Color Scan of Civil War Pension and Fold3 Image

I've been wanting to compare some color images for National Archives materials  with the grayscale digital scans on Fold3. At long last, here's our first from a Civil War pension. The color image was discussed earlier today in a blog post. Clicking on the images will pull up a larger version of the image. I didn't want to overwhelm this blog post with large images.

Here is the image on  Fold3:

Fold3.com image

Here is the same document's color scan made by at the National Archives:

color scan made at NARA

Of course, both images come from this veteran's file.

What do you think of the differences?

Comparing a Fold3 Image with a Color Image From NARA-Part I

These two images are from testimony given by William Ehmen in the homestead application of Fokke Goldensetin in Dawson County, Nebraska. The first is from  Fold3.com and the second is from color scans I had made by a researcher at the National Archives.

Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at several examples of  Fold3.com images versus color images made at the National Archives. This may be one case where color doesn't "add" too much to my use of the document, but I really think that color enhances the image and I think that the scans I received are more "crisp" than the  Fold3.com images. 

I also wish that when these records were being scanned, which is viewed by many as "preserving" them that those scans be made in color. 

[click on the image to view in a larger window]

image from homestead application of Fokke Goldenstein, Dawson County, Nebraska, obtained on Fold3.com

image from homestead application of Fokke Goldenstein, Dawson County, Nebraska, obtained from the National Archives

Personally, I think the color enhances my user experience. As we will see in later postings, color makes it easier to tell when multiple individuals have written on a document.

Stay tuned.