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NVash · 04-26-2010, 12:28 PM

Im new here and very uneducated about scanners and everything else. My area of expertise is video games so Im a fish out of water. But nonetheless I do alot of reading on my iTouch and Droid. I have a few older books that Id like to scan and have tried to but had no luck. I use a Macbook Pro and have an HP Scanner / Printer. Not quiet sure on the make and model but its about two or three years old. On my Macbook the apps I can open are HP Photosmart 3100 Series, HP Photosmart Studio and HP Device Manager. Usually I try to scan through Photosmart Studio. I dont know if that matters or not. But Ive said it many times, using an HP scanner on a Macbook could be my first problem.

See, the Droid uses this program called Aldiko. Aldiko only uses EPUB. I use Calibre to convert PDF to EPUB. Stanza for the iTouch does LIT or EPUB. I prefer to have the same book on both devices because I dont always carry my iTouch but I always carry my cell phone. Just remember what chapter Im on and continue, thats the way Id prefer to do it.

Frankly, if at all possible, Id prefer to scan it in LIT format. I dont know if that is possible, thats Microsoft and I use a Macbook Pro. When I scan though I try to do it in PDF since then I can immediately put it through Calibre, convert it and put it on both devices. Never works. I have a few problems and some questions.
1) The pages come out ridiculously huge, slightly yellow and a very large file size. I may end up with a book thats a GB or so file when its only 200 pages.
2) As Im scanning Id also like to add JPEGs but have no idea how. I have a friend thats an author, she recently put out a book but doesnt know how to scan. Id like to make her an EBook version to sell and add all sorts of Bonus Content such as pics from the movie, musical and even of her new book if at all possible but I cant find the option to add pics to the file.
3) I actually tried to scan a full script once. The book I only got to page 03 before I quit. The script I made it to page 50, I got an Error message, the program shut down and none of it saved so I had to start all over again. That happened three times and then I quit. I think I had gone through HP Photosmart Studio then as well.

Now my questions...
1) How do I scan these books?
2) The books, do they need to be taken apart or can I actually keep them in good condition?
3) Exactly how long might it take per book?
4) What format should I scan them in so that they can be transferred to LIT and EPUB easily?
5) I have no idea where my original software that came with my printer is, I have since moved and may have lost it. Would that be a problem?
6) Ive read about OCR, whats that?

Can someone please help? I cant even begin to say how frustrating this is. I was directed here from posting this same thread over in the iPod forum and also directed to this thread here...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9780
... which Im currently reading but any more help would be greatly appreciated.

04-26-2010, 12:28 PM	#1
NVash Wandering Vagabond Posts: 282 Karma: 350000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: iPod Touch	Plese HELP! Trying To Scan A Book V2! Im new here and very uneducated about scanners and everything else. My area of expertise is video games so Im a fish out of water. But nonetheless I do alot of reading on my iTouch and Droid. I have a few older books that Id like to scan and have tried to but had no luck. I use a Macbook Pro and have an HP Scanner / Printer. Not quiet sure on the make and model but its about two or three years old. On my Macbook the apps I can open are HP Photosmart 3100 Series, HP Photosmart Studio and HP Device Manager. Usually I try to scan through Photosmart Studio. I dont know if that matters or not. But Ive said it many times, using an HP scanner on a Macbook could be my first problem. See, the Droid uses this program called Aldiko. Aldiko only uses EPUB. I use Calibre to convert PDF to EPUB. Stanza for the iTouch does LIT or EPUB. I prefer to have the same book on both devices because I dont always carry my iTouch but I always carry my cell phone. Just remember what chapter Im on and continue, thats the way Id prefer to do it. Frankly, if at all possible, Id prefer to scan it in LIT format. I dont know if that is possible, thats Microsoft and I use a Macbook Pro. When I scan though I try to do it in PDF since then I can immediately put it through Calibre, convert it and put it on both devices. Never works. I have a few problems and some questions. 1) The pages come out ridiculously huge, slightly yellow and a very large file size. I may end up with a book thats a GB or so file when its only 200 pages. 2) As Im scanning Id also like to add JPEGs but have no idea how. I have a friend thats an author, she recently put out a book but doesnt know how to scan. Id like to make her an EBook version to sell and add all sorts of Bonus Content such as pics from the movie, musical and even of her new book if at all possible but I cant find the option to add pics to the file. 3) I actually tried to scan a full script once. The book I only got to page 03 before I quit. The script I made it to page 50, I got an Error message, the program shut down and none of it saved so I had to start all over again. That happened three times and then I quit. I think I had gone through HP Photosmart Studio then as well. Now my questions... 1) How do I scan these books? 2) The books, do they need to be taken apart or can I actually keep them in good condition? 3) Exactly how long might it take per book? 4) What format should I scan them in so that they can be transferred to LIT and EPUB easily? 5) I have no idea where my original software that came with my printer is, I have since moved and may have lost it. Would that be a problem? 6) Ive read about OCR, whats that? Can someone please help? I cant even begin to say how frustrating this is. I was directed here from posting this same thread over in the iPod forum and also directed to this thread here... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9780 ... which Im currently reading but any more help would be greatly appreciated.