Many organizations handle aperture cards on a daily basis to access their information- usually engineering drawings, building blue prints, or title records. Although this has been a common practice for many years, aperture card scanning technologies has been changing this dynamic. If you use aperture cards to store your documents, you are probably thinking there has to be a better way.
The process of digitizing aperture cards has been around for some time now, only a few well established microfiche conversion organizations- like this digital imaging company- have the required equipment and knowledge to safeguard your apertures and to achieve the best possible digital conversion results. This digital imaging company will transfer the information you have on your apertures to a digital format, such as TIFF, JPEG, PDF, etc. Digital conversion is ideal for storing and retrieving documents, especially since aperture card scanners can read Hollerith code punches.
In the meantime, while you are still using your aperture cards as your document source, make sure you do all you can to conserve the integrity of the cards. This is the first step in aperture card preparation. Keep the cards in a temperature and humidity control environment. The frame also has a sensitive side which is called the emulsion side. This is what makes up the image on the film. It is very sensitive to scratches.
Lastly, there is the issue of time. If your aperture cards are beginning to smell like vinegar, you need to consider document imaging as a way to preserve the information. The smell you sense may be the natural process of your cards decomposing. If you do nothing, you may lose all your data.
Digital imaging is ideal for storing and retrieving documents. Contact us for additional information.
