How Does Microfiche Work?

About Microfiche

Microfiche is a flat, transparent sheet that contains photographic images of other documents or materials, usually reduced to about 25 percent of their usual size. Microfiche allows researchers to view high-quality images of materials stored in archives or available in limited amounts. Scholars of the medieval period often rely on microfiche and its cousin, microfilm, to study rare books and manuscripts.

How Microfiche is Made

To create microfiche, a photographer takes pictures of each page of a document, such as a manuscript, book, or journal, using a very high-resolution film and a tripod. These resulting images are reduced to one-quarter of their original size, about 10 to 14 mm (1/3 to ½ inches). The images are transferred to a sheet of transparent photographic film called ISO A6 size, which is 105-by-148 mm (about 4-by-6 inches).

How Microfiche is Used

To read microfiche, the user places a sheet of the film under the lens of a special microform viewing reader. The reader magnifies the images on the film and displays them on a large light box for the user to see. Microform readers are often equipped with printers, and users can print out individual images at their original, larger size.