Current hours: 10am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday. We are closed Sundays and Mondays for the Winter. Proud to be a SMALL, LOCAL, CAPE COD BUSINESS! Maps of Antiquity is in its 38th year! Our maps are only available at our website www.mapsofantiquity.com or at our store!

What is Moiré Pattern?

by Perri Kapp

Moiré is an optical phenomenon that occurs when repetitive patterns in a scene interfere with the camera's sensor resolution. This interference causes a distortion in the image, resulting in unwanted lines, colors, and artifacts. - proedu.com

Most antique prints from before 1900 were created as etchings, using many repeated lines to create the image, which is unfortunately a weakness for digital cameras. Moiré can cause a print to look odd online, but it is only in the digital image of the print! The antique print that you would purchase and receive would not have any moiré pattern or effects. It can be difficult to photograph an antique print in a way that does not produce moiré pattern, but we do our best to capture an image that accurately represents the antique print or map.

Examples of Moiré:

In this image, the repeated lines in the water have caused moiré to appear as a waviness and rainbows

This print has a lot of moire interference in the image!

Genuine-Antique-Print-View-of-the-City-of-Montevideo-Uruguay-1881-Robert-Brown-Maps-Of-Antiquity

This print is completely black and white in person, but moire effect has caused various colors to appear in the sky and buildings.

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