printing/developing microfiche cards

[LWC82PE]

after haveing a little read in this topic i thought it might be good place to ask this.

i have some suzuki microfiche cards i want printed off or developed somehow.

all i want is for each diagram and parts numbers to fit onto A4 sheets of paper.

ive searched around everyhere, rang photo/film shops, tryed libraries etc with no real success and everone giveing a lead to some place else that couldnt end up helping.

the only success i had so far was the State library who said they can transfer each card to CD but the cost was out of this world. i think it was going to cost $10 to convert each image into a format for CD and then another $5 to burn the image to CD. i think it was going to cost me over $1000 a card!!!!!

they also said they could print them for me but that was still going to cost about $250-$500 per card

its not that hard to find places or bike dealers with Microfiche readers but not many people have the printers.

so at this stage if i can just get them printed some how then i can scan the pages into JPEGs and get them on CD myslelf.

the images are in negative form so need to be swaped round so its black text on white backround.

is there anyone one with the knowledge on this hi tech stuff and has any fancy old skool microfiche/computer hardware and can either transfer the microfiche cards to CD's for me at a reasonable price or can simply print off each page and im willing to pay for paper and for some of your time to do it. the 2 main cards i desperatly want printed or put on CD's are brand new so no cleaning up of images would be required.
any one work at a dealer who could do this for me maybe?

can anyone help me with this??

Thanks

[Lozza]

Unfortunately it doesn't work well now but at work we had such a printer(fische to A4).Ask any Telstra blokes you see around to find out if the fishe printer still works at their depot(if they have a depot).
HTH

[Hoony]

LWC, check out the trading Post and Ebay. i bought a Microfiche reader for $40 15 years ago and for every bike i get the fiche to suit from a dealer (they are cheap to buy last one i got was $5 new i think, some dealers give them away as they have 2 copies for lod models). they should be nearly worthless technology now so see how you go.

i know you would rather the printed copies but this is a cheaper alternative.

[vmx42]

Hi LWC,
you need to find a mate with a high quality flat bed scanner. If you can find one with sufficient optical resolution, its a simple task to scan the microfiche and invert the scan [turn the black bits to white and the white bits to black].

The simpliest way to tell if the scanner is adequate is to try it. You will end up with a very large file [if it is too large for your computer then do it in smaller sections] and then you simply copy each page into a separate file and save in your preferred format.

the key is getting the right scanner. Ask your mates.
Good luck
VMX42

[LWC82PE]

i guess getting buying the equipment my self could be an option i didnt think of

[Tony T]

Good thought Jeff.
I've got a Canon one in the cupboard that I used to scan slides on. I haven't used it in a couple of years but it still should work fine.
It's supposed to scan to something silly like 3200 dpi so it may be a possibility. And just round the corner too. 
I'm laid up crook for a couple if days at least, but give me a ring or pm later in the week and I'll drag it out and give it a try.

[LWC82PE]

yep no worries i just gotta find the time. things are getting hectic!

[Tony T]

It's not going anywhere, so when you're ready, let me know.

[LWC82PE]

oh i totally forgot i got Andy at Strength to try scanning them for me but it didnt work, but i dont know if a really really good hi res scanner would be any better?. i cant believe i forgot that we tryed that!

[Tony T]

It would probably be expensive, but if you could find someone with a darkroom and good quality enlarger, you could probably do something with that.

[GMC]

Scanning may work with a high res scanner, but not just any old scanner. A microfiche is similar to a neg. or slide so try a scanner with a back light attachment for doing slides, or was that what you tried already?

[LWC82PE]

i reckon what we tried was just a normal scanner but we sat there for 10 or 15 mins for it to scan but it was no good. ive been told by a few people you can take it to a photo shop and they can get it on CD no problems, so i will go back to basics and actually go into a photo shop and try that. sometimes the people you get on the phone have no idea.

[mboddy]

ive been told by a few people you can take it to a photo shop and they can get it on CD no problems

How did this turn out?
What resolution did they scan at?

I have used a film scanner at 4000dpi and they turned out very well but I had to cut the fiche to get it into the slide holder.

[LWC82PE]

i sort of came to a dead end on this, plus i havent had time to do any more on it. ive got a week off in 2 weeks so i might go the option of the state library, i really dont know yet, i know i want to work on my bikes that week.

[Tony T]

Good thought Jeff.
I've got a Canon one in the cupboard that I used to scan slides on. I haven't used it in a couple of years but it still should work fine.
It's supposed to scan to something silly like 3200 dpi so it may be a possibility. And just round the corner too.