IN Harmony Sheet Music Scanning Guidelines

Indiana Historical Society

1-9-2006

Equipment setup and reminders

Support contact: inharmony-support@dlib.indiana.edu

Be sure to calibrate the scanner and monitor every month to ensure consistent
color reproduction and to embed the ICC color profile when saving the scans.
Do not make any adjustments in size, color, cropping, or spotting in Photoshop!
Save all files as uncompressed TIFFS.
Fill out the scanning log as you go to ensure accuracy.

Handling Guidelines
1. Use both hands to ensure you do not crease the pages.
2. Handle via the borders to minimize the amount of ink you get on your
hands.
3. Only fold pages their normal direction – don’t fold them backwards to get a
single page on the scanner platen.
4. Be sure to keep the work area and the scanner glass clean of the inevitable
small bits of paper that will come off from handling. Inspect the scanner bed
each time before placing the page on it.

Preparation and Settings

1. Turn on the Epson Expression 10000XL scanner and log into the computer
running it. Open the following applications and files:
• Sheet music scan log
• Photoshop CS
2. Open Photoshop and Import Epson (Silverfast IT8)
3. In Silverfast, you only need to check two settings:
• Frame tab -> Setting: Sheet Music Color (or Sheet Music Grayscale if
you are scanning a page that is not a cover, and has no color in the
printing.)
• Double check the resolution is set to 400 dpi.

The settings should show the frame, general, auto, CMS, and Special tabs to
appear as follows. (these were setup during the partner visit, so this is for your
information just to be sure)
File Naming
1. Determine the filename for the item and pages you have.
• If a copy number is not listed, use "01". Add a leading zero when
necessary. Ignore the printed page numbers and number images
sequentially starting from 1. Skip pages that are completely blank. It is
essential to mark one "x" on the spreadsheet in the "blank page after"
box for each blank page following a scanned one.
• Be sure that the file naming does not contain any spaces or characters
other than the dash and underscore. The period is reserved for before
the file append only.
• The Indiana Historical Society naming schema is as follows:

ihs-SHMU_01_01-01-01.tif

ihs- is the institution code followed by a dash

SHMU_(BOX)01_(FOLDER)01- is the IHS’s ID name followed by a dash
01- is the copy number followed by a dash
 01.tif is the page number of the scan followed by .tif to identify the file
type

Scanning Directions
1. When you place the item on the scanner platen, you can position it against the
top edge to make sure that it is straight.
2. Color:
• Switch back and forth between color and grayscale scanning in Silverfast
by choosing "Sheet Music Grayscale" or "Sheet Music Color" from the
Settings box on the Frame tab. Don’t use the Scan Type box to make this
change so all of your settings will remain the same for the IN Harmony
project .
• Scan pages printed in color in 24-bit color. This includes the first page of
every piece regardless of how it is printed, back covers printed with any
color, and any internal pages with colored printing or annotations making
meaningful use of color.
• Scan all internal musical notation pages in 8-bit grayscale, unless they are
printed with colored ink or contain meaningful color information.
• If you're unsure whether to scan in color or grayscale, ask. Generally we'll
err on the side of capturing rather than excluding color.
3. Page size:
• Each page in a single item will be scanned with the exact same pixel
dimensions.
• To determine these pixel dimensions, place the cover on the scanner
platen as straight as you can get it. An internal page may need to the first
scan if there is margin information that you wish to include, so a glance
through the piece may save you time later.
• Pre-scan the cover or the largest area in the piece.
• Adjust the bounding box so that it is just slightly larger than the item,
leaving a small border around the piece you are scanning.
• For all subsequent pages in this item, simply move the bounding box—
don’t resize it. This means each page will need to be very straight on the
scanner bed.
4. Levels Adjustments

• Click the button to open up the histogram dialogue. Move the white
triangle to the left until it is on the edge of the information shown on the
graph. Make sure that the bounding box includes a small border around
the piece you are scanning, so the white value registers in the
background.
• Look at the preview and decide if there is a true black in the actual piece.
If there is, move the black triangle to the right until it is on the edge of the
information that is represented in the black. If it doesn’t have a true black,
move the black triangle to the right until the preview scan looks true to the
original.
 • If the image is being scanned in grayscale, move both the black and the
white triangles to the edge of the information represented on the graph.
• Your best judgment will be required for the color, midtone, and grey
balances.

5. After each page is pre-scanned, properly positioned and balanced, click

"Scan".
6. After you hit scan, a dialogue box will appear asking you where you would like
to save the image.
• Make sure you're in the correct folder
* File name: as determined earlier
* Format: TIFF (*.TIF;*.TIFF)
*Embed the ICC color or grey profile in the scan
*No compression
*Save in the PC byte order

7. In the Scan Log spreadsheet, make sure you are on the right tab. If you need
to make a new worksheet for a new box, put it in numerical order relative to the
other tabs. Record the information requested.
• Date: today's date
• Filename: as determined earlier, without the .tif extension
• Title: from the cover of the music
• Call number or Institution ID, if using.
• Image height & width: In Photoshop, choose Image -> Image Size. This
will give you the pixel dimensions of the page. Record this number in
pixels on the spreadsheet. You'll only need to do this for the first page of
each piece of music. For all subsequent pages, where you did not move
the Silverfast bounding box, you can assume these dimensions are the
same as the last page scanned.
• File size (MB): from the info bar at the bottom of the Photoshop window.
• Username: who was doing the scanning
• Blank page after?: Type one x in this cell for each blank page following
this image that you did not scan. This is VERY important and will help the
cataloger.
• Notes: record anything out of the ordinary here
8. Repeat these steps for all of the pages in each piece!

9. Send your batches for quality control! (please keep individual batches under
750MB in size to avoid connection errors and upload problems)