Scanning #2

["Mary W. Ballard" <BallardM@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello everyone. I sent Sandra Troon's question to Tim Vitale, paper
conservator & electronic media expert. Here's his reply--

>>> Tim Vitale <tjvitale@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 03/26/03 03:40PM >>>
My opinion:
People have been scanning textiles for years using flatbeds and camera
scanning backs.  A scanner actually does a very good job because of the
very good lighting conditions.  If your worried about exposure see my
article on Scanner Light Intensity in RLGDiginews.  In short, no
problems, because the exposure is quite small.

There is no preservation possible via digital capture.  People use the
images for making surrogates.  The surrogates are used on display in
place of the originals.  The surrogate gets damaged and the original
stays safe in storage.  OK..., its a form of preservation.

I make surrogates for paper artifacts of all types, using an Epson 9600
large format printer with UltraChrome inks.  It isn't cheap, but it
works quite well.  No one has asked me to make a textile surrogate,
yet.  One would print the image on paper (if it is to be displayed in a
frame), coated canvas (depending on situation) or even plain (uncoated)
textiles.  Generally, printing on uncoated textile would not yield very
good results, but they could be good enough in some situations.

Tim
510-594-8277