Written by: Chi-Gwong Cheung, National Palace Museum Department of Antiquities
Many programs of MCN 2008 Conference have been sponsored or planned by MCN Special Interest Group (SIG). “Update on ImageMuse and UPDIG,” for one thing, was put together by Digital Media SIG (DM SIG).
This symposium was chaired by Alan Newman (see Figure 1), who headed the image digitization and visual department of National Gallery of Art. In 2004 he was invited by the National Palace Museum to participate in “Museum Digitization International Symposium – Antiquities, Paintings and Calligraphies” as an authority in museum image digitization. The primary purpose of this symposium was to keep participants abreast current development and future planning of ImageMuse, a professional organization for museum image digitization and publication, and Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines (UPDIG).
Figure 1: "Update on ImageMuse and UPDIG" Symposium Chair Alan Newman
Made up of professionals who are interested in museum image digitization and publication, ImageMuse is dedicated to preparation of user’s manual for production and use of digital files generated for the purpose of duplication. Following is a list of museums (in alphabetical order) in which ImageMuse members assume professional positions, but the museums are not official members of ImageMuse:
Art Institute of Chicago
Boston MFA
British Museum
Brooklyn Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University
Guggenheim Museum
Harvard University Art Museums
J. Paul Getty Museum
LACMA
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
MOMA
National Gallery, London
National Gallery of Art (US)
National Gallery of Canada
Seattle Art Museum
Tate
UC Berkeley Art Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
Yale Art Gallery
In 2007 ImageMuse formulated the UPDIG for museums: Fine Art Reproduction — What Museums Need. This user’s manual explains where a museum needs to be attentive to in digitizing duplicate-level images. The content of the manual includes: image digitizing work process, image file transmission and image file format requirement, which is listed as follows:
| Please provide the image file according to the following format requirement: | |
Resolution |
400 pixels per inch |
SIZE |
12 inches in length |
Bit-Depth |
8 bits |
Color Space |
Adobe RGB (1998) |
File Format |
TIFF file or high-quality JPEG file |
ICC Profile |
Embedded |
Alan Newman also described the tasks of ImageMuse planned for 2008-2009, including three dimensions: research and survey, communication and implementation. One of the missions is to test and evaluate “Offset Printing Standard GRACoL 2007.” Incidentally, what I introduced during the poster presentation happened to be achievement of similar project. The difference is that the case in my presentation is about the accomplishment of National Palace Museum in image digitization using the Offset Printing Standard ISO12647-2 (see Figure 2). Generally speaking, GRACoL2007 is more frequently employed in the US while ISO12647-2 is more popular is Europe. Currently Taiwan is more inclined to ISO12647-2. Whatever standard we follow, the purpose is to attain high-quality printing.
Figure 2: Offset Printing Standard ISO12647-2 Case Study Paper Poster (Click to enlarge the area for viewing)
The UPDIG Coalition is an international non-profit organization. Contributions to its guidelines come from digital photographic technology experts, scholars, enterprises and manufacturers – those who are highly interested in image digitization, who are committed to promotion of a guideline for commercial application of digital photos. UPDIG Coalition members include many renowned photographers’ societies or associations. The only member in Asia, however, is HKIPP. The updated version, the fourth edition, of this guideline was published in 2008. Current revision divides the guideline into four parts: UPDIG Universal Quickguide v4.0, UPDIG Photographers Guidelines v4.0, UPDIG Image Receivers Guidelines v4.0 and UPDIG Interactive Guideline Generator (beta). The Quickguide offers expedient reference for those who are involved in photographic digitization. The Photographers Guidelines is for photographers. The Image Receivers Guidelines is for workers who receive and use photographs. The Interactive Guideline Generator (beta) is for institutional or organizational executives who are in charge of photographic digitization planning. It exists in the form of a Q&A webpage, which after you make all your selections can generate photographic digitization guideline documents and recommendations that are suitable for your unique situation.
Following my attendance in this symposium, I suggest that the TELDAP Program Office consider joining UPDIG Coalition Member Groups under the program title TELDAP and translate the guideline into Chinese. If all TELDAP members follow this guideline in their photographic digitization work, the photographic quality of all digital archives and applications, I believe, will be guaranteed. Further, I would also suggest that the National Palace Museum and other local museums become members of ImageMuse. Membership in ImageMuse can help them enhance their international exposure and take part in related research projects to improve their professional expertise.
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