Hi Sandi, Thanks for trying and for updating us as to the results. This is definitely a bummer! If you decide to try Kurzweil, please let me know if you hit snags. That's the software I use both for scanning and for most proofreading. Mayrie _____ From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Sandi Ryan Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:36 PM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi Mary, I tried this experiment using both OBX and ARK files. Within OpenBook, the only place I get blank lines is in blank spaces--where we in Bookshare put in asterisks. So apparently the paragraphs are stripped before conversion to RTF or DOC! In the front-of-book material, paragraphs are indicated with a blank line between, for example, the warning about books sold fraudulently, the ISBN, and the copyright information. But in the text itself, text is presented, on screen and in audio, without paragraph breaks. I tried, as you suggested, lifting text in its native format from OpenBook into a Word file. That doesn't help, since the paragraphs are gone before the text is converted. And I would have to lift the text one page at a time, inserting the page breaks myself in the Word file. Not worth it! I can't find, in my menus, settings for doing anything by paragraph. I think I'll work on switching to Kurzweil--but I'd sure like to solve this issue! Thanks for the suggestions--everyone! Sandi ----- Original Message ----- From: Mayrie <mailto:mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx> ReNae To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 10:34 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi Sandi, Please let us know what you discover. If Open Book hasn't changed, it inserts a blank line between paragraphs. This isn't a problem, as long as lines of text within paragraphs aren't each marked as a paragraph. And even if they are, that's easy to fix with find and replace. Mayrie _____ From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Sandi Ryan Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:32 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions I'll try this, Mary. Not sure--but it kind of sounds like, at least if it's an OpenBook problem, it might work. I'll try a few pages and see. This would at least let me know whether it's an OpenBook or a Word conversion problem. Sandi ----- Original Message ----- From: Mayrie <mailto:mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx> ReNae To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 10:25 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi Sandi, The idea that I have is totally clunky, but I wonder: If you scan a few pages of a book, recognizing in the native format of your scanning software, then select all of the document and then copy and paste that text into Word, saving as an rtf document, what happens? Are paragraph marks accurate then? Could you, in theory, scan a book and then select, copy, and paste it into Word then save the whole thing as an rtf document, and have a representation that is accurate? I know it's clunky, but would/does that work, do you think? Would that create more problems? Just wondering. Please ignore the idea if it's way too cumbersome. Mayrie _____ From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Sandi Ryan Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:18 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi James, Since I'm the person writing lots of questions on this topic previously, here's what I've learned: If you get no paragraphs, try a different format. For example, for me, scanning directly into DOC format for Word removes all paragraph marks. Scanning in RTF puts a paragraph mark at the end of each line, even when I'm not retaining exact view. This means I have to go through by line and strip unnecessary paragraph marks, but it makes the paragraphs a bit more obvious than having everything run together. What scanning software are you using? I'm using OpenBook 8.0, and I've not yet found the answer. My best answer so far, if you're a blind person, is to find a proofreader with some vision willing to check formatting, especially paragraphing, for you, and then make your best guess with paragraphs before sending it to them. This is a lot more work for a blind scanner, since we can only guess--or make even more work by scanning and then using an Optacon or something to find paragraphs, but I love scanning, and have become part of a team that works well for me. I have come to the conclusion that the issue, at least for me, is a setting in either OpenBook or Word that adds paragraph marks when converting to RTF or strips them when converting to DOC. I haven't tried using ARK or OBX formats for scanning, because the problem isn't in scanning the book, so far as I can tell, but in converting it to a format I want to use for correcting and sending to Bookshare. Anyway, I don't know if this will help, but it's my latest knowledge. Sandi ----- Original Message ----- From: Homme, James <mailto:james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 9:57 AM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi Mayrie, Even if it's my best guess? Thanks. Jim From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mayrie ReNae Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 10:49 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Proofing: Many Questions Hi Jim, Yes, often OCR runs paragraphs together. Please insert paragraph marks where they belong. Mayrie _____ From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Homme, James Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:25 AM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Proofing: Many Questions Hi, I'm getting back into proofing after a very long absence. First question: Should I put in paragraph breaks if it looks like the scan jammed everything together? It seems obvious from context that paragraphs are run together. Thanks. Jim Jim Homme, Usability Services, Phone: 412-544-1810. _____ This e-mail and any attachments to it are confidential and are intended solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this e-mail without the author's prior permission. The views expressed in this e-mail message do not necessarily represent the views of Highmark Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates.