Flat Objects
Scanning Directions
Scans of flat illustrations, prints, newspapers, or postcards, are often very lovely images and can be very easily added to the collection. As the Museum is completely digital, the quality of our images is paramount to our mission. We really appreciate your contributions, and ask that you follow these scan requirements:
- 600 dpi scan resolution
- No cropping; scan with 1 inch border around the object.
- Scan entire object including back, front, damaged edges etc. so that the objects entire form is documented.
- No editing or color restoration
Small Paper Objects
Small paper objects such as postcards are very easily scanned and added to the catalog. Don't worry about cropping or editing the images. The museum will format them to our image standards.
Catalogs
Printed trade catalogs are some of the most valuable paper items the collection has. Trade catalogs document the price, availability, and evolving equipment market over time.
- If possible, scan both leaves of the catalog laid flat (left and right side together with binding in the middle). This better documents the tangible experience of flipping pages. See this Horstmann catalog for an example.
- If the catalog is too large to scan open, overlap the scans with as much of opposite pages as you can. We'll stitch the scans together when we format them.
Oversized Paper Objects
For newspaper articles or other illustrations that are too large to scan in one image, overlap your scans so that we can stitch them together to complete the image. This l'Illustration Article pictured below, for example, was scanned in four parts which we digitally stitched together.
Books, Treatise Plates, & Bound Illustrations
Fencing treatises and other bound books often have lovely illustrations and instructional plates. The Museum eventually wants to include these items in the collection, but scanning is often impeded by the book's binding. In the future, the Museum will put together directions for photographing these images in a manner that keeps the images flat and accurate to the original.
In the meantime, please only contribute images from books that you can scan without damaging the binding, and without distorting the image by getting a flat, in-focus scan.