Tag Archives: microfiche cards

The Various Names for Microfiche

What is definition of “Microfiche”?

And why do some people call it different things?

 

Every industry has its own lingo. Sometimes even within the industry professionals use different terms.

Oxford Dictionary defines microfiche as “a flat piece of film containing microphotographs of the pages of a newspaper, catalog, or other document”.

Etymonline.com says the term came into use in 1950, from French.

“Micro-” of course is the prefix meaning small, and “fiche” the French word for “card, index card, slip, form”.

Those in the micrographics field are used to the word “microfiche” because that field has mastered the technique of photographing written or printed pages in reduced form to produce microfiche.

Microphotography has its roots from the 1800s as it was a form of art. It eventually became used in espionage and passing coded messages.

It should be simple to understand that microfiche is a flat sheet with shrunken images on them.

So why do some people call “microfiche” microfilm? And what’s up with microfiche jackets, COM fiche, step-and-repeat microfiche, duplicated fiche, Microx, and aperture cards?

Well, it doesn’t help that the Wikipedia editors decided to have roll film and microfiche in the same article entitled “microform”. Microform is indeed the generic, all-encompassing term for all types of microphotographic reproductions. However, if someone says that they have “a drawer full of microform”, there is no indication of what type of film or fiche is in the collection, or they actually mean a “mixed collection of various media”.

To add insult to injury, jacketed microfiche is actually made up of cut microfilm which is then inserted into channels (jackets). Therefore, jacketed fiche are indeed composed of cut microfilm. And, of course, “film” can be strips or spooled. So as you can see, it is easy to fall into a word trap here!

Microfiche can also be 16mm, 35mm, and have various colors (clear positive, black negative, purple or blue duplicates), shapes, and organization.

Sometimes it is easier to remember things by visualization. Let’s keep it simple:

Microfiche is a flat sheet with reduced documents on them, like this:

microfiche

THIS is microfiche

Or this:

combo fiche

35mm and 16mm combo fiche

 

Or this:

computer output media

COM Fiche

 

Or other various types of flat sheets.

It does not look like a spool or reel of film. Nor is it opaque on cardboard. Nor is it a Kodak mounted slide.

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How to Convert Auto Parts Microfiche with Scanner

Scan Auto Parts Microfiche with Generation Imaging

Do you need to read an auto parts manual contained on microfiche? Are you a mechanic, customer service rep, autoparts reseller, or actual manufacturer? You can try to find an old microfiche reader or even a microfiche printer at a library, or you could send Generation Imaging the microfiche in the mail and have us scan them.

car parts microfiche scanning

Automobile mechanical parts and vehicle manuals were filmed on step-and-repeat microfiche. They are microfiche cards with genuine OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) part drawings and index direct created by the manufacturer. We can convert those car parts to pdf, tiff, or jpeg. If you would like an extra service, we could also enhance them to become searchable PDFs (also called OCR). Auto parts microfiche have all the parts from the major manufacturers. So if you need to look up something obscure like 2013 Audi A5 Cabriolet L4 2.0 Alternator Diagram, if you can get your hands on that microfiche, we can convert that for you.

There are a few reasons why you may need vehicle parts manuals to be digitized to image. You could be a mechanic, a DIY owner, or a service manager from a motor vehicle corporation. We have scanned many different types of companies over the years, and not just cars. We have also converted jet skis and construction vehicle manuals on microfiche.

List of some car brands on microfiche:

Alfa Romeo
Aston Martin
Audi
Bentley
Benz
BMW
Bugatti
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Citroen
Corvette
DAF
Dacia
Daewoo
Daihatsu
Datsun
De Lorean
Dino
Dodge
Farboud
Ferrari
Fiat
Ford
Honda
Hummer
Hyundai
Jaguar
Jeep
KIA
Koenigsegg
Lada
Lamborghini
Lancia
Land Rover
Lexus
Ligier
Lincoln
Lotus
Martini
Maserati
Maybach
Mazda
McLaren
Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mini
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Noble
Opel
Peugeot
Pontiac
Porsche
Renault
Rolls-Royce
Rover
Saab
Seat
Skoda
Smart
Spyker
Subaru
Suzuki
Toyota
Vauxhall
Volkswagen CONTACT US

What is a Microfiche Scanning Company?

Not All Microfiche Scanning Companies are the Same

Is hard to believe that so many companies or governments still use microfiche cards for archiving. In our microfiche scanning company we transfer thousands of microfiche to digital formats all the time. It is good to know that a microfiche scanning company can transfer your microfiche to pdf, jpeg, or tiff images, and this is not very expensive if you find the right scanning company. We have helped hundred of companies and individuals that decided to transfer their archived data.

Scanning Company That Services All Your Imaging Needs

The microfiche scanning company you select to scan your microfiche cards will help you choose from the many options available for you digital scanning system. We help out customers from the very early stages of their microfiche conversion project. We believe that planning is extremely valuable for the scanning company and for the customer. Therefore, we take the time to test and inform customers at the very early stages. For example, our scanning company provides free test scanning for every project. This process gives a customer good feedback and assures that the communication good between the customer and the scanning company.

Experience and reliability are also good qualification of an efficient microfiche scanning company. You want to feel the work is guaranteed. Make sure that you can speak to your microfiche scanning company representative and the project manager. When you have a question or concern, getting quick response from your microfiche scanning company is essential.

Most micrographics companies sell hardware, software, or perform paper document scanning or microfilm services, or even sell microfiche scanners. It is rare to find a company which focuses on microfiche conversion specifically. CONTACT US

How to Digitize Microfiche to PDF

Contact a Microfiche Scanning Company Now

Microfiche cards can be very time consuming to work with. That is one reason we recommend microfiche scanning. Microfiche conversion, in general, will convert your microfiche cards into a digital storage and retrieval system. Converting microfiche can create PDF or Jpeg files. These types of digital files are commonly used in the industry and can be of great value to end users. The time that is required to operate a microfiche archival system is considerable in the present time. Before microfiche scanning, options were limited and microfiche standards were varied. Today, scanning microfiche allows is much more reliable and efficient.

Microfiche To Digital WIth Record Scanning

Taking the time to investigate and become knowledgeable in this area is also easy. You can contact a microfiche scanning expert for all kinds of information, without any commitment. A good microfiche service company can also do testing for free. You should be able to get samples of your microfiche images for free. This a very important part of any microfiche conversion project and can answer many questions for you. You should see what the end product will look like and make sure that it will serve its purpose correctly, before you start the real microfiche digitization production run.

The fact is, with the technology available today, you should not have to use microfiche cards manually as your only available choice. Microfiche scanning has been the answer to thousands of organizations and individuals with microfiche cards. The efforts needed from your side is very small but the gains can be significant. Let the experts at Generation Imaging do the work for you. CONTACT US

Simple Ways To Digitize Negatives

Scan Negative Microfiche

If you need to digitize negatives from microfiche cards, there are options available for you. One good way to digitize negative is to use a microfiche to digital scanner. This scanner will digitize negatives from many different types of formats. You can then store the resulting images as jpegs, tiffs, pdfs right on your computer.

Digitize Negatives with a Microfilm SCanerOriginal negative microfiche are black. Duplicated microfiche are purple or blue. Positive microfiche are clear. Microfiche scanners have the ability to reverse the negative polarity, so the black background will become white. The default settings are clear white positive.

Negative Microfilm Strips

To digitize negatives from strips of old film, or from microfilm rolls, you basically follow the same process, but the microfilm scanner is different. To digitize negatives from film strips that roll in 100-foot rolls, the conversion is more automated than from short strips.

Log rolls are threaded through a microfilm scanners that then feed the microfilm on a continuous flow. But to digitize negatives from very short strips, each strip requires some one to load the negative on to the microfilm scanner one by one.

It is efficient to digitize negatives from small strips with a process that allows adjustments for variations of quality. This process allows is very handy to digitize negatives that have variations of contrast. You should not digitize negatives with one standard setup because this can lead to loss of quality in the resulting image. When adjustments are needed, you want to have the opportunity to make necessary equipment adjustments. CONTACT US