with the historic photos to accurately recreate set designs or costumes for the next big remake or sequel. The list is endless.

Digitization is the key to uncovering new value from artifacts in libraries, archives, natural history and art museums, media and entertainment, sports franchises, and many other fields. The beauty of digital assets is that they are clearly differentiated, unique, endlessly reusable, and ideally suited to the digital and social media age! By digitizing your photographic or cultural collection and adding the assets to your content management system you can turn those precious items into new value… and create a digital record of your history in the process!