Preserve
What must remain physically secure, and how often is retrieval needed?
Route guide
From archive metres to a digital route
Not every archive has to become fully digital immediately. And not every digitisation project starts with scanning. The right route emerges when storage, use, risk, metadata, privacy, document intelligence and future access are considered together.
Archive storage
Scanning on demand
Document intelligence
Three questions for the right route
Use
Which records need to become digitally available, searchable or shareable?
Prepare
Which metadata, OCR, privacy and data structure will matter later?
Start with the question behind the boxes
The best choice is rarely storage alone or digitisation alone. Often it is a combination: preserve safely where possible, scan selectively where needed, and make sure the digital output can be found and reused later.
Avoid doing the same work twice
If ordering, metadata and quality control are only considered afterwards, the same information often has to be handled again. 2dA connects physical handling, scan logic and digital structure from the start.
Route choice
Choose the right route
Start with what the organisation actually needs: preservation, retrieval, full digitisation, better findability, privacy control or data preparation for later use.
If this applies
You mainly need secure storage and control
Material must be moved out of the way, while retrieval, retention periods, authorisations and destruction remain demonstrable.
Route: archive storage If this appliesFiles or records are requested regularly
Not everything has to be digitised upfront, but every request must be delivered quickly, securely and in usable digital form.
Route: scanning on demand If this appliesEntire series need to become digitally available
The organisation wants to work digitally with files, archives, building records, books, registers or project series.
Route: bulk digitisation If this appliesInformation must actually be findable later
File names are not enough. Records need fields, context, OCR or HTR, provenance and a logical structure.
Route: metadata and access If this appliesThe collection contains privacy-sensitive information
Medical, personnel, legal or administrative records need GDPR-aware routes, authorisations and possible anonymisation.
Route: privacy and anonymisation If this appliesYou want search, analysis or local AI later
Scans, OCR, chunks, embeddings, vector stores, rights and local infrastructure then need to be prepared reliably from the source.
Route: AI-ready archive dataWhat drives the financial choice?
- volume, format, packaging and physical condition
- degree of ordering and existing inventory information
- retrieval frequency and required delivery time
- scan resolution, quality control, OCR or HTR
- metadata, file names, exports and system integrations
- privacy, authorisations, retention periods and destruction
Scans are only the beginning
A scan is an image. A usable information source also needs recognition, structure, metadata and control. That is the difference between digitisation as production and digitisation as a working information chain.
2dA therefore looks not only at pages per hour, but also at what the organisation needs to do with those pages afterwards.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the right route
When should I choose archive storage instead of digitisation?
Choose archive storage when the material must remain safely preserved, but not everything is needed digitally at once. If files are retrieved often or information must be widely available, digitisation or scanning on demand belongs in the route.
When is scanning on demand the smarter option?
Scanning on demand fits when an archive can largely remain physical, but items must be delivered quickly and under control as soon as someone needs them.
What determines the costs?
Costs depend on volume, condition, ordering, packaging, retrieval frequency, metadata, OCR or HTR, privacy requirements, output formats and possible system integrations.
How do I prevent digital files from becoming unusable later?
By deciding in advance on file formats, naming, metadata, quality control, OCR or HTR, rights, retention periods and the way files will later be searched or connected.
When does archive data become AI-ready?
Archive data only becomes AI-ready when scans, OCR or HTR, metadata, document structure, provenance, rights and privacy are reliable enough for search, retrieval, embeddings and local AI applications.
Quick routes
Routes that often meet
Unsure whether to store, scan or fully digitise?
Share the situation with us. We look at material, use, risk, privacy, metadata and future digital access, and help choose the route that avoids unnecessary rework.