Daguerreotype Glass Plate Scanning | Oxford UK
Archiving and Scanning Digitisation at Oxford Duplication Centre

Identifying and Preserving Daguerreotype Photos - Family
The introduction of the wet collodion process for making glass negatives by English sculptor Frederick Scott Archer in 1851 transformed the art of photography. It was a much faster and cheaper process, paper prints could be easily produced from the resulting glass plates, and details were rendered far more crisply than with daguerreotypes.
In 1854, James Ambrose Cutting of Boston took out several patents relating to the process, and thus may be responsible for coining the term "ambrotype." Ambrotypes are a particular application of the wet collodion process. Collodion - a mixture of “gun cotton” (a highly combustible material made by exposing cellulose to nitric acid), ether, and alcohol - was mixed with potassium iodide or bromide and poured evenly over the surface of the base material.
The plate was then soaked in silver nitrate solution, placed in a holder, exposed in a camera, and developed, all while still wet. To make the image appear positive the plate was backed by a black material, either cloth, paper, metal, or paint. As finishing steps, ambrotypes, similar to daguerreotypes, were often hand-colored and put in decorative cases. Ambrotypes are distinguishable from daguerreotypes by the silvery, reflective quality of the latter’s image
Professional Photographic Film Scanning Solutions Corporate, Heritage and Consumer Photographic Film Scanning Solutions All plates, medium format and sheet film/X-ray are scanned to their respective dpi (900-2400dpi) unless clients have a preferred requirement. Output is to National Archive Standards TIFF with Adobe post production tone and sharpening applied. CONTACT cheryl@oxfordduplicationcentre.com TEL: 01865 457000 |
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SIZE (INCHES) | SIZE (MM) | GLASS PLATES | 1 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 5000 |
3¼ × 3¼ | 83 x 83 | lantern slides | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
3¼ × 4¼ | 83 × 108 | "quarter-plate" | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
4¾ × 6½ | 120 × 165 | "half-plate" glass plates | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
6½ × 8½ | 216 × 165 | "full-plate" glass plates | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
SIZE (INCHES) | SIZE (MM) | TINTYPES | 1 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 5000 |
15/8 × 21/8 | 41 × 57 | "sixteenth-plate" tintypes | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
2 × 2½ | 51 × 64 | "ninth-plate" tintypes | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
2½ × 3½ | 64 × 89 | "sixth-plate" tintypes | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
31/8 × 41/8 | 79 × 105 | "quarter-plate" tintypes | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
4½ × 5½ | 114 × 140 | "half-plate" tintypes | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
6½ × 8½ | 216 × 165 | "full-plate" tintypes | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
SIZE (INCHES) | SIZE (MM) | MEDIUM FORMAT FILM | 1 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 5000 |
2.36 x 1.77 | 60 x 45 | 120 film 6 x 4.5 | 4.00 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 0.75 |
2.36 x 2.36 | 60 x 60 | 120 film 6 x 6 | 4.00 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 0.75 |
2.36 x 2.75 | 60 x 70 | 120 film 6 x 7 | 4.00 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 0.75 |
2.36 x 3.54 | 60 x 90 | 120 film 6 x 9 | 4.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 1.00 |
2.36 x 6.70 | 60 x 170 | 120 panoramic film 6 x 17 | 5.00 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 | 1.25 |
SIZE (INCHES) | SIZE (MM) | SHEET FILM | 1 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 5000 |
4 × 5 | 102 × 127 | sheet film | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
5 × 7 | 127 × 178 | sheet film | 5.50 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 1.50 |
4 × 10 | 102 × 254 | sheet film | 6.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 | 1.75 |
8 × 10 | 203 × 254 | sheet film | 6.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
7 × 17 | 178 × 432 | sheet film | 7.00 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
11 × 14 | 279 × 356 | sheet film | 7.00 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 | 2.25 |
8 × 20 | 203 × 508 | sheet film | 7.50 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.50 |
12 × 20 | 305 × 508 | sheet film | 8.00 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 |
14 × 17 | 356 × 417 | sheet film | 8.00 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 | 2.75 |
16 × 20 | 406 × 508 | sheet film | 8.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.25 | 3.00 |
20 × 24 | 508 × 610 | sheet film | 9.00 | 4.50 | 4.25 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.25 |
OUR SERVICES WITHIN CONSUMER, CORPORATE & HERITAGE SCANNING
Standard Slide and Negative Strips
Our standard slide and negative strip scanning is very popular with consumer clients. With resolutions perfect for HD viewing these scan be scanned and preserved using our cloud server or onto USB, DVD or your own cloud.Non Standard Slide and Negative Strips
Our non standard slide and negative strip scanning is perfect for corporate, archive companies and consumer clients that batch small to large batches of slides. These formats require more specialist handling. With 3D stereo slides we would usually only scan one side unless advised.Medium Format Film Conversion to TIFF or JPEG
Our medium and large format film scanning starts anywhere between 3.8 x 3.8cm upto large format 4 x 5". To include oversize negative scanning of glass plate and lantern slides and X-Ray scanning solutions.Glass Plate Negative Scanning
We are specialists the conversion of glass plate negatives. These stunning slides are fragile and require gentle handling and cleaning. Our equipment is perfect for this conversion ready for you to access the digital files.Photograph Scanning
Our scanning services are fully supportive of converting photographs upto oversize A3 and beyond. Working with private clients, artists and archive centres we convert into your chosen digital files ready for easy access.Document & Diary Scanning
Our company can provide superb options for document scanning upto oversize A3. Working with many companies in and around Oxfordshire we provide solutions for archiving all your paperwork into digital media.