[bksvol-discuss] Re: Recommendations for OCR and Scan software

  • From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2009 22:55:11 -0500

Hi Denise. I'm glad you have had the chance to play with a free program
because it's shown you what's possible and what you need to work well. With
your price range in mind, buying a used copy of FineReader from a place like
EBay or Amazon Marketplace might fill the bill. You could also do a search
to find good deals from Froogle. FineReader is the program most of us use
for scanning. Kurzweil and Openbook are a sort of wrapper or front end for
FineReader to make it read well. A brand new copy of FineReader 9 costs
around $400. However, used versions of 7 or 8 are available for much less
than that. Sometimes I see FineReader 7 or 8 being sold that has never been
opened at all. FineReader 8 is what they used in the Bookshare office until
last year, and it's the scanning engine in the latest versions of both
Kurzweil and Openbook. So you wouldn't be resorting to something old that
you'd need to hold together with chewing gum and duct tape. :-) I know
several volunteers who are still scanning with FineReader 7, and their work
is truly excellent. You couldn't tell which volunteer is using which version
of FineReader except for possibly with math textbooks or art magazines. 

 

I hope this helps. You're a pretty resourceful woman, so I probably don't
even need to say this next part. Just in case. If you're new to using EBay
or Froogle for shopping, I will be happy to help you learn to use the sites.
They are how many of us were able to afford our scanning technology. Most of
us know well the need to be frugal, so you're in good company. :-)

 

Monica Willyard

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

  _____  

From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Denise Wagner
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 4:30 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Recommendations for OCR and Scan software

 

Hi all,

 

I've seen many software titles mentioned here in the discussion group and my
head is spinning.  I'm currently in a position where I must be frugal, so I
downloaded a free program called FreeOCR to do some scanning and converting
to get my feet wet.  Where I was really enjoying the scanning and it was
very easy, there were a few things missing from the software that I thought
would make it easier.  First, I could only scan one page at a time, convert
it to OCR, then scan the next.  The pages were not saved under the same
document.  I would have to scan and save each page and name them
individually.  This would be quite cumbersome and annoying.  Second, I left
my computer to come back in the afternoon, and all my work was gone.  I'd
love to be able to save as I go.  Third, I was going to have to put the
entire converted document into Word, then go back and put all the page
breaks in after everything was done.

 

So, free is nice, but my time is money.  Can anyone recommend a good
software that's relatively easy to use that has some good bells and
whistles?  I can't afford hundreds of dollars, but my budget will allow a
little spending -- maybe less than one hundred?  I am sighted, so I don't
know if that makes a difference.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Denise

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