ENHANCING DOWNLOADS FOR TRANSCRIBING

[MaidinEngland]

Hi

I have attached 2 documents from the internet from the archived Port Cities site.  Unfortunately I can't read them as when I try to enlarge them, they become more fuzzy.

Can anyone give me some simple advice on how to resolve this please.

Many thanks

[mckha489]

Can you please post a link

[Biggles50]

I use Adobe Photoshop and I would use a series of adjustments and filters to the images.

Brightness and contrast
Levels
Curves
Unsharp Mask

It is the unsharp mask that will sharpen the text.

The first three above would he used to lighten the background then apply more difference in the tonal qualities between the lightened background and the text.

The images need to be as large a resolution as possible.

There are free Photo Editing Apps available but they do take some learning

[Ray T]

I find that scanned images provided by the usual suspects can invariably be improved by a bit of tinkering as Biggles50 says but some are beyond help. This is usually because they have been scanned at too low a resolution or had too great a degree of compression applied. If this is the case, the only solution is to request a better scan.

Sometimes all that is required to make a bad scan readable is to “invert” the scan; i.e. convert it to negative (turn the blacks into whites and vice versa), but you’ll need specific software to do this.

[Kiltaglassan]

The two images (muster roll and witness statement) have been scanned at 96 dpi.

[ptdrifter]

Are you sure they are download files and not saved images from the webpage. Some websites display a low res file ,but have a download link to a high res one. I have sometimes mistakenly saved the low res image instead of downloading.

[MaidinEngland]

These are the links:

https://discoveringbristol.org.uk/browse/slavery/witness-statement/

https://discoveringbristol.org.uk/browse/slavery/muster-roll437/

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.  Sadly, I have virtually no technical skills when it comes to downloading and scanning.  I've actually surprised myself that I have got this far!

Probably sensible to invest in some scanning training and spending some time on this.  It is a great resource which sadly appears to be no longer maintained as some links no longer work.

I guess the Bristol archives should be able to advise further regarding the original documents.  A trip there might be my next step.

[Ray T]

The two images (muster roll and witness statement) have been scanned at 96 dpi.

96, or even 75, dpi is fine for viewing on a computer monitor, however, just as the o/p has found, if you try to enlarge them the quality/readability will deteriorate.

As a rule of thumb, 75-150 dpi is fine for viewing at full size on a computer screen whereas 300 is the optimum for photographic printing. If there is likely to be any need to view somthing at a larger size, you need to up these figures proportionately. Using a higher figure for printing simply wastes disk space. It is generally agreed that increasing resolution beyond 300 doesn’t give you a better image.

What we don’t know is the degree of compression. A perfectly acceptable image can be ruined by too much compression + modifying & re-saving a .jpg as a .jpg can also play havoc with quality.

[Bookbox]

I have attached 2 documents from the internet from the archived Port Cities site.  Unfortunately I can't read them as when I try to enlarge them, they become more fuzzy.

The Witness Statement is straightforward enough, but the Muster List less so. I don't think there is anything you can do it resolve it, because the image was scanned at too low a resolution.

Here is my reading of the Witness Statement:

I John Smith late Carpenter of the Ship
Alert of and belonging to the Port of Bristol, do
hereby certify that Henry Tripp entered on board the
said Ship sometime in the month of April One
thousand seven hundred and Eighty six on her
then intended Voyage to Anamaboe as chief Mate.
That on or about the Twentieth day of October
following, the said Ship then being at Anamaboe
aforesaid he the said Henry Tripp was sent in
company with another to Appolonia and on going
ashore at Appolonia aforesaid on a Canoe, the
said Canoe Overset[?] and he was thereby drowned, and
that the said Henry Tripp left behind him a Wife
and a Child aged five years, as he the said John
Smith verily believes. In witness whereof I have
hereunto set my hand and seal this first
day of September in the Year of our Lord One
thousand seven hundred and Eighty nine.

Sworn at the City of Bristol
this 1st of September 1789 before
me                               The mark of John X Smith
Tho: Harris
Alderman