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01 · HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Glass Plate Negatives
We digitise historic photographic plates while taking particular care with fragile glass supports and photographic emulsions.
PHOTOGRAPHIC & HERITAGE DIGITISATION
Glass Plate Negative
Glass Plate Negative
Scanning & Digitisation
Specialist digitisation of historic glass plate negatives, lantern slides and fragile photographic collections, creating high-quality digital files for preservation, research, publication and access.
Specialist Glass Plate ScanningHigh-resolution digital preservation
Preserving Historic Glass Plate Photography
Glass plate negatives are an important part of photographic and social history, preserving detailed images of people, places, buildings, landscapes, events and everyday life. Their physical stability made glass an important photographic support before flexible film became widespread, but the glass and photographic emulsion can still be fragile and require careful handling.
Oxford Duplication Centre provides specialist glass plate scanning in Oxfordshire for families, private collectors, museums, archives, universities, historical organisations and corporate collections. We work with individual plates through to larger collections and create digital masters and access files suited to your project.
02 · SPECIALIST FORMATS
Lantern Slides & Plates
Our workflows also support lantern slides and other transparency materials where accurate digital capture is important for preservation and access.
03 · DIGITAL PRESERVATION
Archive-Ready Files
Digital outputs can be prepared as TIFF, RAW, JPEG, JPEG2000, BMP or PDF, in colour or greyscale, according to the project requirements.
Why Glass Plate Scanning Requires Specialist Care
Historic plates are not simply ordinary photographic film. The glass support, emulsion and condition of the original all need to be considered when preparing material for digitisation.
Careful Handling & Preparation
Glass plate negatives can have delicate photographic emulsions and may show age-related deterioration. Our technicians use careful handling procedures and can gently clean plates before scanning where appropriate, helping to prepare the original for digital capture.
High-Quality Optical Capture
Our scanning equipment provides high optical density performance, helping reproduce detail in the darker areas of negatives and the highlights of positive materials. This is particularly valuable when the original contains subtle tonal information.
Types of Glass Plate Material We Can Digitise
Our glass plate service is designed for historic and specialist photographic collections. We can support a range of material and collection types, including:
- Historic glass plate negatives
- Wet collodion and gelatin dry plate material
- Lantern slides and glass transparencies
- Historic family and estate photographic collections
- Museum, archive and university collections
- Private research and family-history collections
- Individual plates through to larger collections
Wet & Dry Plate Photography
Glass plate photography includes wet collodion plates and later gelatin dry plates. These historic processes are valuable records of photographic history and can contain exceptionally detailed images.
Digital Outputs
We can create digital files suited to preservation, research, publication and everyday access. Output formats can include:
- High-resolution TIFF
- RAW image files
- JPEG and JPEG2000
- Adobe PDF
- BMP
- Full colour or greyscale
Beyond the Scan
Indexing, metadata tagging, OCR and image processing can also be incorporated into digitisation projects where required.
A Professional Workflow for Heritage Collections
We can support the project from initial assessment through scanning and digital delivery, with the workflow tailored to the condition, size and requirements of the collection.
1. Collection Assessment
We assess the material supplied, discuss the required outputs and identify any special handling or project considerations before processing begins.
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2. Scanning & Digital Processing
Original material is carefully prepared and scanned using professional equipment, with digital processing applied where appropriate to produce clear, useful images.
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STANDARD FORMAT FILM TYPES
35mm Slides, 35mm Half Frame, 35mm Negative Strips, 35mm Half Frame Negative Strips, 3D Stereo Slides, 126 film mounts, 127 Superslides and 126 Negative Strips. Please note: 110mm Slides and Negatives, due to very low grain, must be digitised to Publication TIFF before converting to JPEG. |
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| Digitising Price Per Unit | Output Format | 1+ | 10+ | 50+ | 100+ | 500+ | 1000+ | 5000+ |
| Standard Scanning | JPEG 4800dpi | 2.00 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 0.45 | 0.40 | 0.35 | 0.30 |
| Publication Scanning | TIFF/RAW 3200dpi | 4.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 0.65 | 0.55 | 0.50 |
| Archival Scanning | TIFF/RAW 4800dpi | 6.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 0.75 |
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APS FILM – DISK SPINDLES
Due to the very low grain of the film formats, the film must be digitised to Publication TIFF before going into post production for colour, tone and sharpening. Once processed, we then convert the images to JPEG. |
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| Scanning | Format | DPI | 1+ | 10+ | 25+ |
| Per APS Film Roll 15 Images or 1 Disk Spindle | JPEG | 4000 x 4000 | 15.00 | 12.00 | 10.00 |
| Per APS Film Roll 25 Images | JPEG | 4000 x 4000 | 20.00 | 15.00 | 12.00 |
| Per APS Film Roll 40 Images | JPEG | 4000 x 4000 | 25.00 | 20.00 | 15.00 |
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MEDIUM FORMAT FILM TYPES
Film and camera types in which a single frame is larger than 135 film (36x24mm) but smaller than 4x5 inches. Typically 120 or 220 film types. This service involves Adobe lab processing for unsharp masking and toning. Perfect for archiving, publications and professional printing. |
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| DPI | Output Format | 1 | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500 | 1000 | 5000+ |
| 4800 | Archival TIFF/RAW | 10.00 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 |
| 3200 | Standard JPEG | 7.00 | 3.50 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 0.70 |
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LANTERN SLIDES, PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE GLASS PLATES,
TINTYPES AND SHEET TRANSPARENCY SCANNING SOLUTIONS
All plates, transparencies and X-rays are digitised to their respective dpi, unless you have specific requirements. Digitisation incorporates professional scanning software and machinery specifically designed for digitising transparency film types, perfect for high-quality archiving, illustration and diagnostic purposes, in line with The National Archives Standards. Please contact cheryl@oxfordduplicationcentre.com or call our offices on 01865 457000. |
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| Size (Inches) | Size (mm) | Lantern Slides | 1+ | 10+ | 25+ | 50+ | 100+ | 500+ | 1000+ | 5000+ |
| 3¼ × 3¼ | — | Lantern slides | 12.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| Size (Inches) | Size (mm) | Photographic Glass Plates | 1+ | 10+ | 25+ | 50+ | 100+ | 500+ | 1000+ | 5000+ |
| 3¼ × 4¼ | 83 × 108 | "quarter-plate" | 12.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| 4¾ × 6½ | 120 × 165 | "half-plate" glass plates | 14.00 | 7.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| 6½ × 8½ | 216 × 165 | "full-plate" glass plates | 15.00 | 7.50 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
| Size (Inches) | Size (mm) | Sheet Film (Trans or X-Ray) | 1+ | 10+ | 25+ | 50+ | 100+ | 500+ | 1000+ | 5000+ |
| 4 × 5 | 102 × 127 | Sheet film | 12.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| 5 × 7 | 127 × 178 | Sheet film | 12.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| 4 × 10 | 102 × 254 | Sheet film | 13.00 | 6.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| 8 × 10 | 203 × 254 | Sheet film | 14.00 | 7.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
| 7 × 17 | 178 × 432 | Sheet film | 15.00 | 7.50 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
| 11 × 14 | 279 × 356 | Sheet film | 16.00 | 8.00 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
| 8 × 20 | 203 × 508 | Sheet film | 17.00 | 8.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 |
| 12 × 20 | 305 × 508 | Sheet film | 18.00 | 9.00 | 4.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| 14 × 17 | 356 × 417 | Sheet film | 18.00 | 9.00 | 4.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| 16 × 20 | 406 × 508 | Sheet film | 19.00 | 9.50 | 4.75 | 4.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 |
| 20 × 24 | 508 × 610 | Sheet film | 19.00 | 9.50 | 4.75 | 4.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.25 | 3.00 |