Tag Archives: microfiche machine

How to Read Microfiche

Those 4 x 6 cards with tiny images embedded inside, that you need a light viewer or microfiche machine to read them… those are called microfiche. The reason you need a clumsy viewer to see anything is that the images on the microfiche are too small to see them without lots of magnification. Many people run into a dead end with this issue and don’t know what to do about it. They need to view the information but don’t want to have to buy an outdated viewer to do this.

Microfiche Reader Printers

Your company, organization, or government office may use a microfiche reader printer which enables you to save and print one image at a time. The problems with this are twofold:

1) the reader printers break down and no longer supported easily;

2) it takes internal time and labor to search specific images.

Converting Microfiche to PDF

There is a much better solution for you. It is called microfiche scanning and for this you need access to a microfiche machine that scans the images. A microfiche machine scans the images and creates a separate file for each image. If you try to scan the entire card as one image with a microfiche machine, the images would be unreadable because of poor resolution. A paper scanner for example, makes a 1 to 1 scan of the original, but a microfiche machine can make a 1 to 48 scan. The microfiche machine actually magnifies the image before saving it.

A microfiche machine is very expensive, usually up to $60,000 for a high end microfiche machine. We have a microfiche machine that we can use to transfer your files. For a handful of microfiche to thousands of microfiche cards, we can make use of our microfiche machine to digitize your microfiche cards. We can create pdf files or jpeg files with the right microfiche machine and you will be able to view all your images on your PC. CONTACT US

Myths About Transferring Microfiche to Digital Image

July 21, 2009

Damian Hospital

Microfiche scanning No Comments

Microfiche Myths

There are a few misconceptions about microfiche in general and microfiche conversion. Here are some good ones:

People don’t use microfiche anymore

Do people still use microfiche? Actually, yes, they do. Schools still use 16mm microfiche files which contain your dreaded permanent record. City or country land records and blueprints are stored on 35mm microfiche. Electronic payroll records are exported to COM microfiche. The U.S. government gives veterans their service records on microfiche. Automobile and vehicle manuals exist on microfiche and are used by mechanics and part order companies.There are many industries which still use microfiche.

Microfiche scanning is expensive

Converting microfiche to digital images is not expensive if Generation Imaging is performing your project. Pricing is based on volume and larger volume microfiche projects are very cheap per image.Even if you only have one card or a one batch, the cost to convert microfiche is much lower than you would expect if you send the work to a microfiche scanning company. Now, if you buy a microfiche reader printer or scanner, you need to invest thousands of dollars in the microfiche machine alone.

Microfiche is microfilm

Microfiche means “little card”. Microfiche are flat plastic sheets with small images. Microfilm are rolls of film, which look like small movie reels. Confusing microfilm and microfiche is common. The less frequent all-encompassing term is “microform”, which covers all micrographic media. To make matters even more confusing, something microfiche was actually microfilm- cut into strips and placed in microfiche jackets.

Microfiche is not produced anymore

Believe it or not, but a quick look at government bids reveals that microfiche generation still happens today. Many states have data retention laws which require microfiche as hard copies for legal reasons and for disaster plans. (For example, imagine if one day an EMP bomb destroys our digital computer systems or the cloud.)

Microfiche lasts forever

Although microfiche was originally created to preserve history and civilization, depending on how they are created, they can deteriorate if not stored correctly. There are many industry standard preservation techniques. The basic assumption of microfiche preservation was that they had to be stored in a climate controlled room and kept away from the elements. Unfortunately, because so many people do not follow these strict standards, microfiche can fade, smell like vinegar, become brittle, or actually lose their images. CONTACT US

COM Microfiche Scanning

July 16, 2009

Damian Hospital

Microfiche scanning No Comments

What is COM Microfiche Scanning?

One of the most popular types of microfiche is COM (computer output microfiche). In fact many veterans in the microfiche conversion industry have the picture of a COM microfiche in their mind when they use the word “microfiche”.

Back in the day, the micrographic industry was all about creating microfiche and microfilm. Salespeople would sell COM machines, which would out the computer data to the microfiche cards. Accessories included COM duplicator machines. COM microfiche scanning is the process of converting those cards to digital images.

Scanning COM fiche is necessary if you are working with account records contained on the fiche and you grow weary of using a microfiche reader printer or EyeCOM fiche viewer. With the images digitized and indexed, you could search for specific accounts easier.

How Many Images are on a COM microfiche?

Generally there are 208 images (16 columns x 13 rows) or 270 images (18 columns x 15 rows) on COM fiche, with some variance in-between. For example some columns may not be filled with images and some people do not count the index frames. There is a special type of COM fiche called ultrafiche, which could have hundreds more of images!

The Microfiche Scanner

Most microfiche scanners must be set up to create a grid to line-up over the microfiche card. Other scanners can create image ribbons which can be broken down into individual images. Still other scanners could take a snapshot of the entire microfiche card, however you need special software to view that type.

For most microfiche scanners, the digital format received would be single page images or multi-page images. These types are usually PDF, PDF/A, JPEG. JPEG 2000, bi-tonal Group IV TIF, uncompressed greyscale TIF, and LZW TIFF.

There are many microfiche scanners sold online. These can be bought second hand from a microfiche equipment dealer, directly from a manufacturer, or from a reseller who makes a commission from the manufacturer. In addition to buying the microfiche scanner, you may have to get a license or maintenance plan. You must know how to operate the microfiche machine, and be able to train others.

Or, you could outsource your microfiche to a microfiche scanning company who will give you a price per image (or price per card). If you are on the fence about if you should purchase a microfiche scanner or have a company scan the microfiche for you, feel free to contact us for a free estimate and guidance to help you come to a decision.

Scanning Microfiche Options

July 7, 2009

Damian Hospital

Microfiche scanning No Comments

Scanning Microfiche

How to scan microfiche? Microfiche scanning is only possible with specialized equipment, such as NextScan microfiche scanners, Mekel scanners, Sunrise scanners, and others. Scanning microfiche on a flatbed scanner just won’t cut it. You can use a reader printer, but just keep in mind the time and labor it takes a while.

You can buy microfiche scanners online from resellers, salespeople, or try to go directly to manufacutrers, who will probably refer you to a reseller or salesperson. You can try to get a used microfiche scanner from auction websites or micrographics supply websites, but they do not come with warranties or training.

I guess you could try to run to a local library and see if they have some microfiche machine which could print out the images on your microfiche, but I would put that chance of happening at most 1%.

Converting microfiche to digital image is a great way to save space in your office. It speeds up record retrieval as well. In other words, it saves time and money. Thousands of companies, organizations, and individuals have had microfiche conversions.

If you need COM fiche, 16mm or 35mm jacket microfiche, step and repeat microfiche, rewritable microfiche converted to digital images, you could send your microfiche to a scanning company. In many ways, this is the most efficient option. You would not have to buy your own microfiche scanner, buy the software license, get trained, hire workers, create a production flow, set up an internal network, or maintain the microfiche machine. CONTACT US