Re: Scanning Tips
- From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 16:04:06 -0500
I've sometimes prepped a book for scanning by completely covering pictures
with Post-Its. The Optacon is a great help with this.
Debbie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Catherine Thomas" <braille@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 3:50 AM
Subject: Scanning Tips
> Because I am a Braille transcriber by profession, I use the
> scanner and the Optacon together very often. I thought I would share with
> you some ways in which you can use your Optacon to help make scanning or
> photocopying easier. If you don't use a scanner, you might want to share
> some of these tips with friends. I have arranged them so that each one
> shows the problem, the reason, and the solution which we Optacon users can
> do without sighted help usually. I'll limit this message to three common
> situations. Let me know if you want any more posts like this.
>
> PROBLEM: THE SCANNER ISN'T PICKING UP ANY PAGE NUMBERS:
> REASON: In some print documents, page numbers appear in the
> opposite color from the rest of the text. They are also often surrounded
> by a square or circle. The scanner will often not pick these up. The
> location of page numbers has also changed. In many documents, the page
> number is not in a corner. It is often in the middle of the top or bottom
> line and sometimes it is located in the middle of the page in the left or
> right margin.
> SOLUTION: It's best to determine in advance if the page numbers
> are going to be a problem. Open the book or document to somewhere in the
> middle and search for a page number. If you can't find one after using the
> Optacon on several pages, try again using diffferent adjustments on the
> Optacon including the invert switch, the zoom lens, and the threshold
> knob.
> For users without an Optacon, it's best to ask someone sighted not only
> where the page numbers are located but what color they are.
>
> PROBLEM: Every page in this book has a stupid border around it.
> REASON: The book or document has been deliberately scan-proofed by
> the publisher. Slabs of color in strategic places are not just a
> decoration. They serve the purpose of obstructing a scan or photocopy by
> causing these devices to miss top and bottom lines of print, headings and
> other truly necessary elements. This is to prevent companies and schools
> from making multiple copies of material instead of purchasing it.
> SOLUTION: If you must scan a document with a thick border on every
> page, be sure to carefully check that the top and bottom lines of each
> page got included in the scan. If you are enterprising and find that the
> thing is not scanning well, take some strips of white paper and lay them
> on the scanner glass to correspond approximately with the border. Then lay
> the page to be scanned on top of these. It may take a little experimenting
> but soon you will be scanning your pages with all the print, and no
> gibberish from the decorative borders.
>
> PROBLEM: THIS BOOK IS FULL OF PICTURES.
> REASON: Visual appeal.
> SOLUTION: The Optacon user definitely has the advantage here.
> Pages with pictures can make a scan infinitely slower and often full of
> unnecessary gibberish and errors. For these reasons, using your Optacon to
> examine eah page is well worth the time. If every page containing a
> picture places it in the same location, e.g. the top half of the page,
> most scanning programs will catch on to this after scanning several pages.
> You might, at the end of the scan, go back and re-scan the first couple of
> pages to get a better result. To speed up the scan, or if the pictures are
> on a different place on each page, you can use a piece of plain white
> paper cut to the needed size. Place this paper on the scanner glass. Then
> place the page to be scanned on top. Check your scan to be sure that you
> got the first couple of lines. If it's easier, you can use tape and
> position the paper over the picture write in the book.
>
> THESE PROBLEMS AND A WHOLE LOT MORE, MAKE ME GLAD THAT I HAVE AN OPTACON
> TO HELP ME SCAN.
> Catherine
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -Catherine Thomas
> braille@xxxxxxxxx /
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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