The British Library has been at the forefront of digitisation and digital preservation projects for over two decades. As a result, we are pleased to offer a range of digitisation services for both organisations and individuals.

High quality images and scans of fascinating material from our collections are available to use for study, publication or broadcast.

Alternatively, see your own collections fully revived using our managed digitisation services.  Experts in handling rare and fragile material, we can deliver your project from start to finish.

Images of some of our collections are already available to buy and download straight away through Images Online, so you should check there first before ordering from our Imaging Services.

For copies of contemporary research content, such as journal articles and book chapters, please use British Library On Demand.

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What you need to know

Imaging-digitisation

Bulk digitisation

Find out how our digitisation experts can help you and your organisation digitise your archives

Digitisation of rare manuscript

Ordering images

All you need to know about ordering scans or photographs of British Library collection items

Digitisation of specialist material

Specialist digitisation

We have specialist expertise in handling a range of material types and managing complex preservation requirements

News

Multispectral imaging in action

We’re going to DCDC 2019!

4 November 2019

British Library Digitisation Services will be exhibiting at DCDC from 13 to 14 November in Birmingham.

Digitising the Malmesbury Bible

British Library digitises 600-year old Malmesbury Bible

23 October 2019

The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey commissioned the British Library to digitise four volumes of its bible, known as the Malmesbury Bible, this summer. Malmesbury had one of the most important libraries in Europe in the Middle Ages and was home to 12th-century historian and monk William of Malmesbury.

Case studies

University of Warwick Microfilm Cases
…“It was really easy working with the BL to get our older theses scanned"…

The British Library worked with the University of Warwick on a project to convert more than 1000 doctoral theses from microfilm to digital using the Library’s state of the art microfilm scanner.

Imaging Services at work
…"British Library Imaging Services are uniquely placed to supply quality digital images of back catalogue and rare material"…

British Library Imaging Services and Taylor & Francis have a long standing partnership which sees Imaging Services supply digitised copies of the Taylor and Francis back catalogue.

Imaging Services staff scanning collection items
…A quick look at the British Library's extensive holdings confirmed they had what we needed to make the complete archive…

Guilford Publications made use of the British Library collections when digitising with British Library Imaging Services.

Imaging - photographer
…It's possible for researchers anywhere in the world to study the manuscripts in greater detail than would ever be possible with the naked eye.…

The imaging team rose to challenge of digitising 350 rare Greek manuscripts, producing over 120,000 beautiful images

Help

Ordering images

Using your images

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