Re-digitization

This article explains the general term, specifically for digital reproductions of print media see retro digitization .

Under Redigitization refers to making a copy of a digital medium via a conventional analog signal. A digital-to-analog conversion is therefore carried out first in order to then digitize the analog signal again . This method is used in situations in which the digital content cannot be freely accessed (e.g. due to copy protection ) or when a subjectively better result can be achieved as a result. This can be the case, for example, with extreme enlargements of images for printing on large formats. This is mainly due to the fact that in this special case better interpolation is possible using optical methods than using digital calculations.

More often, however, it happens that an already printed medium (image) needs to be reproduced in whole or in part. If the original digital print data is not available, the medium (print film or paper) has to be re-digitized, as the prepress stage is now computer-aided. In most cases, however, a loss of quality must be accepted when re-digitizing.