Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2018.11
Application of ISO Standards, FADGI and Metamorfoze Guidelines for Digitization of Two-Dimensional CulturalHeritage Objects
Ljubo Gamulin
; Croatian Conservation Institute
Abstract
Over the last decade, the quality of digital records made by professional trichromatic photographic equipment has decreased the use of flatbed scanners for creating digital databases. Such modern digitization systems can reduce costs and enable safer work with archival material and the ability to process far larger numbers of objects with the means to create a database that provides an exact copy of the original.
The first prerequisite for this premise is the use of a colour-management system and a unique method of analysing the quality of digitized records. In view of the truly wide choice of digitization systems with trichromatic photographic equipment (various types of photographic equipment, lenses, types of lighting) that are primarily based on financial resources, a system of evaluation of the recorded material readily available to the end users was necessary. Today, two guidelines for the digitization of two-dimensional cultural-heritage objects – FADGI and Metamorfoze – have been adopted globally, both in accordance with the latest ISO 19264-1:2017 standard. Unfortunately, FADGI and Metamorfoze guidelines are based on different evaluation and tolerance algorithms and use different test charts, so they cannot be fully used interchangeably. End users have the final choice which system to use.
The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the advantages of non-destructive access to the digitization of cultural heritage in compliance with the ISO/TR 19263-1:2017 and ISO/TS 19264-1:2017 standards, and the application of FADGI and Metamorfoze guidelines. There are several reasons for this claim. First of all, the adjustment of a photographic record using photo editing software liessolely with the subjective point of view of the person who edits the photographs, and the consistency of the results over a longer period is not relevant. This type of approach, apart from subjective perceptual errors, also includes any mistakes caused by the use of a digitization system (photographic equipment and monitor). Furthermore, any colour correction or exposure using photo editing software after generating a TIFF record is a destructive operation that irreversibly distorts the original record. Comparative results of colorimetric values measured during testing are an example of the drawbacks. The problem is not just the inability to produce an exact copy of the original, but also that digital records generated in this manner will significantly deviate in quality, a fact that is unacceptable when creating a digital database.
As the first premise of digitization of cultural heritage is to create a representation of the original object that is as accurate as possible, it is necessary for cultural institutions in the Republic of Croatia to adopt and implement current ISO standards and FADGI or Metamorfoze guidelines for the digitization of cultural heritage. This is the only way to reach the level of quality present for many years in most of the world’s archives and museums. It should be pointed out that this approach is more cost-effective because, by eliminating postproduction of digital records, the process becomes fully automated, which significantly reduces the time needed for digitization.
Keywords
digitization of cultural heritage; FADGI, Metamorfoze, ISO/TS 19264-1:2017; colour-management system
Hrčak ID:
218429
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2018.
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