facsimile

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The process by which a document is scanned and converted into electrical signals which are transmitted over a communications channel and recorded on a printed page or displayed on a computer screen. The scanner may be compared with a camcorder, and the recorder is similar to an office copier or a computer printer. As an alternative to scanning, a document stored in computer memory can be transmitted. As an alternative to recording, a text facsimile (fax) image can be captured in computer memory and converted into computer-processable text by optical character recognition (OCR) software. Telephone lines or satellites provide the communication channel.

Most facsimile units communicate over the Public Switched Telephone Network, alternatively called the General Switched Telephone Network. A built-in high-speed digital modem automatically selects the highest modem speed (28,800–2400 bits/s) common to both facsimile units. If the telephone-line quality is not good enough for this transmission speed, a lower speed is negotiated during initialization. See also Modem.

In the scanning process, an image of the original page is formed by a lens in a way similar to that of an ordinary camera. A charge-coupled-device linear array of small photodiodes is substituted in the facsimile scanner for the camera film. The portion of the image falling on the linear diode array is a thin line, 0.005 in. (0.13 mm) high, across the top of the page being transmitted. Typically, 1728 diodes are used to view this line for a page 8½ in. (216 mm) wide. The photodiode corresponding to the left edge of the page is first checked to determine whether the very small portion of the image it detects is white (the paper background) or black (a mark). The spot detected by a single photodiode is called a picture element (a pel for short if it is recorded as either black or white, or a pixel if a gray scale is used). Each of the 1728 diodes is checked in sequence, to read across the page. Then the original page is stepped the height of this thin line, and the next line is read. The step-and-read process repeats until the whole page has been scanned. See also Camera; Charge-coupled devices; Photodiode.

Another class of flatbed scanner uses a contact image sensor linear array of photodiodes whose width is the same as the scanned width. One version has a linear array of fiber-optics rod lenses between the page being scanned and the sensor array. Light from a fluorescent lamp or a linear light-emitting-diode array illuminates the document beneath the rod lenses. The reflected light picked up by the sensor generates a signal that is proportional to the brightness of the spot being scanned. A second version has a hole in the center of each square pixel sensor element. Light from a light-emitting diode passes through this hole to illuminate the area of the document page at this pixel. No lenses or other optical parts are used. See also Fiber-optics imaging; Light curves.

In drum-type scanning, the original sheet of paper is mounted on a drum that rotates while the scan head with a photosensor moves sideways the width of one scanning line for each turn of the drum. Drum-type scanners are used mainly for remote publishing facsimiles and for color scanning in graphic arts systems.

In the recording process, facsimile signals are converted into a copy of the original. Facsimile receivers commonly print pages as they are received, but in an alternative arrangement pages may be stored and viewed on a computer screen.

noun

Something closely resembling another: carbon copy, copy, duplicate, image, likeness, reduplication, replica, replication, reproduction, simulacrum. Archaic simulacre. Law counterpart. See same/different/compare.

Definition: reproduction
Antonyms: original

Ballet in one act with choreography by Robbins, music by Bernstein, set by Oliver Smith, and costumes by Sharaff. Premiered 24 Oct. 1946 by Ballet Theater at Broadway Theater, New York, with Kaye, Robbins, and Kriza. This study of social mores is centred around a love triangle between a woman and two men on a beach.

An exact replica of a document that is copied so as to preserve all its original marks and notations.

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A true copy that preserves all the markings and contents of the original.

• Data Transmission - facsimile: method or device for reproducing graphic material in permanent form and transmitting it over telephone line; fax; phototelegraphy
• Falsehood, Pretense, and Exaggeration - facsimile: exact copy or forgery

This article is about copies of historical documents. For the telecommunications technology, see Fax.

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, a famous illuminated manuscript, is on view to both the public and to scholars only in the form of a high-quality facsimile

A facsimile (from Latin fac simile, "make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale, color, condition, and other material qualities. For books and manuscripts, this also entails a complete copy of all pages; hence an incomplete copy is a "partial facsimile". Facsimiles are used, for example, by scholars to research a source that they do not have access to otherwise and by museums and archives for museum and media preservation. Many are sold commercially,^[1] often accompanied by a volume of commentary. They may be produced in limited editions, typically of 500–2,000 copies, and cost the equivalent of a few thousand United States dollars.

Facsimiles in the age of mechanical reproduction

Advances in the art of facsimile are closely related to advances in printmaking. Maps, for instance, were the focus of early explorations in making facsimiles, although these examples often lack the rigidity to the original source that is now expected.^[2] An early example being the Abraham Ortelius map (1598).^[2] Innovations during the 18th century, especially in the realms of lithography and aquatint saw an explosion in the number of facsimiles after old master drawings that could be studied from afar.^[3]

Facsimile of Edgar Allan Poe's original manuscript for The Murders in the Rue Morgue

At the present time, facsimiles are generally made by the use of some form of photographic technique. For documents, a facsimile is most often referring to document reproduction by a photocopy machine in modern times. In past times a technique such as the photostat, hectograph, or lithograph may have been used to create the facsimile. And in the digital age, an image scanner, a personal computer, and a desktop printer can be used to make a facsimile.

Facsimiles and conservation

Important illuminated manuscripts like Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry are not only on display to the public as facsimiles, but now even scholars^[4] may only consult high-quality copies.^[5] However, unlike normal book reproduction processes, facsimiles remain truer to the original colors—which is especially important for illuminated manuscripts—as well as defects.^[6]

Facsimiles are best suited to printed or hand-written documents, and not to items such as three dimensional objects or oil paintings with unique surface texture.^[7] Reproductions of those latter objects are often referred to as replicas.

References

1. ^ Facsimile Editions, Publishers, London
2. ^ ^{a b} C. Koeman, "An Increase in Facsimile Reprints," Imago Mundi, vol. 18 (1964), pp. 87-88.
3. ^ Craig Hartley, "Aquatint," The Oxford Companion to Western Art, ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001; Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, 2005. [accessed 20 April 2008].
4. ^ Public institutions with facsimile collections
5. ^ Paul Lewis, "Preservation takes rare manuscripts from the public," New York Times - 25 January 1987 [accessed 19 April 2008].
6. ^ Bronwyn Stocks, "The Facsimile and the Manuscript," - an exhibition in the Leigh Scott Gallery, University of Melbourne (on-line catalogue with additional images).
7. ^ Richard Godfrey, "Reproduction reproductive prints," The Oxford Companion to Western Art, ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001; Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, 2005. [accessed 20 April 2008].

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - faksimile, telefax, billedtelegrafi
v. tr. - faksimilere
adj. - nøjagtig

Nederlands (Dutch)
facsimile, reproductie, (het systeem van de) fax

Français (French)
n. - fac-similé, télécopie, télécopieur, (Jur) copie figurée, reproduction (d'une sculpture)
v. tr. - envoyer un fax/une télécopie
adj. - en fac-similé

Deutsch (German)
n. - Faksimile, (Telkom.) Fax
v. - fernkopieren, faxen
adj. - Fax...

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πανομοιότυπο, πιστό αντίγραφο, φαξ

Italiano (Italian)
facsimile

Português (Portuguese)
n. - fac-símile (m)

Русский (Russian)
факсимиле, передавать по факсимильной связи

Español (Spanish)
n. - facsímil, facsímile
v. tr. - hacer una copia de
adj. - facsímil, facsímile

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - faksimil

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
复写, 传真, 临摹, 摹本的, 复制似的, 产生摹本的, 传真的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 複寫, 傳真
v. tr. - 傳真, 臨摹
adj. - 摹本的, 複製似的, 產生摹本的, 傳真的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (책, 그림, 글씨)복사, 팩시밀리, 전송사진
v. tr. - ~을 똑같이 복사하다
adj. - 정확히, 복사한

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 複写, 複製, ファクシミリ, 写真電送
adj. - 複写の
v. - 複写する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جهاز نسخ ( فاكس)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פקסימילה, העתקה, העתק מדוייק‬
v. tr. - ‮יצר העתק מדויק‬
adj. - ‮באמצעות מכשיר פקסימיליה‬

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