ManuCapture is a free, open-source software application designed, developped and used by Factum, between 2018 and 2021, to work with all of our camera-based book and manuscript recording systems. It had several features that make it a user-friendly and straightforward application, which also adhered to international metadata standards.

These included: 

• dual camera live view for camera alignment;
• editable page sequence (allows the user to repeat, add or delete images from a sequence);
• storage of JPG, RAW and TIFF image formats for long-term preservation (AIP). For reference, a 100TB storage can store up to 767,500 individual pages in RAW, TIFF and JPG.

The software was conceived for a two-camera system similar to the Replica 360 Recto/Verso system designed for ARCHiVe and the Portable Book Scanner that was custom-made to record fragile manuscripts in Dagestan. It was compatible with over 240 different camera models, and with any camera setup using GPhoto or similar commands, and could be configured for continuous light source or for flash-to-camera flash synchronisation. ManuCapture used an Arduino-based trigger board to synchronize dual-camera image capture, as well as for image preview, storage processes, and to support multiple shutter configurations.

The user interface was optimised for ‘one-click’ actions (with either mouse or via touch screens) for performing useful tasks such as dual-page preview, zoom, recording queue and page crop editing - more in-depth tasks require the additional usage of a photo editing software, such as Adobe Lightroom.

The software integrated a set of important open-source tools supported by a wide community of users and developers, including GPhoto2 for camera control, Processing/Java for the user interface, raw image processing software such as Rawtherapee, ImageMagick and DCRAW, and standards-based archiving with ICA-ATOM.

Typical setup: 2 Canon DSLR cameras, either 5D (24mpx) or 5DSr (50mpx). The lenses affixed to these are Canon brand of varying focal length (mainly 50mm or 35mm since these provide minimal optical distortion). A 50mpx sensor on a 5DSR using a 50/1.4 lens records 34mpx of detail onto a 50mpx sensor (according to DxO’s Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) graphs of various Canon and Sigma lenses). 

Note: ManuCapture was purpose-built between 2018 and 2021 to address specific requirements. It is now officially discontinued and no longer under active development or support. Nevertheless, should the software remain useful for any particular application, individuals or organisations can access its repository by clicking on this link. It's important to note that as the software is no longer receiving ongoing maintenance, any utilisation or alterations may necessitate technical proficiency and a thoughtful evaluation of potential security and compatibility concerns.

The guidelines in this example of a double page spreade have not been positioned correctly. In this case, all the user needs to do is click on the double page that needs to be replaced, click the Repeat option on the right and take a new picture. © Factum Foundation

This is the corrected double page spread, which replaces the previous image. As you can see, the guidelines are positioned much closer to the edges of the manuscript. © Factum Foundation

For more information on ManuCapture and our archive recording projects contact info@factumfoundation.org.

The design and development of the ManuCapture software was led by Enrique Esteban. The software was developed by several contributors and supported by Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation.