The Alamire Digital Lab is the high-tech digital photography centre for (musical) heritage, set up by the Alamire Foundation (K.U.Leuven, Musicology Research Unit). This facility has been made possible through the support of the Herculesstichting (2010). The centre is equipped with the most advanced and up-to-date cameras, lighting and lenses, making possible the digitization of age-old sources – both manuscripts and prints – according to the strictest norms and quality-criteria. The Alamire Digital Lab is conveniently located in the centre of Leuven, at the University Library of the K.U.Leuven.

The setup consists of an Anagramm Scan back of 100 million pixels, a Linhof Repro camera and specialty macro optics. Load balanced, flicker-free fluorescent lamps are used for lightning. Apart from the Anagramm setup, a Phase One system is also in use with a digital back of 60 million pixels and digital Elinchrom strobes are used as lightning. The Lab, climate controlled, has been adapted to receive and digitize valuable manuscripts. Apart from high quality digitization other techniques will be developed to facilitate non-destructive material study of the source.

With their unrivalled sharpness and incomparable precision, the resulting images form the first step towards a whole new look at primary source material, for example making possible multi-media installations on ancient sources, or virtual exhibitions that bring unavailable and unknown books very close to the viewer. The digital restoration of damaged manuscripts and the detailed study of musical notation and illuminations also becomes possible now. In addition, digital versions of priceless and often fragile source-material facilitate the dissemination of unique cultural treasures for a wide audience, another particularly valuable aspect of the relevance and functioning of the Alamire Digital Lab.