These tools enable the consistent application of the post-processing methods that have
been developed and facilitate the comparison and interpretation of the resulting images, thus
maximising the value of the information that can be obtained from such imaging methods.
The tools are designed as ‘add-ins’ to nip2, the graphical interface of the free processing
system VIPS (http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk/index.php?title=VIPS) developed previously
by the third author. The optimised acquisition protocols and the post-processing
methodology have been evaluated both on reference materials and on images acquired from
real objects, which included museum artefacts.
The result is this User Manual, which not only outlines the theory of how to acquire and post¬
process the multispectral image sets that are the focus of this work, but also provides
practical details concerning experimental setups, equipment recommendations and
acquisition protocols. In addition, the Manual also describes the development of the post¬
processing software tools, instructions on their use (available for download from:
http://www. britishmuseum.org/charisma) and explains how they incorporate the theory into
workflows for the correction of the multispectral imaging data sets.
Finally, it should be noted that the current versions of both this User Manual and the post¬
processing software tools are the result of an iterative process of development, feedback
and refinement that is likely to continue beyond the scope of the CHARISMA project, as both
techniques and the technologies employed to produce images develop.
J oanne Dyer, Giovanni Verri and J ohn Cupitt
October 2013
jdyer@ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
giovanniverri@ yahoo. it
jcupitt@ gmail.com
Financial support by the Access to Research Infrastructures activity in the 7th Framework
Programme of the EU (CHARISMA Grant Agreement no. 228330) is gratefully
acknowledged. The authors of this User Manual gratefully acknowledge the help and support
of all of the CHARISMA project partners, especially Sophia Sotiropoulou and Georgios
Karagiannis (Art Diagnosis Centre, Ormylia, Halkidiki, Greece), Catia Clementi (Universita
degli studi di Perugia, Italy), Susanna Bracci and Roberta lannaccone (Istituto per la
Conservazione e la Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali, Florence, Italy), Marika Spring and
Joseph Padfield (National Gallery, London) and David Saunders, Catherine Higgitt and Jo
Russell (British Museum, London).