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BEST PRACTICE PHOTOGRAPHIC DIGITALIZATION IN THE CULTURAL
HERITAGE
A. de Polo
Fratelli Alinari SpA, Largo Alinari 15, 50123 Florence, Italy
andrea@alinari.it
Abstract: The digital revolution has involved the Fratelli Alinari in a complex transformation of its Archives from the
traditional approach of consultation and usage to on-line access that is differentiated according to the user: internal or
external, business or educational. The most difficult task for Alinari has been the long and complex work of
inventorying, cataloging and digitizing its wealth of images. This paper is about the best practice experience developed
at Alinari is the past 10 years of European based EC projects, and through the knowledge rised for the commercial and
educational exploitation and retrieval of the famous Florentine photographic archive.
1. INTRODUCTION
Fratelli Alinari is the world's oldest firm
operating in the field of photography. The unique
heritage of the Alinari collections gives life to one of the
biggest international centers of photographic and
iconographic documentation with over 3.5 million
vintage images from the 19th and 20th century from all
over the world.
Today Alinari is a modern reality operating in
the wider field of image and communication: a brand
name which guarantees an age-old fund of experience
combined with state-of-the-art technological skills.
Shortly over 180.000 images will be online!
2. SCANNING QUALITY
Testing setting: Computer: G4, Speed:
550Mhz, OS: 9.2.2, Italian version (and OS 10.1.4),
ColorSync 3.0.4 RAM: 512mb, with VM off, HD:
20GB, 10GB free disk space, Video: Sony 17”
Multiscan E400, scanner testing: CREO EverSmart
Supreme, CREO IQ3Smart
VISUAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE SCANNED
IMAGES:
Alinari is a unique example in the field of
photography, where ancient traditions, old artisan
handwork and secret photographic formula are well
mixed with today’s state of the-art technology.
This paper, written specifically for the “Digital
Cultural Content: The European Approach forum” aims
to draw the attention from the audience about the best
practice issues, tools, solutions and methodologies used
in certain European Projects and at Alinari Archive, to
digitize, technically protect (watermark) and place
online, quality images for worldwide consultation and
distribution.
The first sample test was made by testing
different flat bed scanners. The aim of the test clearly
show that higher D-Max is indeed provide better
capacity for the scanner to read information and details
in the dark areas. The suggestion about a good scanner
model is also provided. Afterwords, the paper describe
the worflow to digitize, clean and restore the images,
place them online, indexing and managing them. digital
Figure 1: noise difference: left IQ3Smart, right
EverSmart: less noise on the left…
AutoEye can help you reclaim lost color and detail in
images. With a single click it can enhance your images
automatically to bring out the best in any image.
AutoEye was created to meet the needs of the
professional photographer and designer for exacting
image sharpness, detail and colors.
Figure 2: in this test made from the same slide as above,
BUT with the enlargement of the slide at 720%, we can
see that the details in the dark area of the street are more
defined in the image of the center (no sharp, standard
settings, EverSmart scanner), compared to the left
(default settings, IQ3Smart scanner) and the right (very
smooth settings, IQ3Smart scanner).
3. IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Image enhancement can be performed by the
technician, using the computer, or by photographic
restoration expert. It is a good practice in the cultural
sector to focus this work in two steps. The first step in
the traditional photographic retouching made by the
restoration personnel, involving mainly deacidification
of the secondary support, paper conservation, staining
removal, spot retouching. The second step is done once
the image has been converted into pixels ( digital form),
In this second momentum, the operator must work,
using the original artifact as a reference point, and apply
filters and visual retouching techniques (mostly done in
Adobe Photoshop) to achieve more advanced and
sophisticated work. This paper analyzes the solution of
few great products with a final and practical conclusion
for curators, museum directors and anyone involved in
the cultural heritage sector.
Figure 4 shows the AutoEye product made by Auto F/X
company.
QBeo invented PhotoGenetics for a single purpose: to
make your digital photos look as perfect as possible,
without requiring special knowledge or training on your
part. PhotoGenetics represents a new kind of imageprocessing technology called "image evolution," or
ImageOp™.
While
PhotoGenetics’
underlying
technology is based upon evolutionary strategies and
genetic algorithms, the software’s intuitive interface
makes it simple enough for anyone to enhance images.
Genotypes are the results of the evolution process. If
you use the evolution process to optimize an image, you
always develop a new genotype. You may think of a
genotype as the method that is responsible for the
conversion of the original image to the final result. This
method is called a genotype because it is produced as
the result of evolutionary strategies and genetic
algorithms.
4. THE PLUG-IN SOLUTION
Figure 5 shows the PhotoGenetics rendering dialog
created by the Qbeo company
Figure 3 show the features of PrePress Color Tools,
created by the German based Lasersoft company
5. THE STAND ALONE SOLUTION:
PHOTORETOUCH PRO
Binuscan, a French based company well know
before for its Photo CD enhancement product called
Binuscan CD is now entering the picture enhancement
market with a new product that according to the
company is a perfect companion for Photoshop.
The most important features are: Auto Process Reco:
most software programs apply the same correction rules,
in the same way, to all the images. Photo retouch Pro
uses a personalized approach where each image is seen
and treat as a new object.
Auto Process RECO performs adaptive correction, by
analyzing the histogram level to cover a density range
optimal for the human eye. Pixels not captured at
acquisition time are artificially “created” by the RECO
process. The pixels that are defined in the image of the
center (no sharp, standard settings), compared to the left
(default) and the right (very smooth).
physical support. For the file format, TIFF is today the
most widely adopted solution because it is supported by
most applications, preserves the image quality as good
as the original and it well use in both Mac and PC
community. Jpeg2000 it could become in the very near
future a very valid alternative to TIFF thanks to its
strong set of impressive features: ROI, watermark
support, Metadata, etc. At Alinari we prefer to stay
away from solutions like Genuine Fractals because
standards and interoperability are key words and key
factor decision in our very competitive business when
decision making versus rapid changes in technologies
become often so critical!
Regarding the storage media, Alinari is currently
making backups on CDs and DVDs. We duplicate,
afterwords, each disc every 5 years, in order to keep the
integrity of the files. If the future will bring up new
technologies, Alinari will be ready to migrate its
valuable content without much hassle.
7. CONTENT PROTECTION-WATERMARKING
The low resolution JPG images in many web
sites are entirely unsuitable for printed reproduction,
and as such provide no competition for licensed, high
resolution images of the copyrighted images. To the
contrary, the availability of these images online often
results in requests for licensing information,
reproductions, and even original artwork, all of which
result in increased revenue for the copyright holders.
Figure 6 with the ROCO process dialog.
Another very interesting feature of the Binuscan product
is the Jpeg removal artifacts feature. The results are not
very impressive with severe artifacts but is still provide
some good and positive enhancement.
In order to place high quality content online,
cultural institutions have to take care of the IPR and
protection issue. In the past several years new
technologies and solutions have try to provide a good
and reliable help for them. Alinari has always been very
active in the watermarking mailing list and in the
events, conferences and issues regarding content
protection. Below there are some screen shoots from
some of the best and leading companies in charge of
content security. This short benchmark and best practice
work has taken more than 5 years and a final technology
recommendation will be issue at the end of this paper as
well.
Protection can be done today mostly in 4 ways:
1. By using encryption,
Figure 7 shows the dialog for the removal of the
pixelation in the center of the image.
2. Stenography,
3. Web page approach,
4. Watermarking.
6. THE STORAGE SOLUTION
Once the images have been digitized and
indexed, they must be stored. In the storage process we
have to remarks to say: the file format and the kind of
The Encryption is a way to lock the valuable
file or folder, so only the authorized user has the private
key to decode the content and read it. The Stenography
is an ancient method which imply the insertion in the
file of invisible data useful for the later decoding. Web
page protection implies normally the use of JavaScript
or a proprietary print and/or download lock plug-in.
Watermarking is a way to add to the digital file some
unique information capable to identify in a unique way
the ownership of the file. Watermark can be done
visibly, with the insertion of a visible logo or next, and
invisibly (series of specific bytes). Among the various
watermark technologies available today, Alinari is using
ImageBridge by Digimarc for two reasons: the company
is one of the best watermarking technologies in the
market (according also to the various benchmarking
testing tools); moreover the company has been in the
market since 1996, providing a top class technical
support and by establishing business partnerships with
leading software vendors like Corel and Adobe.
Figure 10: Stockmarketphoto.com site featuring web
encryption security approach through the JavaScript
warning message
Figure 8: Vyoufirst web encryption home page
Figure 11: ImageLock was crawling the web for
duplicate images carrying the same “DNA” of the
original database of the registered content holder. Too
bad the company is now out of business!
Figure 9: Trymedia’s ActiveMARK™ complete
protection for business online delivery through an
intelligent API based approach
Figure 12: Alchemedia is a Digimarc partner and it is a
well know company providing a good web encryption
solution where users cannot download or print the
images if they do not get the proper privileges.
technologies for the “Save Our Memory” work that
have prove to be reliable enough according to the
company’s intensive tests, which have done through
past European based projects (Imprimatur, Aquarelle,
Victor, Migrator 2000) and though the every day work
and knowledge develop at the company.
Figure 13: Artiscope’s Secure Image Pro™ image
encryption for Mac and PC browsers (like mouse option
“save as” it is not longer possible)
Figure 14: will a Xerox spin-off company like
ContentGuard lead the market in the future?
For the high end scanner solutions we suggest CREO
EverSmart scanner ( and for the middle range needs the
CREO newest IQ3Smart model). Those scanners have a
very impressive new scanning sw (oxygen), in
combination of being able to work with the top cover
open. Plus their X-Y technology insure the same quality
and resolution all over their A3 scanning area. For the
hardware, the Apple Macintosh is indeed a very good
choice, in combination with the Apple ColorSync
profile. For the monitors, the LaCie Blue III 19” and
21” monitors are good viewers (if you have budget, the
Barco Calibrator is still the best video in the world!).
For the proofing system you need to use a good printer
like the HP10ps inkjet or the Epson 5000 in conjunction
with a good proofing software (ProofMaster is very
good, GMG is the best, but again very pricey!).
For the storage, a DVD juke box is a good solution.
Alinari is using the Pioneer solution. About content
protection and file format, Alinari is saving its images at
2000x3000 pixels, 300dpi, TIFF format and protect with
the Digimarc’s ImageBridge Server Pro solution (which
feature the watermarking-on-the-fly solution) for the
middle resolution files.
New technologies like ROI (Region of Interest),
Zooming technology, web pages encryptions and
Jpeg2000 file format might become a standard solution
in the near future. Stay tuned!
REFERENCES
Figure 15: Digimarc’s ImageBridge decoder: a very
effective way to protect your valuable content!
8. BEST PRACTICE OVERALL CONCLUSIONS
Alinari, without going in any ethical, moral or
commercial debate would like now to suggest the best
http://www.binuscan.com/
http://www.lasersoft.com/
http://www.autofx.com/
http://www.qbeo.com/
http://www.artiscope.com/
http://www.alchemedia.com/
http://www.trymedia.com/
http://www.contentguard.com/
http://www.vyuoufirst.com/
http://www.hp.com/
http://www.epson.com/
http://www.lacie.com/
http://www.barco.com/
http://www.digimarc.com/
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Dimitris K. Tsolis and Prof.
Athanasios N. Skodras for their kind invitation for my
paper contribution and to have made this event so
special