Photographic Reproduction

Photographic Reproduction Policies

All materials must remain within the library.

Patrons may photocopy photographs, but may not photograph or scan collections from the Boulder Historical Society. Patrons may photograph the City of Boulder collections 511 and 780 as well as the collection of photographs on the Boulder Assessor’s cards.

Scanning services are provided by the library. You may order photographs using the Photograph Reproduction Order Form. Photographs may be reproduced as scans that are emailed to the patron or scans that are burned on a CD. Regular digital scans are available as jpegs or tiffs at 600 dpi. Custom scans larger than 600dpi TIF or JPG are available at $25 per scan.
Digital Prices:

Scan and email per photo $10.00 (one photo per scan)
Scan, burn CD and case $14.00 (CD must be provided by Library)

This service is available wholly at the discretion of the staff, who has determined the charges and any use fees, etc. These are not negotiable.

Orders will be ready by 3:00 pm, one week from the order date. Rush orders will be charged double and completed by 3pm of the 3rd business (M-F) day. Please allow 2 weeks for orders of 5-10 photos; 3 weeks for 11-20 photos. Larger orders will be negotiated at time of order. All orders must be paid in advance. All sales are final. The library is not responsible for any orders left longer than 90 days.

Due to staffing limitations, the Carnegie will scan and email 600 dpi JPEG files. Due to file sizes, it is not possible to email high-resolution image files. We will scan and burn 600 dpi TIFF files. If you wish, you can later save these images in a different format (change a TIFF to a JPEG) or save at a lower resolution.

A complimentary copy of any book or film made using photographs from the Carnegie Branch Library may be requested by the library staff if it meets our collection policy.

Photo Formats Explained helps patrons better understand the process and types of scanning that we provide.

Any of our Boulder History Museum and most Carnegie Branch Library photographs being placed on websites must have the accompanying Carnegie Branch Library for Local History digital watermark.

Our largest photograph collection was placed on permanent loan to the Carnegie Branch Library by the Boulder History Museum. As part of fund raising efforts by this non-profit organization, a use fee is charged for any commercial use on a photograph from their collection. This use fee is determined by the Boulder Historical Society and is paid to them, but mailed to us. This fee has been set by the Board of the Boulder Historical Society and is not negotiable.

Download the Photograph Reproduction Order Form [PDF]

Print out and complete this form when ordering your photo. Please note service fees and mailing fees that may apply to your order. Mail or fax it to the Carnegie Library along with a check for the reproduction of the photograph. If you have questions on how to fill out the form, please call or email us at hallw@boulder.lib.co.us.

Download Boulder Historical Society/Boulder History Museum Use Fee Form [PDF]

Choosing a Resolution (dpi) and Format (jpeg or tiff)

Resolution is expressed in dots per inch (dpi) which refers to the number of dots (pixels) found in every inch of an image.

Typical recommended file sizes:

For use on a WEB PAGE 72 dpi JPEG (It must have a watermark.)
For printing on a PHOTO PRINTER 150-200 dpi JPEG or TIFF
For use by a COMMERCIAL PRINTER 200-300 dpi TIFF
All LINEART (maps, written words) to 1,200 dpi JPEG or TIFF be used for any purpose

JPEG files are "compressed" (less information or detail) and much smaller than TIFF files. The most important fact to know about the difference between these two formats is that every time you alter (change contrast, crop, etc.) and save a JPEG file in your photo editing program, the picture quality degrades. But, the solution to this degradation problem is easy. When you save a JPEG photo to your computer or a CD, save it as a TIFF file, and do your editing. When you are done editing, you can then save it as a JPEG file.