Archival Scanning & Large-Collection Digitization

Total Image Works partners with ARKIV 360 to digitize large collections at scale – up to 3,000 items a day – and make them searchable online. Whether you’re an institution, gallery, or private archive, we capture your photographs, documents, and artworks to museum standards and host them with AI-powered search, so an entire collection becomes a working, accessible resource.

Whether you have a collection of prints, film negatives, transparencies, or mixed media – we can help transform your archive into a fully searchable and printable digital asset.

High-Resolution Archival Scanning

Using state-of-the-art technology developed by Arkiv360, your original materials are digitized with exceptional care and accuracy — suitable for both long-term preservation and future reproduction.

  • Front and back scanning (handwritten notes, stamps, markings)
  • True-to-original colour accuracy
  • Files optimized for print and digital use

AI-Powered Metadata & Searchability

Arkiv360’s proprietary platform uses artificial intelligence to automatically tag your images with relevant keywords, subjects, and text recognition — creating a structured, searchable digital library.

  • Automated keyword tagging
  • Facial recognition & text extraction
  • Searchable archive delivery for easy access and discovery

Flexible Service Options

Every archive is unique. We offer multiple service models to ensure safe handling and efficient processing of your collection.

  • Ship to Arkiv360’s studio (Toronto)
  • In-person drop-off
  • On-location scanning for larger or fragile archives
  • Temporary scanning activations in major cities (e.g., New York)

What is ARKIV 360?

ARKIV 360 is a separate company founded by Edward Burtynsky that provides high-volume, museum-quality digitization with online hosting and AI-powered semantic search. Total Image Works partners with ARKIV 360 when clients have large collections to digitize, catalogue, and make accessible online

What large-collection digitization involves

Large-collection digitization is built for volume that would be impractical to handle piece by piece. Working through our partner ARKIV 360, we capture up to 3,000 items per day at up to 600 PPI, meeting FADGI 3-star standards. Recto-verso imaging records both sides of every item – including handwritten notes, stamps, and markings – so nothing is lost. Each digitized collection is hosted online with AI-powered semantic search, automated keyword tagging, and text extraction, so items can be found by content and meaning rather than by filename. The result is an archive you can actually use, not a box of scans.

Who we digitize for

Institutional clients include the National Gallery of Canada, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and The Image Centre at TMU – organisations that trust ARKIV 360 and Total Image Works with significant, high-value collections. These projects typically arrive by referral, and every collection is scoped individually based on its size, condition, and handling needs.

How to get started

You can ship your collection to the ARKIV 360 studio in Toronto, drop it off in person, or request on-location scanning for large or fragile archives that shouldn’t travel. Temporary scanning activations also run in major cities such as New York. Send us an approximate item count and format mix and we’ll scope a timeline and quote.

Monetizing Your Archive

Once digitized, select images from your archive may have value beyond preservation — they can be shared, sold, and given a second life as fine art prints.

A dedicated online platform for selling images from your archive is coming soon through Arkiv360.

In the meantime, Total Image Works can produce beautiful, museum-quality prints from your newly digitized files — ready for exhibition, gifting, or private sale.

Contact us to learn more about our fine art printing services for archival projects.

FAQ

Many more answers to ordering-specific questions — including shipping, pricing, turnaround times, and product details — can be found on our online ordering site:

Total Image Works

ARKIV 360 is a separate company founded by Edward Burtynsky that provides high-volume, museum-quality digitization with online hosting and AI-powered semantic search. Total Image Works partners with ARKIV 360 when clients have large collections to digitize, catalogue, and make accessible online.

The ARKIV 360 workflow is built for scale — up to 3,000 items per day — which suits institutional archives and large bodies of work that would be impractical to digitize piece by piece. Timelines are scoped per project based on collection size and handling needs.

Capture runs at up to 600 PPI and meets FADGI 3-star standards, with recto-verso imaging that records both sides of an item, including handwritten notes, stamps, and markings.

Yes. Digitized collections are hosted online with AI-powered semantic search, automated keyword tagging, and text extraction, so items can be found by content and meaning rather than filenames — turning an archive into a working, accessible resource.

No. You can ship to the ARKIV 360 studio in Toronto, drop off in person, or request on-location scanning for larger or fragile archives that shouldn’t travel. Temporary scanning activations also run in major cities such as New York.

Institutional clients include the National Gallery of Canada, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and The Image Centre at TMU — organisations that trust ARKIV 360 and Total Image Works with significant, high-value collections.

Learn More

Arkiv360 operates as a separate company with its own dedicated website and service team.

To learn more about archival scanning and digital preservation services, please visit: www.arkiv360.com