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--- submission_guidelines [2013/07/17 17:02] – [Summary] englund
+++ submission_guidelines [2017/04/29 16:09] (current) – englund
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-New Name "Digitization Guidelines"
+======Submission Guidelines======
-==== Submissions ====
+===== Submissions =====
-The CDLI is a collaborative project with capture and text processing efforts underway in North America, Europe and the Middle East. We adhere to a policy of open access, making our data sets of text and images available over the internet to any user for free. We send scanning teams to collections whenever possible, but travel and personnel costs limit how much we can do. If you are a specialist who has created inscription annotations in the form of photos, hand copies, transcriptions or translations; the curator of a collection of cuneiform tablets; or even the owner of a single tablet, you can contribute materially to our mission by providing electronic catalogues, transliterations, and/or images of cuneiform artifacts that are not already in our collection. Not only will you help improve our understanding of Mesopotamian history and everyday life, but you'll also help preserve that knowledge for future generations.. We particularly encourage cuneiformists to monitor their own publications, to alert us of errors or omissions in CDLI files associated with their work, and to submit to us better or supplemental digital documentation on their own or on the publications of others in their possession.
+The [[http://cdli.ucla.edu|CDLI]] is a collaborative project with capture and text processing efforts underway in North America, Europe and the Middle East. We adhere to a policy of open access, making our data sets of text and images available over the internet to any user for free. We send scanning teams to collections whenever possible, but travel and personnel costs limit how much we can do. If you are a specialist who has created inscription annotations in the form of photos, hand copies, transcriptions or translations; the curator of a collection of cuneiform tablets; or even the owner of a single tablet, you can contribute materially to our mission by providing electronic catalogues, transliterations, and/or images of cuneiform artifacts that are not already in our collection. Not only will you help improve our understanding of Mesopotamian history and everyday life, but you'll also help preserve that knowledge for future generations.. We particularly encourage cuneiformists to monitor their own publications, to alert us of errors or omissions in CDLI files associated with their work, and to submit to us better or supplemental digital documentation on their own or on the publications of others in their possession.
-If you do decide to contribute your labor, please look over the following guidelines for scanning tablets and editing text hardcopies.  Scanning actual cuneiform tablets differs substantially from scanning printed pages; following these guidelines will protect your tablets, ensure high quality images, and simplify our posting the tablets on the CDLI website.
+If you do decide to contribute your labor, please look over the following guidelines for scanning tablets and editing text hardcopies. You might first consider whether a given artifact in your possession requires conservation to achieve best imaging results. The first stage in this process would be, image the artifact as best you can (see below), send these results to us or another center of cuneiform research for inspection, and if deemed critical for the preservation of the artifact, of for understanding the text or seal impression that is carries, then seek out expert conservation assistance. If you have a lab in the vicinity that has experience in ancient artifact conservation, they may be willing to take on this task for a nominal fee. Cornell Library does have a tablet conservation tutorial [[http://cuneiform.library.cornell.edu/about/facilities/tablet-conservation-process|here]]. Once in a conserved state, the artifacts should be (re-)imaged. Scanning actual cuneiform tablets differs substantially from scanning printed pages; following these guidelines will protect your tablets, ensure high quality images, and simplify our posting the tablets on the CDLI website.
 You can submit any image, raw or processed, to the CDLI at: cdli@ucla.edu. Please include in the email a brief description of the image(s), including (when appropriate) location, date and publication number.  For a very helpful introduction to important concepts in scanning, see [[http://www.scantips.com|Wayne Fulton's Scantips site]].
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 In this first chapter we will introduce the workflow for scanning one cuneiform document. This procedure applies for beginners to this method of imaging cuneiform texts as well as to larger clay tablets or other inscribed objects that generally need to be scanned separately. If the tablet exceeds a certain size, it is often necessary for imaging the edges to hold it with one hand; a certain degree of stability can be achieved by an additional support (as, e.g., a tablet box).
-(1) If at all possible, take the lid of the scanner completely off and place it far enough away that you are not tempted to use it. One of the most likely causes of tablet damage is the lid falling on the tablet while it sits on top of the scanner. If the lid is held on with screws, unscrew it and take it off. With some scanners it is not possible to remove the lid completely. In such cases it should be taken care of that the scanner is put on the table as even as possible.
+(1) If at all possible, take the lid of the scanner completely off and place it far enough away that you are not tempted to use it. One of the most likely causes of tablet damage is the lid falling on the tablet while it sits on top of the scanner. If the lid is held on with screws, unscrew it and take it off. With some scanners it is not possible to remove the lid completely. In such cases it should be taken care of that the scanner is put on the table as even as possible. (The scanner Canon CanoScan 5600F has a very stable scanner lid.)
-(2) Clean the surface of the scanner very well, "but do not use glass cleaner or other commerical cleaning products", since this can cause streaking on all subsequent images. The best way to clean the surface is to use a piece of lint-free cloth, and to blow off any dust or clay specks resulting from scanning with a can of compressed air, after each scan and often after placing the tablet on the scanner. Frequent cleaning will help prevent dust from accruing on the image, which will have to be removed during the editing stage. Also, be sure to regularly check for fingerprints or other smudges on the scanner bed using light coming in from an oblique angle. These smudges refract the laser beam used in the scanner, and can lower the quality of the image quite dramatically.
+(2) Clean the surface of the scanner very well, "but do not use glass cleaner or other commerical cleaning products", since this can cause streaking on all subsequent images. The best way to clean the surface is to use a piece of lint-free cloth or black felt, and to blow off any dust or clay specks resulting from scanning with a can of compressed air, after each scan and often after placing the tablet on the scanner. Frequent cleaning will help prevent dust from accruing on the image, which will have to be removed during the editing stage. Also, be sure to regularly check for fingerprints or other smudges on the scanner bed using light coming in from an oblique angle. These smudges refract the laser beam used in the scanner, and can lower the quality of the image quite dramatically.
 (3) Start your scanning software; this may be either a piece of software that came with the scanner or image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop with a plugin (consult the information that came with the scanner for information on attaching the scanner to the computer and installing scanning software). Set the scanner for 600 dpi color photograph; anything less than 600 dpi will not meet current archival image standards recommended for small archaeological artifacts. Moreover, aim for as "raw" a scan of the tablet as possible, leaving off all filters such as "descreen" or "sharpen". These kind of filters are not designed for the narrow range of color and texture of a clay tablet and do not produce good results. CDLI staff members are trained to edit such raw images and produce high quality, esthetically pleasing images, but the raw material of the original scan must be unaltered to do so.
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
   * BM105342_re.tif
-If you do not read cuneiform or cannot otherwise determine which surface is obverse or reverse, just be sure to scan all six surfaces and number them 1 through 6.
+If you do not read cuneiform or cannot otherwise determine which surface is obverse or reverse, just be sure to scan all six surfaces and number them 1 through 6. **Fig. 3** demonstrates the placing of the tablet after scanning the reverse.
-(8) Edges are difficult to scan due to the fact that tablets do not naturally rest on their edges and a tablet that is standing on its edge could be damaged if it falls over onto the surface of the scanner. So it is always best to prop up a tablet on its edge by some means available to you. Ideally, the supporting props employed should be black in color with a matte finish. These black props then disappear or can more easily be erased when producing the archival "fat cross" representation of tablets chosen by the CDLI ([[http://cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P005478.jpg|example]]). Under no circumstances, however, should a colored or textured background be allows to stand above the tablet so as to appear in the background of the tablet image (fig. 4).{{ :guidelines_scan_te.jpg?250|Fig. 4, Scanning the top edge with support}}
+<box 320px right>{{:guidelines_scan_r_te_copy.jpg?300|Fig. 3, Workflow after reverse}}</box|Fig. 3, Workflow after reverse>
+(8) Edges are difficult to scan due to the fact that tablets do not naturally rest on their edges and a tablet that is standing on its edge could be damaged if it falls over onto the surface of the scanner. So it is always best to prop up a tablet on its edge by some means available to you. Ideally, the supporting props employed should be black in color with a matte finish. These black props then disappear or can more easily be erased when producing the archival "fatcross" representation of tablets chosen by the CDLI ([[http://cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P005478.jpg|example]]). Under no circumstances, however, should a colored or textured background be allows to stand above the tablet so as to appear in the background of the tablet image (fig. 4).{{ :guidelines_scan_te.jpg?250|Fig. 4, Scanning the top edge with support}}
 (9) Keep your eyes on the surface of the scanner to detect the accumulation of dust and fingerprints (as noted above, careful placement of a tablet on the surface of the scanner often requires touching the surface of the scanner with the fingertips, so expect to clean up a lot of fingerprint smudges). Clear any tablets or props off the surface of the scanner, blow any dust or other particles off the surface and clean off any remaining fingerprints or smudges with a piece of lint-free cloth.
@@ Line 119: / Line 121: @@
 CDLI requires that its archival images be in a 24 bit RGB format (hence 8-bit channel), even if the image is black and white.
-=== Generating a fat cross in Adobe Photoshop ===
+=== Generating a fatcross in Adobe Photoshop ===
 The following workflow describes step-by-step, how to create the final representation of a tablet in the CDLI database based on images produced by a flatbed scanner.
@@ Line 160: / Line 162: @@
 '''Dust and Scratches Filter'''
 Similar to the Despeckle Filter, save that you can adjust the pixel radius and threshold of the filter.
+==== File Handling ====
+All archival and processed files are stored at UCLA with a full backup at the University of Oxford.
+===== Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) =====
+The camera domes developed and built at the University of Southampton, Electronics and Computer Science Department (ECS), produce 76 images, which correspond to the same number of daylight LEDs attached to the inner side of the dome. The capture software (RTIacquire) produces automatically the infrastructure for each object. If fully acquired by this imaging technology, a cuneiform tablet results into six directories each representing one face of the tablet (be, le, o, r, re, te). Each of these directories has the subsequent elements:
+  * assembly-files
+  * camsettings.txt
+  * finished-files
+  * jpeg-exports
+  * original-captures
+The text file (camsettings.txt) contains all information about the camera settings for the capture process, but also eventual cropping, which has been enabled before initiating the capture process. These crops are being used for the processing software (builder); they crops need to be manually set using the RTI-builder!
+The captures taken by the camera are automatically transferred to the folder "original-captures". While processing the images to a ptm-file these original-captures are duplicated and copied into the folder jpeg-exports. When shooting with RAW, the captures are converted to jpegs and copied there as well. After processing the final result (output.ptm) can be found in the folder "finished-files". Last but not least, the directory "assembly-files" contains a text file (capture.lp), which lists the X, Y, and Z coordinates of all 76 LEDs.
+When preparing files for upload and backup, it is important to note that the above file-structure should be used for each side of the captured object. In order to avoid the usage of too much storage-space the content of "jpeg-exports" should be deleted before upload.
+[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdln/php/single.php?id=54|Here are information on capturing RTI images with the camera dome]]\\
+[[http://cdli.ucla.edu/?q=rti-images|Here are samples of RTI images of cuneiform texts and cylinder seals]]\\
+=== Processing RTI captures ===
+There are several ways to process images taken by the camera dome to an output file (*.ptm). The easiest way is to use the "builder". Upon opening there appears a small window. By pressing on the button "Build" the respective face of a captured artefact needs to be chosen. The user needs to select the main folder itself and not its sub-directories. Depending on the computer memory the processing takes about 2-5 minutes, whose completion is indicated by a dialogue "Fitting completed". In contrast to the RTIbuilder offered by Cultural Heritage Imaging, the fitting software takes all necessary steps itself. It copies the images in the directory "original-captures" and creates a duplicate in "jpeg-exports". After that the ptm-fitter is used in combination with the coordinates of each light source saved in "generic.lp". The 76 light positions (lp) represent the coordinates on the X, Y, and Z axes and are derived from the original calibration of the camera dome. [This calibration is done by placing a glossy ball (e.g., a red or black snooker ball) in the dome reflecting the various lights. Due to the reflections on the glossy sphere the location of the light source within the hemispheric camera dome can be extrapolated. A similar approach is achieved using highlight RTI and therefore an ever changing set of light positions within each capture.] During the building process the lp-file is copied into the folder "assembly-files" and renamed: capture.lp.
+=== Processing RTI images for webviewer ===