Some texts are incised in stone and so we use light to create shadows in the shape of the letters that will be caught on film. Some documents are written on parchment or papyrus and so we want a soft, diffuse light that will create no shadows at all. Some writing cannot be seen at all because the background is so dark that it looks like ink. In the last few years we have begun to look at computer imaging as a way to help decipher and distribute texts. Computer screens with scanned images.
Computers can help scholarly research in two major ways.
First, copies of images can be distributed to scholars much more cheaply and efficiently using computer imaging than by conventional photographic methods. We have long sent out prints or transparencies to researchers, but the process is expensive and time-consuming. With a computer image, once the photograph is scanned and in the computer it is fairly easy to recopy it for distribution. The other way that computers can help research is with an imaging program such as Adobe Photoshop. With such a program an image can be easily enlarged or enhanced.