Anaglyphs are stereo images that recreate depth perception using different color images. This is essentially the same process used in 3-D movies. The usual method involves separating the stereo image into red and cyan components and viewing the image with a red filter on the left eye, a blue filter on the right. Other ways of recreating depth in images include polarization and liquid crystal filters, as well as the simple optical method (your old ViewMasters).
The Ames Library had a collection of about 104 antique stereo prints mounted on card stock. These were produced around 1908 by two different U.S. companies, made to be used by a stereo magnifier. For this project, the University of Minnesota Libraries Digital Collections unit scanned all of the images at high-resolution and in color. All of the images were cut in half and reduced in size for use on the web and added to the Ames Library Web site. The analglyphs were processed in Adobe Photoshop by deleting the red channel from the right image, then adding that image to the red channel of a copy of the image. In this manner, an old technology is harnassed by a new one.
Sample of a stereo print from the Ames collection
There is a large amount of information on the World-Wide Web relating to 3-D images and anaglyphs. Perhaps the best place to start is the Stereoscopic 3D Web Ring site.
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