If you can have a flat bed scanner or know someone that does you can make the scans and either send them to me on a CD, DVD or send the files as Emails.  I need the files to meet certain requirements so I can make quality reproductions. These are good general rules for making the best possible scans.

Set your scanner with a test scan to get the best settings.  A scan of a magazine cover with a human face is the easiest.  Be sure to use the brightness and contrast settings for all of your scans.  Scan at 300 dots per inch or (DPI). Be sure to get the margins of the pages. Scan all pages and the inside and outside of the covers and any extra sheets that may be present. Save the pages using the original page numbers from the material. If it is not numbered simply number from the beginning starting with one.  Save each page as a TIFF file. They can be compressed to make the files smaller.  These files are large but the material is saved without any loss of data.  Other types of file formats look good on the screen but the compression makes and image that is difficult or impossible to make a good reproduction.

Here are a few random notes that can make it easier.

First!  Be very careful with the items that you are scanning.  When you are dealing with paper items that are 50-100 years old it is probably fragile.  While it is desirable and important to copy these items it is very important to do this with a little damage as possible.  These items are rare and they should not be damaged or destroyed in the process.

If you are scanning pages that are larger than the scanner you can scan multiple parts. Move the original across the scanner to make a series of scans that can be put back together. Do not rotate the original. You cannot see it but the left and right part of the scan are slightly different and it really shows if you rotate the item 180 degrees and put it together.

Many catalogs are held together with staples, string, or some type of spine. These are easy to scan but care must be taken to avoid breaking the paper where it is folded. Be careful.

Hard bound items are very difficult to scan without causing damage. It is hard to get them flat enough the scan all of the printed area without damaging the spine or individual pages. While I would love to make copies of these items it is usually not worth the chance of permanently damaging the original.

Many catalogs from the early 1900s are either loose pages or are held together with threaded post. The threaded post can be removed and the individual pages can be scanned for both types. Just be careful to keep them in order.