Re: Scanning Tips
- From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 06:01:31 -0700
Hello,
Does anyone have suggestions for better scanning columns on pages? I've got
Kurzweil Version 10.1, and even this does a bad job with columns as far as
I'm concerned. Thanks for any help anyone can give.
Linda Gehres
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: Scanning Tips
>
> 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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>
>
> To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
>
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>
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>
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