Just out of curiosity... I have seen pictures of book scanners in which the book need only be opened 90 degrees, implying that the scanning area runs up to, or nearly up to, the edge the book is draped over. Anybody have experience with these? I presume they are more expensive than flat-bed scanners, but the do keep the pages flat. -- Ferren ------------------------------------------------------------ (Dr) Ferren MacIntyre 1 Chemin des Echarts Campagne sur Aude 11260 France 42.91500N, 2.20900E +33 (0)468 748870 GMT+100 ------------------------------------------------------------- OSX 10.6.7 MacBook Pro 5,1 2.4 GHz Intel Core-2 Duo, 4 GB (Swollen battery removed so the trackpad will work.) On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 06:00, NISUS automatic digest system < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > There are 6 messages totalling 301 lines in this issue. > > Topics of the day: > > 1. OT: Text scanning (6) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 07:44:45 +0100 > From: Doug Browne <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > I use an Epson multi-function with VeloCRaptor and find it works well. > As Brian says, the paper MUST be flat on the scanner. This is no problem = > for individual sheets, but tricky if half a book is hanging out of the = > scanner. I try to make the page flat by propping the book up with a pile = > of paperbacks. > > Doug > =20 > On 9 May 2011, at 04:36, Brian Ferguson wrote: > > > The answer is 'Yes'. > >=20 > > I have used VueScan at various times despite having scanning = > applications with an Epson TX710W Printer/Scanner. > > It is extremely simple to use and not too expensive. I don't think = > there is an available scanner missing from VueScan's lists although = > sometimes the name of your scanner may differ from VueScan's names = > because of different countries. E.g. my Epson printer/scanner is known = > as Artisan. > >=20 > > You can scan to TIFF or PDF; if the latter then PDFpen Pro will help = > for OCR and corrections. In PDF Pro you can create multi-page documents = > by using the 'Input | Multi page' option. You can preview multiple = > pages, rearrange the order, and then save the pages to a TIFF or PDF = > file. > >=20 > > VueScan go to <www.hamrick.com> > >=20 > > It is updated weekly. > >=20 > > Having the paper on the scanner table is essential. > >=20 > >=20 > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > >=20 > > On 06/05/2011, at 11:56 PM, THDW wrote: > >=20 > >> Listers > >>=20 > >> I am in the process of scanning old books. > >>=20 > >> I am using a five year old Canon printer scanner and then once the MP = > Navigator has scanned, I use VelOCRaptor to do the ocr work. > >>=20 > >> I sometime find that entire pages need revision. I am therefore = > wondering whether there has been an improvement in scanners for OCR work = > over the last few years. Or is my problem quite simply I am not getting = > the text flat enough against the scanner window ? > >>=20 > >> Would be grateful for any ideas for making text less tedious. > >=20 > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 08:05:36 +0100 > From: Alan & Elaine <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > Hi Tim, > > Any 200 dpi B%W or greyscale resolution scanner is adequate for OCR = > scanning. That means just about every scanner on the market. All readers = > should cope with imperfectly angled scans and good OCR program will also = > cope with imperfectly flattened pages (e.g. thick book scanning), but if = > you are getting misreads from the well flattened areas, you have lousy = > software. There are some programs out there that use wild contextual = > word-guessing to compensate for poor actual character recognition. If = > you find your software guessing =96 for instance. turning 'bard' int = > 'bird' =96 dump it; a good reader will call for your intervention on ALL = > glyphs it has problems reading and not fake its claimed reading score = > with contextual guesswork.=20 > At the time I was involved in the OCR business, Omnipage was the clear = > leader. It probably still is, but the bells and whistles of its current = > iteration exceed most people's needs, and it charges for its quality. I = > have found the ABBYY FineReader software, provided FREE of charge with = > my Epson scanner, totally adequate for my current needs, with only badly = > inked characters being queried. I presume Canon reading software must be = > on a par with the Epson offering to stay competitive. Do you perhaps = > need to download an update to your scanner's drivers? I've not tried = > VelOCRaptor. > > All the best, > Alan > > On 6 May 2011, at 14:56, THDW wrote: > > > Listers > >=20 > > I am in the process of scanning old books. > >=20 > > I am using a five year old Canon printer scanner and then once the MP = > Navigator has scanned, I use VelOCRaptor to do the ocr work. > >=20 > > I sometime find that entire pages need revision. I am therefore = > wondering whether there has been an improvement in scanners for OCR work = > over the last few years. Or is my problem quite simply I am not getting = > the text flat enough against the scanner window ? > >=20 > > Would be grateful for any ideas for making text less tedious. > >=20 > >=20 > > T > >=20 > >=20 > >=20 > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 08:54:36 +0100 > From: Alan & Elaine <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > On 6 May 2011, at 14:56, THDW wrote: > > > once the MP Navigator has scanned, I use > > Does the above mean that you are using a two stage process (scanning to = > a Tiff or similar document and only then bringing the OCR prog into = > play)? Each stage will introduce some loss of definition. You might do = > better doing everything from the OCR interface, i.e., reading directly = > off the scanner glass. > > Cheers > Alan > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 10:04:21 -0400 > From: THDW <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > --Apple-Mail-2628-225146986 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset=us-ascii > > > On 9 May 2011, at 03:54, Alan & Elaine wrote: > > > Does the above mean that you are using a two stage process (scanning = > to a Tiff or similar document and only then bringing the OCR prog into = > play)? Each stage will introduce some loss of definition. You might do = > better doing everything from the OCR interface, i.e., reading directly = > off the scanner glass. > > I scan with the Canon programme, then save multiple pages in .pdf. > > I then drop the .pdf file on Velocraptor. > > Can't help thinking that putting a pun into a programme's name along = > with the four letters C R A P is not the best of marketing policies. > > T > > > > THDW > [log in to unmask] > > > > > --Apple-Mail-2628-225146986 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > Content-Type: text/html; > charset=us-ascii > > <html><head></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; = > -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; = > "><br><div><div>On 9 May 2011, at 03:54, Alan & Elaine = > wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote = > type=3D"cite"><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: = > separate; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-style: normal; = > font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; = > line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; = > white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; = > -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: = > 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: = > auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; ">Does the = > above mean that you are using a two stage process (scanning to a Tiff or = > similar document and only then bringing the OCR prog into play)? Each = > stage will introduce some loss of definition. You might do better doing = > everything from the OCR interface, i.e., reading directly off the = > scanner glass.</span></blockquote><br></div><div>I scan with the Canon = > programme, then save multiple pages in .pdf.</div><div><br></div><div>I = > then drop the .pdf file on Velocraptor.</div><div><br></div><div>Can't = > help thinking that putting a pun into a programme's name along with the = > four letters C R A P is not the best of marketing = > policies.</div><div><br></div><div>T</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><b= > r><div> > <span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; = > color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 16px; = > font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; = > letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: = > auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; = > widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; = > -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; = > -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: = > auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div>THDW</div><div><a = > href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask] > = > m</a></div><div><br class=3D"webkit-block-placeholder"></div></span><br = > class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"> > </div> > <br></body></html>= > > --Apple-Mail-2628-225146986-- > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 15:58:04 +0100 > From: Alan & Elaine <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > On 9 May 2011, at 15:04, THDW wrote: > > > On 9 May 2011, at 03:54, Alan & Elaine wrote: > >=20 > >> Does the above mean that you are using a two stage process (scanning = > to a Tiff or similar document and only then bringing the OCR prog into = > play)? Each stage will introduce some loss of definition. You might do = > better doing everything from the OCR interface, i.e., reading directly = > off the scanner glass. > >=20 > > I scan with the Canon programme, then save multiple pages in .pdf. > >=20 > > I then drop the .pdf file on Velocraptor. > >=20 > > Can't help thinking that putting a pun into a programme's name along = > with the four letters C R A P is not the best of marketing policies. > > Perhaps we should all welcome the marketeer's honesty. ;) > > Passing through a pdf phase might be the problem. Don't you have a means = > to do the character recognition off the screen before saving it in a = > printable format? I always scan from within the OCR program. > > Alan= > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 16:16:25 +0100 > From: Doug Browne <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: OT: Text scanning > > I scan to .tiff and drop the file onto VeloCRaptor which works fine. > I always have good results from this program and certainly do NOT = > consider it crap. > By the way, the program Alan said he uses is currently $99. > > Doug > > On 9 May 2011, at 15:58, Alan & Elaine wrote: > > > On 9 May 2011, at 15:04, THDW wrote: > >=20 > >> On 9 May 2011, at 03:54, Alan & Elaine wrote: > >>=20 > >>> Does the above mean that you are using a two stage process (scanning = > to a Tiff or similar document and only then bringing the OCR prog into = > play)? Each stage will introduce some loss of definition. You might do = > better doing everything from the OCR interface, i.e., reading directly = > off the scanner glass. > >>=20 > >> I scan with the Canon programme, then save multiple pages in .pdf. > >>=20 > >> I then drop the .pdf file on Velocraptor. > >>=20 > >> Can't help thinking that putting a pun into a programme's name along = > with the four letters C R A P is not the best of marketing policies. > >=20 > > Perhaps we should all welcome the marketeer's honesty. ;) > >=20 > > Passing through a pdf phase might be the problem. Don't you have a = > means to do the character recognition off the screen before saving it in = > a printable format? I always scan from within the OCR program. > >=20 > > Alan > > ------------------------------ > > End of NISUS Digest - 8 May 2011 to 9 May 2011 (#2011-4) > ******************************************************** >