1dollarscan - are the extras worth it?

[BeccaPrice]

I just sent a book off to 1dollarscan to be converted to electronic format. I found myself signing up for all sorts of extras, including the high quality scan (600 dpi black and white) and the high quality touch up. This raised my total to something like $21. It's an old book, with yellowed pages, and I don't begrudge the money for the scanning, but now I'm wondering whether I'm paying for features that I don't really need. for example, is the 600 dpi scanning really worth while, since there are no graphics in the book?

What have been other people's experiences with 1dollarscan? next book, can I get away with just the basic services? I don't mind paying for quality, but if I don't need some of the services, I'd rather not pay for them.

[joehunt]

The only scanning extra I pay for is OCR (so the PDF is searchable) and I have never encountered any problems, including with graphics.

I buy very cheap out of print books (which I'm sure are terribly yellowed) from Amazon and have them sent directly to 1dollarscan (paying for Amazon direct of course), so I never know what the original book looked like. All PDF's I've been sent from 1dollarscan are perfectly readable and easy to put through Abbyy Finereader.

[BeccaPrice]

Do I need something like Abbyy Finereader (which I understand costs $20/year, or am I confusing it with something else?) to convert the OCRed PDF into an epub or mobi format so I can read it on my kindle? Because if I have to start paying for lots of extras, it stops being a reasonable thing for me to do, even though these are out of print books not available in eformat by fair means or foul.

I had intended just to run the PDF through calibre and convert it that way.

[joehunt]

Abbyyy Finereader is a software program that you purchase. I convert the PDF to html files and then covert them to epub/mobi. Abbyy's a bit pricey, but I personally use it enough to justify the cost.

I don't know about converting PDF files using Calibre - you may want to check the workshop or Calibre forums on MR about converting PDF's.

Just be prepared for a very large file from 1dollarscan (mine with only normal OCR are usually around 350,000 KB). Your high quality scan will probably be larger and just might choke Calibre. But hopefully someone will have experience with this and be able to help you more.

[BeccaPrice]

oh, great - how do they deliver the scan, by email? I don't know if my emailer can handle files that size.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by joehunt

Abbyyy Finereader is a software program that you purchase. I convert the PDF to html files and then covert them to epub/mobi. Abbyy's a bit pricey, but I personally use it enough to justify the cost.

ABBYY has been sending me emails about a holiday sale on Finereader 11 @ $99. Do not know if that price is still good or when the sale ends, but if anyone thinks they'd use the software frequently, a very good price! I already have Finereader 10 and don't feel the need to upgrade. I love using Finereader for OCR.

Personally, I have never had much luck with PDF to ePub conversions through Calibre, but I also have never tried it with a 1 dollar scan PDF.

[BeccaPrice]

This is the first book I've done this with, and if it's going to cost me an additional $99 bit of software to make my files useful, it'll probably be the last time. I just can't afford this. Oh, well. I'll just have to do without my Veryans in eformat. *sigh*

[graycyn]

By the way, unless a book is illustrated, I doubt that 600dpi scans are needful. I scan my own books, I never use more than 300dpi for text and Finereader has had no issues at all reading my scans, even those on books with yellowed pages.

I will scan illustrations and covers at 600 dpi, but I like high resolution devices, so I prefer to have the resolution and resize downward if needed.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by joehunt

The only scanning extra I pay for is OCR (so the PDF is searchable) and I have never encountered any problems, including with graphics.

I buy very cheap out of print books (which I'm sure are terribly yellowed) from Amazon and have them sent directly to 1dollarscan (paying for Amazon direct of course), so I never know what the original book looked like. All PDF's I've been sent from 1dollarscan are perfectly readable and easy to put through Abbyy Finereader.

I know it depends on the number of pages, but how much does a book usually run you with shipping and any additional fees?


Also, why do you run the books through Abby FR if you already have them do the OCR on the files?

Also, in the file you receive from them, do the pages of the books include the page numbers and book/chapter titles on every page, which you'll need to remove before converting to mobi/ePub?

[jbcohen]

Here is a question for all those 1dollar scan customer's - how do you get around the fact that shipping to the company will cost more than the scanning does? Do you send a lot of books at a time? Do they return the books after the scanning process?

[joehunt]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

oh, great - how do they deliver the scan, by email? I don't know if my emailer can handle files that size.

They advise by email when the file is ready. You log into your account and under "my orders" you'll find a link to download the book.

Originally Posted by xendula

I know it depends on the number of pages, but how much does a book usually run you with shipping and any additional fees?

Also, why do you run the books through Abby FR if you already have them do the OCR on the files?

Also, in the file you receive from them, do the pages of the books include the page numbers and book/chapter titles on every page, which you'll need to remove before converting to mobi/ePub?

I usually pay a few pennies for the book, plus $3.99 shipping. The books I purchase range from 300-400 pages, so scanning normally costs $9 - $12 (including Amazon direct and OCR). I currently only average about 1 book a month, so to me the price is fair. If I wanted to digitize hundreds of books, I would look for a different solution.

I run them through Abbyy to convert the pdf to html, which makes conversion to epub/mobi very easy and clean. The pdf from 1dollarscan does include page numbers and book/chapter titles, but Abbyy removes them.

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Here is a question for all those 1dollar scan customer's - how do you get around the fact that shipping to the company will cost more than the scanning does? Do you send a lot of books at a time? Do they return the books after the scanning process?

The books are not returned - they are taken apart before scanning and destroyed afterwards.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by joehunt

I usually pay a few pennies for the book, plus $3.99 shipping. The books I purchase range from 300-400 pages, so scanning normally costs $9 - $12 (including Amazon direct and OCR). I currently only average about 1 book a month, so to me the price is fair. If I wanted to digitize hundreds of books, I would look for a different solution.

I run them through Abbyy to convert the pdf to html, which makes conversion to epub/mobi very easy and clean. The pdf from 1dollarscan does include page numbers and book/chapter titles, but Abbyy removes them.



The books are not returned - they are taken apart before scanning and destroyed afterwards.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Joehunt. What exactly is Amazon direct? Is that a reference to KDP?

I guess I could just use Adobe Pro to convert to HTML, though I don't remember seeing an automated way to remove footers and headers. Does Abby have a simple or automated way to do this?

Also, I though they send you the book back, just spineless and loose.

[joehunt]

Originally Posted by xendula

Thanks for sharing your experience, Joehunt. What exactly is Amazon direct? Is that a reference to KDP?

I guess I could just use Adobe Pro to convert to HTML, though I don't remember seeing an automated way to remove footers and headers. Does Abby have a simple or automated way to do this?

Also, I though they send you the book back, just spineless and loose.

Amazon direct is an extra at 1dollarscan, which enables you to send the book from a bookseller directly to them (saves shipping the book yourself).

Removing footers and headers on Abbyy is automatic (there's a "switch" to turn them on or off - mine is always set to "off').

Thankfully, the destroyed books are never sent back

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

This is the first book I've done this with, and if it's going to cost me an additional $99 bit of software to make my files useful, it'll probably be the last time. I just can't afford this. Oh, well. I'll just have to do without my Veryans in eformat. *sigh*

Can't you just read the PDF on your Kindle as is? While I prefer reading epub on my Sony, I have read PDFs OK if they are just basic text fiction.

There's also a cheaper version of Finereader, called Finereader Express, that's on sale too.

At any rate, I wish you luck getting your favorite titles in ebook form. It can have its aggravations, but is also very rewarding.

[BeccaPrice]

Will Finereader Express automatically cut out headers and footers/page numbers?

ETA: I just ordered it - for $30, it seemed worth a try.