scanning & processing 78 RPM record labels
Posted: 03 Jan 2019, 17:36
Hello. In mid-2017, I built Jonathan Duerig's Archivist Quill Scanner. At the time I was very focused on digitizing a high school yearbook for a 50-year reunion. I was on a strict deadline, and I sort of forced my way through the project, but the results were very good. I moved on to other (non-scanning) projects in the interim, but I am about to begin scanning again. I have a collection of about 1,000 78 RPM records that I inherited. I intend to digitize some of those. I first want to check with the collections at archive.org - no point in spending my time if there is a high-quality digital copy of the identical recording already available for download. I want to use the book scanner to help me check for existing copies by first scanning and (hopefully) digitizing the label information, so that I can produce a formatted list to compare to what is listed at archive.org. The discs are all black in color, and fairly reflective. Most of the labels are dark in color, with lighter type. Obviously, I am really only interested in capturing the circular label area in the center of the disc. There is some very small "circular" type around the label circumference on some of the labels, but I am only interested in processing the "linear" content. I'm not quite certain how unique these characteristics are in terms of scanning projects. I'm looking for advice on what obstacles I might encounter in the scanning effort, and any suggestions on post-processing software, or steps that might save me time. Thanks!