[bookshare-discuss] Re: scanning help
- From: John Immarino <johni2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:07:33 -0700
Traci,
I just want to reiterate Mayrie's message. I've found that it is most
important to keep the book pressed against the scanner glass as
completely as possible. Don't rely on the weight of the book or the
scanner cover to keep the book in contact. I use both palms to press
down on the book during scanning, but am careful not to move the book at
all while pressing. I use an HP Photosmart C4280, which is a really
cheap printer/scanner, and have gotten excellent results with this
method. Keep trying--it's just a matter of finding what works best for you.
John
On 3/17/2010 6:42 PM, Mayrie ReNae wrote:
Hi Traci,
I feel your pain! Part of the problem you're having with this book is
that it's so huge! The thicker the book, as I'm sure you've noticed,
the harder it is to flatten the book onto the scanner. The junk
you're seeing is simply the shadow of the cleft between the pages
showing up as junk in the scan. I suggest trying to scan with your
light source totally constant. Sometimes this helps. For me, what
this means is scanning at night in a dark room. Sounds totally crazy,
right? Probably it is. But sometimes it helps.
For your scanning errors, I'd suggest using gray scale, but I don't
know if OpenBook has this option as I scan using different software.
Also, many of your scanning errors can be gotten rid of using the
find and replace dialogue, but not always. I realize that with your
"flick" example, you can't globally replace it with the word you
suggest it should be, because "flick" is indeed an actual word, and
might actually need to be where it appears sometimes. But if you're
getting the kinds of errors that can be fixed with a global find and
replace, for instance, "diese" for "these" or "diumb" for "thumb" you
can cut down on the number of corrections you'll need to make by hand.
As for your particular book, if you own it, and don't mind beating it
up, I'd try opening it to its fullest, even perhaps even going as far
as to making the covers touch each other in quite a few places
throughout the book and holding it like that for a bit. This will make
pressing the book flat on the scanner less difficult. Now, if the
book is not yours, or you want it to look nice and pretty, this won't
work.
Just some ideas. Does it help to know that what you're experiencing
isn't unique to you? And we all feel your pain and frustration when
these things happen. Unfortunately, sometimes, scans just come
out needing a lot of TLC.
Good luck, and my sympathy is definitely with you.
Mayrie
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* traci [mailto:season@xxxxxxxxxxx]
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 17, 2010 5:41 AM
*To:* bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [bookshare-discuss] scanning help
hello everyone.
i am at a loss and ready to quit. it's bad enough that books I submit
sit there for months ready to be proofed but then to try so hard to
scan them and get garbage??? I have the resolution up to 400 dpi,
using omni font page since fine reader didn't work. i have the
contrast set to black on white and have ocr corrections enabled. my
scanner is an all in one, a lexmark pro 205 series and I'm using open
book 8. What am I doing wrong? the f word in the books read as flick
and i have the ocr correction going yet it always scans as that. had
usually scans as ha: (ha followed by a colon). and this is what i hate
most. when scanning a book and it's toward the middle of it, i get
partial pages no matter how i try and flatten the pages into a smooth
roll. this scanner is a flat bed so I can only load from the left side
as the fax machine is directly below the bed and the copier is the
actual scanner's top.
Another thing I get a lot of is the first word in a line might scan as
1111 or 4111 followed by thirteen to fourteen spaces and then the
actual begining of the sentence. Then right smack dab in the mddle of
the sentence, you'll get a word like ire followed by thirteen spaces
and then a real word. for example:
I glanced up at her in utter disbelief t :ire:.. and
shook my head disgustedly.
No this crazy woman wasn't going to disrespect me in my own house
after everything we hav: been through.
1111 But she was and .:\tdd all I could feel
was contempt.
If there is no hope for this, please advise me what to look for in a
good scanner--dpi, page recognition, scanner brand, flatbed vs hand
scanner. Please help. I would like to share books but at this rate I
may just end up reading and proofing. This book "Chances" is over 500
pages long and it's a huge undertaking that I wouldn't mind if the
scanner would only stop puking all over the pages.
Thanks
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