Meeting digitization standards | Productive scanning of cultural heritage:
New InoTec software enables Do-It-Yourself calibration of SCAMAX® production scanners
Ergolding near Landshut, March 09, 2023. InoTec, the production scanner brand of the German niche world market leader DATAWIN GmbH, has developed a software tool with which the models of the SCAMAX® family can be calibrated according to the world’s most important digitization standards: free of charge, within a few minutes, and without the need for technicians. Meeting digitization standards is mandatory for many scanning operations, especially for the scanning of cultural assets, technical documents or works of art. SCAMAX® production scanners are among the few desktop document scanners that achieve FADGI 3-star and ISO 19264-1, Level B image quality levels.
The calibration tool “InoICC” can be downloaded free of charge from InoTec’s website as well as a detailed manual. To achieve the desired quality standard, only a corresponding test chart is required in addition to the tool. The initial and recurring calibration process takes only a few minutes and can be performed by all scanner users. The calibration can be used in the scanning process without any further measures – software-independent and at full scanning speed.
Benjamin Meyer, Head of Development DATAWIN GmbH:
“We are proud to offer SCAMAX® users a real competitive advantage with InoICC. At no cost, in fact. InoICC enables them to scan in accordance with the most important international digitization guidelines and thus recommend themselves for particularly prestigious scanning projects. Especially scan service providers and archive digitization centers benefit from such proven image quality. But also all other users who want to scan qualitatively and as close as possible to the original. For example, to make subsequent processes particularly reliable and efficient.”
Analysis tools prove image quality according to FADGI 3-star and ISO 19264-1, level B
Whether and to what extent a scanner achieves a targeted image quality can be tested and proven by means of analysis software. The SCAMAX® scanners calibrated using InoICC meet the targeted digitization qualities in analysis with GoldenThread Analysis Software and iQ-Analyzer at a rate of 100 percent. Such an accuracy not only guarantees users better scanning results, but is already mandatory for many scanning scenarios: especially when digitizing cultural assets, technical documents or works of art.
FADGI 3-star mandatory in the USA from summer 2024 – and gaining ground in Europe
For example, image quality in accordance with FAGDI 3-star will be mandatory from summer 2024 for all U.S. government agencies that transmit scans to the NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), the Library of Congress and other government institutions. Originally, FADGI 3-star should have become mandatory here by the beginning of 2023. The new deadline now gives various stakeholders the time to meet the technical requirements associated with FADGI 3-star. In Europe, the digitization of written heritage in particular has experienced a strong standardization push in recent years. Especially in the archival environment. But also in the course of the regulations on Replacing Scanning.
About FADGI and ISO 19264-1: Quality standards for digitization projects
The U.S. “Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative” (FADGI) develops guidelines for digitization projects in the environment of cultural assets. Leading German and international cultural institutions also follow the FADGI guidelines. They describe how quality standards in digitization projects can be guaranteed in a traceable and sustainable manner: both with regard to the technology used and the entire digital creation process. The highest FADGI standard is FADGI 4-star.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has also defined quality criteria for archiving technical documents, cultural assets and many other documents in ISO 19264-1. The standard has been used primarily in Europe to date and ensures high and standardized quality with regard to the color, resolution and geometry of a digital copy. The highest ISO 19264-1 standard is Level A.
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