[bksvol-discuss] Re: Scanning Books With kurzweil 1000
- From: Kelly Pierce <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 20:08:39 -0600
I had to confront the same question a few weeks ago. In late 2013, I
said goodbye to my Pentium 4 machine running windows XP. I had been
using one or another Pentium 4 machine since 2004. I switched to a
Windows 8.1 computer with an Intel Haswell 4770 i7 chip, the fastest
on the market at the time. Unfortunately, neither the Epson 1640
scanner nor OpenBook 6 could run on Windows 8. Upgrading to OpenBook
seemed pointless. The software had not been updated since 2010 and the
scanning engines since 2008. When I got around to thinking about a
scanning solution this past summer, I learned that K1000 would be
upgraded soon. I decided to wait. Earlier this month, version 14 of
K1000 was released. I have ordered this program and expect to receive
it shortly. I have submitted nothing in the past year, waiting for my
new software and scanner. The old software used FineReader 6, which
has an unacceptable error rate when compared to modern versions of OCR
software.
PlusTek has the best flatbed scanners in the world for the home and
small office user. The company has two kinds of scanners that would be
of interest to Bookshare volunteers. The scanners support either the
A3 or A4 international paper standard. The A4 size is slightly larger
than 8 X 11.5-paper size found in the United States. A3 is slightly
smaller than 12 X 17 inches. This size is similar to that of tabloid
publications, such as some big city newspapers. The OpticBook line is
A4 scanners and OpticPro is the A3 scanners. The 3600, 3800, and 4800
are all A4 scanners. The 4800 has better specifications than the 3800.
From what I understand, the 3600 is no longer being shipped by the
company. Considering that we are interested in scanning printed text
into machine-readable characters, the 3800 would be a good choice for
an A4 scanner. In my view, the 4800 would work, but since I had no
intention of scanning images or photographs, the higher detail to the
scans would not help my basic scanning needs.
Despite the glowing recommendations about the 3800 scanner over the
years from many Bookshare volunteers, I decided to buy a Plustek
OpticPro A320. I anticipate this scanner has the quality of the 3800
but a bigger scanning surface to accommodate large books and for
occasional two-page scanning. If you want a flatbed scanner that is
big enough to scan any book regardless of size, then the A320 is your
scanner. Many books will be able to be scanned with two open pages. I
ran across a few books where my Epson 1640 seemed slightly too small.
I vowed to myself not to let that happen again. It certainly won’t
with the Plustek A320. It retails for about $470. For a quality
scanner like this, the price was well worth it.
I cannot wait for K1000 version 14 to arrive so I can begin using my
OpticPro A320 from Plustek.
Kelly
On 12/24/14, Valerie Maples <vlmaples1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> We love using the Plustek OpticBook, either the 3600 or 3800 work
> exceptionally well. If you are using a Mac with boot camp the 3800 has a
> slight edge, but you can probably get a better price on a 3600 and it isn’t
> that much slower. We scan all our books in one page mode over the edge, and
> it is faster for us then fixing any recognition errors from two page mode.
> Once you’ve done book edge scanning, you can never go back to anything else,
> in my opinion.
>
> Oh, yeah, we have scanned over 300 books on hours with no signs of wear and
> then passed it on to someone who is scanned several hundred books as well.
> We were fortunate to upgrade to a 3800 couple years ago so it could work
> better with my Mac using Boot Camp where a lamp patch on 3600 never worked
> quite right.
>
> Feel free to ask any questions… There are many users here we use the Plustek
> OpticBook and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone complain beyond the
> long-ago lamp issue.
>
> Merry Christmas!
> Valerie
>
>
>> On Dec 24, 2014, at 5:34 PM, Christopher Zeigler <chrisallen032@xxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello all
>> I am looking for a dedicated scanner one without all this thing of the
>> past I'm looking for a flatbed
>>
>> On Dec 24, 2014 6:30 PM, "Kelly Pierce" <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>> Do you want another combination unit? Those usually don't work as
>> well as dedicated scanner hardware. Your message doesn't say.
>>
>> also, are you looking for quality or a cheap compatible scanner?
>> Please share your parameters.
>>
>> Kelly
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/24/14, Christopher Zeigler <chrisallen032@xxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:chrisallen032@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>> > hello all:
>> > What scanners do you all use for scanning books?
>> > I talked to kurzweil educational systems and I asked scanning with my
>> > HP
>> > Officejet all in one printer it works over what is wrong that it works
>> > about 30 to 50 percent of the time then there's other times it will act
>> > up
>> > and not quite work with the program not sure but I talked to the
>> > company
>> > and they told me that I needed a USB connection t support Twain scanner
>> > however I do not want to give up the network of this printer so I am
>> > looking for a scanner that uses USB and works with a program
>> >
>> To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
>> bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list
>> of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
>>
>
>
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of
available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
Other related posts:
