Medium/Large format scanning in Toronto?

November 2, 2005 12:00 PM

Does anyone know where I can access self-serve medium/large-format scanning services in Toronto?

We have about five years of monthly, tabloid-format magazines that we would like to archive digitally (every cover and select articles/pages from each issue) on our website. Is there anywhere in Toronto where can we access a large enough scanner to do this ourselves at a reasonable rate? We don't need films or reprinting or any of that sort of thing, we just need to be able to scan excerpts from these issues into a digital format, and we'd prefer to do it ourselves.

posted by kowalski to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Check with reprographics outlets, many of which probably used to be blueprinters, and may still be listed as such in the phone book. They might not be self-serve, but they'll generally give you a cheaper rate and a better job than places like Kinko's. Quick Toronto repro search.
posted by LionIndex at 12:13 PM on November 2, 2005

Also, the machines they'll most likely be using are some hot-shit new-fangled Oce flatbed scanners, and if I owned one of those I wouldn't let some common riff-raff anywhere near it, so I think you might end up being disappointed on the self-serve aspect of your question unless you're really willing to compromise on quality.
posted by LionIndex at 12:16 PM on November 2, 2005

You might consider using a copy stand (purchased or improvised) and a high resolution digital camera. A previous thread discussed this possibility: Make copies of delicate documents.
posted by Chuckles at 3:02 PM on November 2, 2005

Forgot to add: It will be much faster than all but the most expensive ultra fast scanners.
posted by Chuckles at 3:04 PM on November 2, 2005

Forgot to add: It will be much faster than all but the most expensive ultra fast scanners.

Well, I don't know about that, unless my everyday experience involves the most expensive ultra fast scanners (which is actually a realistic possibility). A copy stand is a pretty good DIY alternative to a reprographics shop, though, and would probably be the best option as far as cost vs. quality. It might be a little faster, but probably not by much.

I work in architecture, where we deal with large-scale large-format printing needs every day. The standard for printing used to be blueprinting, or diazo. However, a couple years ago, at least around here, the diazo process was made obsolete by regualtions that governed waste products or something similar, since diazo is pretty heavy on using ammonia--it's basically a contact-photography process using an ammonia compound for the developing medium instead of silver iodide. Since the death of diazo, blueprint shops have converted to large scale scanning and printing, so that services like what kowalski is looking for are no longer any kind of big deal. Just the other day, I sent out a 120 sheet plan set for 8 sets of prints, and I got it back in 3-4 hours from the time that I called the printer to pick it up. So, that 3-4 hours includes travel time to my office to pick up the drawings, scanning 120+ 24"x36" sheets, printing 8 sets (960+ sheets), and then delivery back to my office. All that is completely normal, and I didn't put them under any kind of deadline or "rush" situation.
posted by LionIndex at 3:37 PM on November 2, 2005