Handling paper for flatbed scanning

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Handling paper for flatbed scanning in the Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection.

Photo: D.D.Teoli Jr.

I handle lots of paper in the Archive. Many hundreds of thousands of scans. When looking at scan jobs, I don't figure jobs by the number of scans, I figure them by how many feet of paper there is. A small job may be a foot or two. A big job may be 15 feet or more. Anyway, if you handle lots of paper as I do; work smart and wear exam gloves. They provide a multitude of benefits when handling paper.

Wearing exam gloves gives you the following benefits:

They keep finger and grease smudges off the scanner glass.

They stop your skin from dropping flakes of dead skin and debris on the scanner glass.

They give you a great grip on the paper both for placing and removing the paper from the scanner glass.

They keep the paper clean as well as your hands clean. If not using gloves, your hands can get dirty handling matte black ink or gritty paper. 

White cotton gloves do keep originals clean. But they don't give you the tactile sensitivity and purchase of the paper as the exam gloves do.

In the winter if your hands suffer from cracking and dry skin, the exam gloves help alleviate that problem. You can cream your hands up and put on your gloves to work.

 

 

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Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Advertising Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. VHS Video Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Popular Culture Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Audio Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Social Documentary Photography