Digital Photography of Documents
| Digital cameras are ideal for copying
documents, especially faded manuscripts. The conventional
techniques that we
apply to our ground-based and
kite aerial
archaeological photographs are
equally applicable to documents.
Working outside the visible spectrum (Ultra-violet / infra-red) is made more easy, as filters are not needed to block visible light, if the document is lit only by the light of interest. Care should always be taken and appropriate eye protection worn when using UV. Professional systems are much more refined but the modern digital camera and (often free) photographic software make basic aspects of these techniques available to everyone. |
Colour Channels and Filters

1422 Conveyance to John Bompas by John Tuttebury, son and heir of Henry Tuttebury
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| Original colour | Colour removed | |||||
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| Red Channel and colour then removed | Blue channel then colour removed | |||||
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Although the differences between the above images is minimal, with some documents, they can be quite pronounced, especially if the document is multi-coloured. There are other very effective software based techniques. Such approaches can minimise the need for potentially harmful methodologies, using say, ultra-violet light ,as pointed out by others. However, there are few problems nowadays with recording UV images, especially if work is limited to UV-A (320-400 nm).
Shorter wavelengths can be used to control the growth of moulds and other micro-organisms but they can also cause fading of the image / text and damage the substrate. |
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