Investing in quality pays off
National Digital Archive in Poland digitizes with Zeutschel ScanStudio
The National Digital Archive (NDA) is one of three central archives in Poland. Founded in 2008, digitization of its state archives was one of its main tasks. “We want to preserve valuable archive collections from all over the country in digital form for future generations and make the documents available online to the general public,” this is the role the cultural organization envisages for itself.
Focus is on the Metamorfoze guidelines
Image quality is the decisive factor in this respect. The NDA aims to produce high-quality digital copies of the originals. This makes securing the company's existence in the long term possible and opens up new perspectives for dealing with the originals. Thanks to the high quality of the images, details can sometimes be seen that are barely perceptible in the originals with the naked eye.
In practical terms, the NDA achieves true-to-original reproductions of the originals through the use of cutting-edge technologies and systems. In order to ramp up its digitization activities, the NDA was looking for a new solution.
According to those responsible for the archive, this should consist of a repro station with a high-resolution digital back and a copyboard table. The image results played a vital role of the decision-making process and needed to conform to the ‘Metamorfoze’ quality guidelines.
One system for all requirements
The Zeutschel ScanStudio also took part in the selection process beside conventional repro camera systems. A unique, new universal solution for digitizing cultural assets, the unit processes a wide range of different materials – from stamps and coins to films and glass negatives, books and large-format originals. System components include a PhaseOne digital back camera, interchangeable lenses, special LED lighting, book cradles and copyboard tables.
The ScanStudio was presented by Zeutschel’s partner Digital-Center, one of Poland's most acclaimed suppliers of digitizing equipment and digital services.
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Customers impressed by the quality “We were in competition with other systems, that were significantly cheaper, which turned out to be a big challenge. But in the end, the Zeutschel ScanStudio succeeded in winning the tender. Now the system is installed and ScanStudio image quality and process speed prove that NDA made a very good choice,” says Pawel Skrzypczak, responsible for sales and service at Digital-Center. “Customers trust our advisory skills. We brought a convincing argument to the table, proving that the Zeutschel ScanStudio was the only one to fully meet the required specifications and as it is more future-proof, the higher initial investment will pay off in the long term,” Pawel Skrzypczak says, explaining its great success. The Zeutschel system not only complies with the existing standards and guidelines for image quality – such as Metamorfoze, FADGI and ISO 19264 – it even exceeds them. This is down to PhaseOne's state-of-the-art digital backs, which are perfectly matched to both the camera system and the interchangeable lenses. |
The future security of the Zeutschel ScanStudio is also thanks to its flexible and modular system design. As requirements grow or new tasks are added, the unit can be expanded and upgraded at any time, for example, with interchangeable lenses and a wide variety of copyboard systems – whether for transparencies or bound documents.
Making the invisible visible
The National Digital Archive uses the Zeutschel ScanStudio in the following configuration: with the 100 megapixel digital back from PhaseOne, with two lenses, the A1 book cradle and the A2 transparency table as well as with a Metamorfoze calibration tool.
The system has been in live operation since January 2018. The digitization work is currently focusing on postcards, photos and negatives. But the quality advantages seen with photographic material is where the Zeutschel ScanStudio shines best. The camera's high dynamic range results in excellent shadow separation, so that even the weakest details are visible in the digital copy. The NDA uses this when assigning metadata; the contents of photos, slides and negatives can be better described in this way.
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About Zeutschel:
With its scanning and microfilm systems, Zeutschel GmbH has played a key role for more than 55 years in the digitization and digital preservation of valuable documents, both in librarianship and archive management as well as in industrial companies and public administration. The company is the global market leader in book scanners. Now, zeta, Zeutschel's multiple award-winning overhead scanner, brings all the advantages of "scanning from above" into the modern office. It has never been so easy, efficient and eco-friendly to digitize pages from contracts, files or balance sheets. The range of software products and accompanying services is extensive and supports libraries and archives in building up digital collections in the Internet and in the realization of digital services. The company founded in 1961, employs 65 members of staff and its products and services are represented in more than 100 countries. All Zeutschel products are "Made in Germany": The complete manufacture and entire research and development activities take place at the company's headquarters in Tübingen-Hirschau.
Corporate Contact
Zeutschel GmbH, Heerweg 2, 72070 Tübingen, Germany, e-mail: info@zeutschel.de; Internet: www.zeutschel.de
Press contact:
Zeutschel GmbH, Margot Rauscher, Tel.: +49 (0) 7071 / 9706-11, Fax: +49 (0) 7071 / 9706-44, E-Mail: margot.rauscher@zeutschel.de
PR agency:
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