Discover
your Data
Digitizing, enriching, and enabling. Discover the virtually limitless possibilities for special collections, archives, and specimens. Picturae helps institutions turn complex physical collections into accessible, future-ready digital data – enabling research, preservation, and meaningful public engagement at scale.
Digitization Journey
Cultural and scientific institutions are responsible for preserving the complex and growing collections. At the same time, they face increasing expectations for accessibility, discoverability, and digital readiness.
Picturae supports institutions on this journey by transforming physical materials into high-quality, structured, and intelligently enriched digital data across both flat materials and biodiversity specimens. Backed by decades of expertise, we help institutions create digital collections that strengthen research, expand public access, and remain sustainable for the future.
Partnership
What sets us apart is not only what we build, but why and how we build it. We combine craftsmanship with innovation. We engineer our own equipment and software, made exclusively for the cultural heritage and natural history community and each project we execute is fully customized to the specific needs of a unique collection. We respect the material as much as the tools. We take responsibility for every detail, knowing that quality is not speed, but care, expertise, and long-term thinking.
Beyond digitization, we act as a long-term partner. We provide consultancy, strategic guidance, and thought leadership to help institutions navigate complexity, anticipate future needs, and make confident decisions. With Picturae, institutions gain a partner who understands the responsibility and challenges, while providing the clarity, structure, and reliability needed to move forward with confidence.
Customization
No two collections are alike. Every digitization project begins with understanding your materials, objectives, and long-term strategy. Our team designs tailored digitization workflows that support every stage of the digitization journey; from consultancy and preparation to imaging, metadata capture, enrichment, and delivery. Digitization is not only about creating images. It is about building structured, searchable, and interoperable data that supports research, discovery, and digital access.
Our Expertise
We digitize a wide range of materials; from bound volumes, maps and archival records to photographic collections, glass plates, herbarium sheets and entomology specimens.
Our structured workflows combine preservation-conscious handling, high-resolution imaging and standardized metadata processing to ensure consistent, reliable results. Digitization can take place either in our studio in New Jersey, or onsite at your location – anywhere in the world.
Sebastiaan Bouten
Sebastiaan leads our international biodiversity sales efforts, working with clients throughout Europe and Asia to support the digitization of their natural history collections.
Jan Arie Karels
Jan-Arie has been a critical part of Picturae’s journey for more than 15 years. From facilitating the design of our most complex systems to getting to know what our clients really need, Jan-Arie has had a hand in Picturae’s global success.
Maya Whitaker
Maya works with institutions across the US to understand their unique aims and define how their collections should be digitized. By translating complex collection needs into clear, tailored project plans, she helps turn ambition into action.
Victor Shields
Victor leads our global, high-throughput digitization programs for natural history collections. Leveraging a technical background that combines best herbarium management practices and plant sciences, he designs industrial-scale imaging pipelines for botanical vouchers and pinned entomological specimens.
Meet Our Team
Our international team of digitization professionals is ready to make your digitization goals a reality. With Engineering offices in the Netherlands and a digitization studio in United States, our passionate team is ready to serve you, no matter where your collection is on a map.
Latest News
Interested in what we are working on? Take a look at some of our latest project highlights and company updates.
Contact Us
Whether you are preparing for a large-scale digitization initiative or exploring next steps for your collection, our team is here to support you. Share a few details about your institution and project, and we will respond promptly to continue the discussion.
