Interviews with Dr. Adelstein

We are glad to introduce a new series of articles that will contain short interviews by Dr. Peter Adelstein. Each interview will address some aspect of photo preservation.

Dr. Adelstein retired from Eastman Kodak Company after 37 years and then joined IPI in 1985. He is a well-known, worldwide expert in the permanence of photographic materials. For the past 25 years he has also been chairman of ANSI and ISO committees dealing with the permanence of imaging media. In 1998 he was awarded the Fuji Gold Medal by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and in 2003 he was recognized by the International Imaging Industry Association for his contributions to international standards.

What is the future of Kodachrome slides?

Archival Advisor (AA): We have recently read with dismay that Kodak will no longer be manufacturing Kodachrome slide films. How can this be?

Dr. Adelstein (Dr. A): The answer is very simple. The sales of the product have decreased to the point where it is no longer profitable to manufacture. This is directly attributable to the widespread use of digital photography.

AA: But this was such an excellent product.

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Five Things to Remember When Scanning 35mm Slides for Printing

1. Slides must be scanned at 1200 dpi in order to make good quality 4” x 6” prints. To produce larger prints, higher scanning resolution will be needed.

2. Use a clean antistatic brush or soft camel’s hair brush to whisk away lint or dust before scanning.

3. Scanned slide image files can be pretty large—for example, a full-frame 35mm color slide scanned at 1200 dpi will be about 11 megabytes. Keep your collection of images on removable storage media (an external hard drive, CD, or flash drive, for example) to save computer disk space.

4. Keeping multiple copies of your scans in different locations is a good way to ensure that your images won’t be lost in case of a computer crash, fire, or flood.

5. Once you’ve scanned your slide collection, don’t discard the original slides! They are valuable objects, and, kept in a safe environment, they can still have a long life.

Term of the Month

Glassine – A translucent paper storage enclosure most often used for photographic negatives. This material can become permanently embedded into the photo’s gelatin surface coating under very humid conditions. ISO has determined that glassine is inappropriate for use as a photographic storage enclosure.

Link of the Month

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works has a new website and a new web address. Make sure you bookmark it! There’s lots of information for you on how to care for your memorabilia or how to find a professional conservator.

 http://www.conservation-us.org