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Why don't these photos to have color calibration targets?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/163309-REG/Kodak_1907...

And maybe some meta data about the camera and settings.

I don't recall any online collections using targets. Surely these curation and archivist domain experts record this stuff. I've casually asked a few times, but no leads.

My partner likes to create master copies. Portrait, still life.

I've ordered fine art prints of dozens of originals. Always frustrating. I just get one of every option (matte, gloss, each type of medium). And let my partner pick the one that seems to match most closely. (Then I give away the extras as 'just because' gifts, which people seem to like.)

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if you look at the terms and conditions for downloading, as with most museums, it's clear that they want to still sell prints and "licensing" images of any art they own

they definitely have color-calibrated images, but not for the public

edit: for those unaware, in the US, reproductions/photos of public domain 2D art are themselves public domain and not subject to copyright

We've definitely ordered prints directly. At best, they've been IKEA poster quality. Might as well just use Kinkos.

There's a modest niche opportunity for a high end print shop to just handle it. White label the service so museums can reskin, rebrand, integrate.

I pitched the notion to the two local shops I use (high end, preferred by artists). Build relations with some museums, create a simple e-commerce site. No interest. I get it; Print is a dying industry and the old farts are just holding on until retirement.

I'm happy to pay real money for real prints. I hate fussing with this stuff and being responsible for the results. While I wrote software for print production manufacturing, I never touched the color calibration stuff. I'm just not temperamentally suited for that kind of work.

FWIW, the best source of true color images, for doing master copies, have been art coffee books from the 80s and 90s. When the print industry was basically printing money, some publishers took quality seriously.

There's a modest niche opportunity for a high end print shop to just handle it.

Maybe, or maybe not. In my experience, a lot of print shops, especially the chains, won't touch paintings for fear of liability, copyright or otherwise.

I tried to get one of my wife's paintings scanned and printed in a major American city, in order to send the print to her mother for Christmas. I must have gone to at least 30 places over two or three months, and none of them would touch it because there was no way to prove ownership. They wouldn't take our word for it. Some wanted paperwork from a lawyer.

I ended up taking it to a friend who is an architect, and he had it done in his office.

You can request color calibrated TIFFs from the Rijksmuseum collection: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/research/image-requests

> FOR PROFESSIONAL USE

You can also request free high-res TIFF files with colour reference for professional use. To order TIFF files, please fill in the form below.

Nice. Hopefully this becomes the norm.

Just one anecdote: During a VIP tour of a museum, eg browsing the warehouse of stuff not on display, I asked about digital archiving. Blank looks. I'm guessing it's just not part of the curriculum for minting new archivists, curators, historians. I hope I'm wrong. Surely the younger cohorts know this stuff...?

Where do you get these printed? I've searched for places that will do high quality prints and generally have come up empty handed. Maybe it's just something that must be done locally?

Has anyone ever raised copyright concerns?

Start by finding someone who does "giclée printing". aka High end inkjet printers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giclée

We just tried all the local ones we could find. Then did repeat business with the one who was easiest to work with, did the best job.

I think you answered your own question.

Why don't these photos to have color calibration targets?

You should ask for your money back.

Heh.

More seriously, I first browsed the textile & inscription images, guessing they'd most likely have color targets.

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010000055

As you can see, they do have scales (of course).

I know nothing about archiving, archeology, history. I'm just guessing that color calibration would be crucial to their studies.

I think you can infer white balance from those scales. And because they're two toned, maybe some of the gamut too?

Not using a proper color target just seems like a missed opportunity.

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