At the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, our imaging department places a Kodak color bar and grayscale within every scan. We replace the targets every 6 months or so and keep them in their enclosures within light tight drawers to minimize fading.
Just yesterday, one of my interns from the art department questioned the quality of one of our scans of a Robert Heinecken photograph. I pointed out to her that because the artist was experimental in his approach, the images did not always look like one would expect a full toned black and white photograph to look. The clue was in the appearance of the targets and the tonal percentages we measure within them. The National Archives and Records Administration guidelines below are particularly useful as they suggest specific values to aim for in the black, white and middle gray of the Kodak targets. The NARA target recommendations are very closely aligned with recommendations we have garnered from pre-press digital professionals for creating publication quality scans. See pages 35 and 36 in the guidelines below for handy illustrations. http://www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/guidelines.html Based on Tim Atherton's comments, I wish a similar guide would be published that references the Greytag MacBeth targets. Kodak targets are getting hard to find. If anyone has seen a publication comparable to the NARA guidelines that reference the MacBeth targets I would be interested in learning about it. Best, Dianne ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ? Dianne Nilsen Head of Digital Initiatives and Imaging Center for Creative Photography The University of Arizona P.O. Box 210103 Tucson, AZ? 85721-0103 ? p. 520-307-2829 f. 520-621-9444 http://www.creativephotography.org -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Atherton Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 3:39 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] photography, digitization, and a color/grey card? And don't bother with the Kodak cards - get the Gretag Macbeth ones instead. (they usefully come in a couple of sizes as well). (especially, don't rely on old colour charts you may have around from the days when you had a photographer 7 or 8 years ago. They fade over time and the colours also fade differentially) http://xrite.gretagmacbethstore.com/index.cfm?act=catalog.cfm&menugroup=__me nu+usa+new tim a -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator (Archives & Research) Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net On 10/14/08 3:06 PM, "Frank E. Thomson" <FThomson at ashevilleart.org> wrote: > I would suggest shooting an image of the color bar at the start of each > session, maybe not in every image. But it would be helpful later trying to > match color and value. > > Frank Thomson, Curator > > Asheville Art Museum > > PO Box 1717 > > Asheville, NC 28802 > > 828.253.3227 tel > > 828257.4503 fax > > www.ashevilleart.org > > -----Original Message----- > From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of > Jansonius, Remko (Vizcaya) > Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 5:04 PM > To: mcn-l at mcn.edu > Subject: [MCN-L] photography, digitization, and a color/grey card? > > Dear Colleagues, > > > > We are about to digitize a collection of photo albums containing > 1910s/20s photographs; while they are black and white, many have > discolored and turned sepia over the years. Since these are fragile, > bound volumes we will be doing this through photography rather than > scanning. Would you say it is necessary or advisable or standard > practice to use a color card or a grey card during this process? > > > > As always, I greatly appreciate y'all's input! > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Remko Jansonius > > Collections and Archives Manager > > Vizcaya Museum and Gardens > > Miami, FL > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l -- Tim Atherton Assistant Curator Mus?e H?ritage Museum, St. Albert (780) 459-1594 tatherton at st-albert.net _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l
