[bksvol-discuss] Re: Scanners and OCR software. Again. Still.

  • From: "Tammy Blaker" <wyomiia@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:38:52 -0500

I use a HP All in One printer, scanner and copier. It was cheap under 100 dollars. I had to buy the full ORC program that came with it to do books, but it works well. For me living in a small place having just one machine made the most bet. 


I sure will look at the OpticBook, bet it will do two pages at a time.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Shannon" <shannon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 5:54 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Scanners and OCR software. Again. Still.



Monica,

Thanks!
I wasn't lucky enough to find a flat-bed scanner when I went shopping today, but I appreciate the suggestions and think I will definitely save up some money and buy an Optic-Book. I thought they were more expensive than the price you quoted, so it's a relief to know they're a bit cheaper than I was anticipating. 

Anyway, this was very helpful, so thank you!

Shannon


At 03:28 PM 4/24/2009, Monica Willyard wrote:

Shannon, I would love it if we could buy any old scanner and have it work
well. Unfortunately, that doesn't work because many of the scanners being
sold are either optimized for scanning photos or use a type of scanning
technology that doesn't work well with books. You can make the latter type
of scanners work with some dedication, but they don't work as well for
sustained book scanning. I don't know what your lifestyle or budget are
like, so please take what I'm saying here with a grain of salt and do what's right for you. I think a scanner is something worth saving up some money for 
because it really affects how your books come out and how much time you'll
spend cleaning up your scans later on. In my experience, scanners from Epson 
work well, especially the Epson Perfection line and the 4490 scanner. If I
were shopping at a physical store for a new scanner, that is the brand I'd
go with. They are a very nice balance of price, quality, and speed. If you
have the money to get an OpticBook 3600, it is worth considering since it
makes scanning books much easier and faster. The OpticBook is working very
well for me. It's downside is its cost, around $235 including shipping. Some 
of the HP scanners work well too, and I don't have any model numbers on
those. Maybe someone else does.

If you've got to stay at or under the $50 mark, scanners from Canon and
Visioneer will work, but they are both somewhat slower and tend to be less
accurate with scanning text. The Canon LIde line of scanners worked pretty
well for me. I didn't know what I was missing for many years, so I only know about their weaknesses after having used an Epson and Now an OpticBook. Over 
half of my Bookshare submissions were done with either my Canon or my
Visioneer. Mayrie ReNae has created almost flawless scans with a Visioneer
scanner before upgrading to an OpticBook. The plus side for the Canon LIde
line is that they're very portable, being flat and light enough to fit into a laptop bag. I have kept my Canon and use it for when I travel or when I'm 
going to use something in a reference library. In fact, the Canon gets its
power from your USB port and doesn't need to be plugged into an electrical
outlet. That makes scanning much easier while using a laptop, traveling, or 
while taking classes. In case it matters to you, Canons work very well for
scanning photos. My daughter prefers to use my Canon when scanning pictures, 
even though my dad has a faster scanner she could use in his office.
With all these advantages, it may seem odd that I wouldn't choose this line as the winner. These scanners don't produce the clearest possible image, and 
that means OCR of books will have more errors, especially toward the edges
of your books. It means you'll spend more time adjusting settings for each
book and will spend somewhat more time proofreading. This difference in
quality has something to do with the type of scanner heads in the machine
and how these budget scanners don't make a fully 3-dimensional image of
pages. Guido explained it to me, and I can't seem to find his post right
now. This can be worked around, but Openbook doesn't have enough tools to
alert you of trouble before you scan a 400-page book. I used Openbook for 18 
years before switching to Kurzweil, and the difference in scanner needs is
huge. Openbook doesn't give you real-time feedback on your scans, so you
need a scanner that is very flexible and reliable in its ability to work
with text. Openbook lets you scan to your heart's content and then lets you 
know you've got a problem, making it necessary to rescan pages if your
scanner isn't on the ball. Without active, real-time feedback, I wouldn't
recommend the Canon, Visioneer, and other low-budget scanners for people
using Openbook who like to scan in batch mode.

Of course, most of what I just wrote is my opinion. Others may have
different experiences to share. Feel free to discard anything here that
doesn't work for you. (smile)

Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Shannon
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 1:21 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Scanners and OCR software. Again. Still.

Hi, all,

Last year, my voc rehab counselor bought me the latest version of
Openbook. This is a really cool thing, but I haven't used it since
the scanner I had at the time was invented roughly around the time of
the dinosaur.

Anyway, I'm running errands today and I kind of want to price some
scanners at the Evil Empire (aka WalMart). Can I buy any old scanner
on the market and have it work with OCR software, or do I have to get
only a specific kind?

Thanks so much!

Shannon C.

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