Hi, This is lightly off topic but I was not sure where else to ask. I am looking for a method to convert all my microfiche I've collected over the years (95% of them Surry PR's) to digital format that I can then view on my PC (so either pdf or jpg format would be ideal). I've looked at digital scanners but they are very, very expensive. I've tried using my conventional scanner (Canon MP970) but with no luck. Has anybody else successfully managed to do this please ? Many thanks Chris

hi Chris, seems like a very relevant topic to me :-) My first reaction is you certainly don't need a digital scanner to produce digital images. it's all down to saving them in digi format, ie: jpg, tif, png &c. and that is often just personal preference and how much space you have to spare on your hard drive or dvd's. The main problem is having a scanner that 1] produces a strong enough light and 2] zooms in sufficiently. I had an ancient old argumentative one which was great for scanning my old photo negatives. Trouble was it and my computer didn't always see eye to eye so i bought a new one, totally innocent of the fact that they don't all scan negatives well. My current one, a Canon Lide, doesn't. So disappointing. it just doesn't seem to put enough light through them and me with a whole pile of old bl&wh negatives of family desperately wanting scanned. However, i experimented with one of my fiches and yes, as Stephen says, you'll need to choose a high dpi, which you set at scan setting stage. my scanner only goes up to 1200. Don't use the 'black & white' or 'text enhanced' settings. They'll burn the image out. i found 'greyscale' or 'colour' settings the best for this job. Having scanned it, you go to 'file', 'save as' and choose which you prefer, jpg, png &c. and save to a chosen file. Some save at very high values so you'll want to consider storage space as well as clarity. You could save the one image in each of the formats, then compare them before deciding on which you prefer. Do that by simply re-saving your image the same way as the first but choosing a different format at the 'file' 'save as' stage. You don;t even need to rename them, picture 1, picture 2 will do for your experiment and the computer will do that automatically anyway. Saving to desk-top is probably as simple as any till you;ve completed your experiment Make sure the format you save in is one your computer can open. You now have your digital image. However, in saying all that, i was unable to get a readable image - not because my scanner wasn't up to it, but because of the magnification required. It might be worth looking at scanners which accommodate negatives or slides, but be careful. some only allow the size of a slide as opposed to something as large as a fiche. Maybe your local specialist shop has a demonstration model and would allow you to experiment with a fiche. Your run of the mill chain store electronics shops won't have a clue.. but you probably know that already Another suggestion is to find a list similar to this which deals specifically with photography. There is bound to be one. Maybe our list moderator would know where to suggest looking and I'm quite sure there will be members on this list, or similar lists, too who digitise photos for printing out their family tree and will have had experience of blowing up tiny images. Maybe if they've missed reading all of this, you could ask again, specifying blowing up tiny images to readable level at scan stage. best of luck and i;ll follow this thread with interest if anything comes of it. It's an interesting feature of family research :-) have a very pleasant xmas and all the best in the coming year. le durachd Fionnghal --- On Sun, 6/12/09, Chris Wake <chris.eintracht@bigpond.com> wrote: I am looking for a method to convert all my microfiche > I've collected over the > years (95% of them Surry PR's) to digital format that I can > then view on my > PC (so either pdf or jpg format would be ideal). I've > looked at digital > scanners but they are very, very expensive. I've tried > using my conventional > scanner (Canon MP970) but with no luck. Has anybody else > successfully managed to do this please ?