decryption scans stuff

my setup | stuff I'm scanning | contact | donate

Hello! My name is Anthony and I like to digitise books and magazines. I upload them to the Internet Archive where they are preserved and shared with the world.

Some things I have scanned:

as of 31/10/2025:

I have uploaded 3,784 items across my two Internet Archive accounts (@decryption & @decryption522).

I have $982.08 in funds dedicated to supporting my scanning activities thanks to very generous donors. Here's proof.

You can follow me on Mastodon to see what I am up to scanning wise. I use the hashtag #scanning for anything scanning related so you don't see my other nonsense if that doesn't interest you.

I don't need money to keep doing this - I'm going to do it regardless, but if you like what I do and want to chip in a few bucks, that money means I can secure even more books and magazines that would otherwise end up in the bin. The money pays for purchasing, storage and supplies, but most of all, it's great motivation to keep going as it means people care about this type of preservation.

My PayID is scan@decryption.net.au - any amount helps :-)

Masive thanks to those who have donated money and/or equipment like LTO tapes, guillotines. Adam, Joel, Sean and others who's names I have forgotten, thank you!

photos

I've been doing this for almost 5 years and have owned so many scanners:

FAQ

What do you use the donations for?

Predominately to buy bulk lots of books or magazines off Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time it's a token amount because the owner of the item doesn't want to give them away for free. I also spend more than you think on supplies like new scanner rollers (they wear out - $60-$100 a set!), guillotine blades ($30 to get sharpened or $70 for a new one), cleaning supplies (you have no idea how dirty old books and magazines are) and quality boxes for things in my scanning pipeline.

I have or have seen a heap of things you should scan, can you scan them for me?

Absolutely! Please contact me and we can work out how I can collect the items from you. I'm in Victoria, Australia and love a road trip interstate. Also if you spot anything cool on Facebook/Gumtree/etc let me know! The algorithm shows us all different things so I miss stuff.

Why do you destroy then throw out what you scan?

Most of the items I scan are destined for the bin. People die and their families want the shed/garage/bedroom full of old magazines and technical books gone, so I save them before they're recycled. Plus it's much faster and better quality to scan them this way instead of using an expensive and slow camera based solution. That said, I am looking into non-destructive scanning for less common items once I get more space.

I want to scan stuff, where should I start?

Buy an Epson scanner - I've tried most brands and at consumer level they are the least shit. Get familiar with the Internet Archive's command-line tools if you're uploading in bulk. Scan to 600dpi uncompressesd TIFF files then compress each item into CBR or CBZ and upload the CBZ/CBR archive. The Internet Archive's automated systems make good quality PDFs and other file formats on uploading (they call it the derivation process) as well as providing the original high quality images for anyone who wants them.

How do I get in touch with you?

Email is best - decryption@fastmail.com, but there's a wide range of ways to contact me on my personal webpage - https://decryption.net.au

last updated: 31/10/2025