0.5 Approaches to distribution of fee-free images: case studies  (Page 3/13)

Reduced production costs

The price of film and processing for analog photography continues to rise, but direct digital capture eliminates most ofthose expenses. Furthermore, some pre-press costs associated with publication are reduced or eliminated when working digitally. In analog production, the printer created color separations and printed proofs. These were then submitted to the editorial staff for review.Frequently the calibration of the press resulted in an incorrect rendering of the object’s actual colors, and new separations and proofs were required. Thisoutsourced activity was a costly and time-consuming component of any image-rich publication. In the digital era, this pre-press work is done in-house on digitalcameras, computer screens, and printers that are carefully calibrated and then frequently recalibrated. The raw digital file is meticulously edited and a new,color-corrected file is saved for production purposes. That file is then sent to the outside printer. The past practice of sending a guide print that accuratelypresents the object’s colors is increasingly eliminated as color calibration software has improved.

Retrospective scanning

Simultaneous with the conversion of analog to digital capture, staff initiated a retrospective scanning operation in theimage studio. Selection criteria prioritized photography of works being included in the Collection Database and the highly acclaimed Timeline of the History ofArt portions of the museum’s website. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Works of Art Collection Database is available at (External Link)&vw=1 . Timeline of Art History is available at (External Link) . Photography for these works had the added advantage of descriptive captions recently written and/or vetted by the curatorial staff.Scanning was also undertaken on photography slated for publication in upcoming collection and special exhibition catalogs. The most recently produced colortransparencies were favored over older photography in hopes of avoiding the need for extensive digital touch-up of film marred by particulates and scratches. Inbetween color scanning projects, slow but steady progress has been made on converting the one-hundred-year-old archive of black-and-white negatives todigital format. The 35mm film is not being scanned at this time.

Benefits of the imaging initiative

The digital imaging initiative benefits the museum in multiple ways. The number of digital images available for the website,publications, and internal use has been dramatically increased. It ensures access to images on film that celebrate the museum’s own history, a storycovering almost 140 years and told by the visual documentation of people, events, gallery installations, special exhibitions, building construction andrenovation, and educational programs. Digital surrogates reduce the handling of negatives and transparencies that have been moved to climate-controlled coldstorage, thus increasing the longevity of these unique film masters.

Met images project

Internal discussions about the Met Images project began long in advance of the official launch in fall 2007. Planninginvolved a team of staff members from Information Systems and Technology, the Photograph Studio, the Image Library, and curatorial departments workingtogether to define and implement an enterprise-wide system for managing digital images. Shyam Oberoi, formerly manager of the Met Images project, describes thegoals as twofold: