Acquiring scans from Gallica/BNF

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kalliwoda
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Acquiring scans from Gallica/BNF

Post by kalliwoda »

I posted this first in a somewhat misleading topic...

There is a new somewhat hidden option on the gallica/BNF website, that allows to save medium-high resolution scans (150 dpi) that are much better than the horrible pdf-downloads (50-60 dpi):
Enter zoom mode (click the magnifying icon), then "select a part of the image for export" (the dashed rectangle icon).
Select the entire page - A pop-up window opens with 2 options, the second option is new:
Choose "Dans une résolution supérieure (format plus grand, meilleure lisibilité): Cliquez ici"
and the entire page opens in a new window, from which one can save a medium-high resolution jpg (ca.150dpi - l=5, vs l=6 for max resolution and l=3 for the pdf-downloads). These 150 dpi scans are very readable!
To change pages, it is not necessary to repeat these steps, simply change pages in the url bar from f1 to f2, f3...
The jpg's are at 72dpi with hugely bloated dimensions. I myself find it easiest to simply copy and paste each picture in Photoshop into a preset empty pdf with corrected page size (you can find the original page size in the gallica catalog info) and save.
All pages have to combined at the end into a multipage pdf file.

The higher resolution l=6 scans at max zoom cannot be accessed in their entirety, however they can be opened in four quartersize files, which have to be combined for each page.
Example: If the entire page at l=5 is 1816x2376 pixel, then at l=6 just the top left quadrant of the page opens (0,0,2376,1816).
The remaining quadrants can be accessed with (0,1816,2376,1816), (2376,0,2376,1816) and (2376,1816,2376,1816).
Copy and paste these 4 images into the corners of a preset pdf of 3632x4752 pixel, collapse layers (cropping optional) and save. Only if the margins of the original scans vary it may be necessary to manually move the parts to fit exactly together.

Took me about 2-3 min. per page for the La mer files - still lots of work! :wink:
coulonnus
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Re: Acquiring scans from Gallica/BNF

Post by coulonnus »

I would be happy to help research this, but could you please provide the exact composer/piece where to start from? Sometimes Gallica provides an excellent monochrome, high resolution scan, sometimes it provides a low resolution colour or greyscale scan.

Their Advanced Search with Title=La Mer, Document type=Score provides 11 results!
kalliwoda
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Re: Acquiring scans from Gallica/BNF

Post by kalliwoda »

Actually, these instructions/comments should apply to all scores displayed on gallica - its just a way to access the second highest (l=5, approx 1800x2400 pixel) and highest resolution (l=6, approx. 3500x4800 pixel) available on screen and save them to disk. I offered these instructions in the hope that other imslp contributors may use at least the l=5 scans to upload to imslp rather than unreadable l=3 pdf's (approx. 450x600 pixel), even if the direct download offer is much faster.

Another question is the resolution of the offered pdf-download, which is now apparently universally at l=3. I am under the impression, that newer scans from originals (color or greyscale) vary much with the size of the originals, and this size is stated in the record. There are however many greyscale scans from microfilm where the size information is missing. You can recognize them by the darkening corners... If the originals filmed were small and line thickness relatively large (see Telemann Der getreue Musikmeister or Albinoni Concerti a cinque Op.7) then a 450x600 pixel scan may still be somewhat readable, but it is hopeless for the 41x30cm manuscript score of Debussy La mer with lots of very small handwriting.
Still, only the higher resolutions could be used for performance, or converted to to a good monochrome scan (see the Albinoni Op.7 or Tulou Air varié Op.98 for examples).

Regarding the catalog search: Yes, there are 11 results for La mer, but only two have the title "La mer", and only one is bei Debussy.
What is nice to keep track of recent additions: if you do an advanced search for any score with "sort by descending online date" you get a complete list of available scores, starting with the most recent additions.
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Re: Acquiring scans from Gallica/BNF

Post by coulonnus »

Thany you for the work reference.
kalliwoda wrote:Actually, these instructions/comments should apply to all scores displayed on gallica
Well, it seems sometimes the Gallica staff is in better mood. :-) e.g. with Chaulieu, Charles, Les Pantins de la Marquise you can obtain a decent monochrome pdf.

Back to La Mer: perhaps some will find this more convenient: Click the magnifying glass icon to enter the Zoom section, click the similar icon with a "plus" sign several times to zoom on a small section. Click Image properties and you will obtain something like: http://gallica.bnf.fr/proxy?method=R&ar ... 92,256,256. Copy/paste this into your browser's field, and change the last four numbers into 0,0, 1000, 4000. You will see to the first top quarter of the image. But if you attempt to see a larger area you obtain this "Erreur 403: Autorisation d'accès à la ressource refusée" (even if you have selected "English").

Note that Gallica kindly offers you to order a printed copy or a high resolution scan. But not free!
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