Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection

Most images are digitized | All jpegs/tiffs display outside Library of Congress | View All

Digitizing the Negatives

During 2004 and 2005, JJT, Inc., of Austin, Texas, scanned the Matson Negatives. They used an overhead Sinar 54 digital camera to scan more than 13,700 glass negatives (measuring in sizes ranging between 4 x 5 inches or smaller and 10 x 12 inches). The images were captured in grayscale at a spatial resolution of approximately 5,000 pixels on the long side and a tonal resolution of 8 bits per pixel. In 2010, CSC, Inc., scanned an additional 7,300 nitrate-based film negatives from the collection. The film negatives range in size from approx. 3 x 4 inches up to 5 x 7 inches. The images were captured using a Stokes Imaging System camera using the same capture resolution specifications that were used for the glass plate negatives.

With today's resources, these high-resolution images require significantly increased costs, particularly in time spent capturing, inspecting, and loading the files. For most collections in the Prints and Photographs Division, online digital images, even at lower resolutions, play an important preservation role as surrogates that reduce handling of the original pictures. The high quality master and derivative files are available online. Digital images of each negative display in each bibliographic record.

Specifications for the Collection

Uncompressed Archival Images

Compressed Service Images

Thumbnail Images