help. how do i convert my paperback novel to use on reader

[dippybird]

hi can anyone help me i have a collection of paperback books (6 in total) that i bought many years ago i have searched everywhere and contacted the publishers to buy them in ebook format but there are no plans by the publishers to do this, is there a way i could do it myself, i have bought the books so they are mine and dont want to sell them just use them on my ereader, im not very technically minded so would need to be as simple as possible process, these books are by william horwood just incase anyone has found them thank you for any help dippybird

[Juliette]

Hello, and welcome to the forum

My guess would be digital pics put together in a pdf or scanners (that usually ship with programs for creating pdfs). It can take a long time, I know! It also depends on the size of the book (and of the pdf).

Or maybe you can run the images through an OCR program, so that you can have a proper text (which can be easier to process by the Reader). I am not an expert in OCR, so I can't suggest you a program that will work without too many problems.

[Kashue]

Hello.
I think that Abbyy FineReader http://finereader.abbyy.com/ will do the job..
To convert paper book to electronic form You can chose 2 ways...
First (quicker) scan it to images...but it will be hard to scale on ereader
Second(longer) You can transform images to normal text with OCR program (like FineReader),open program , click Wizard...and the job will do automatic...but it's very important to scan quality have been good,becosue if not..there OCR will make lots of mistakes in reconizing text proces.

[AnemicOak]

These threads & wiki articles may be of some interest...

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Digi...ooks_to_Ebooks
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OCR

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58014
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13848


You'll find other threads in the Workshop section of the forum as well as threads on how to turn your scanned/OCR'd text into various book formats such as LRF or EPUB for your Sony.

[ardeegee]

What are the names of the books?

[charleski]

I have to warn you that scanning then doing the OCR and formatting is a labour of love that's not to be undertaken lightly, especially if you're learning as you go. I've converted a few free ebooks from PDF to ePub and even that is a mission (I am very picky about formatting though and get annoyed at the errors that need to be fixed).

[doreenjoy]

I have found the absolute best way is to:

1. Use a regular scanner to create PDF files of the book.
2. Run the PDF through ABBYY PDF Transformer (much cheaper and simpler than ABBYY's Finereader)
3. Do a quick check through the resulting RTF file for any gross errors.

I've found the ABBYY software to be one of the best on the market.

[charleski]

You left out: stripping out page numbers/headers, spell-checking (even good OCR programs can still produce howlers), tagging chapters, removing errant paragraph marks and general clean-up.

ABBYY does a reasonable job of pouring the pages into raw text, but transforming that into a properly-formatted eBook that can be read without glaring errors every page or two still requires a lot of manual editing.

[Treven]

My only OCR experience(s) has been with Omni Page a number of years ago. It wasn't very good so I finally gave up using that. Has OCR gotten any better with age?

I have a book written by George Nader a good number of years ago that I wouldn't mind making into a digital format, but I'm just not all that sure that I really want to cut the spine off the book and then scan each 2-sided page, and then simply throw it away. I'm sure it would take a lot of time just doing the scanning; let alone doing any editing.

[Silverexpress]

Here is what I do.

Step 1. Take book to Fedex Kinkos (Now known as Fed Ex Express), and have them cut
book up. They have a machine that can do it in less than 5 minutes. Cost $2
but it depends on the time it takes.

Step 2. Take cut up pages home and scan with Fujitsu double sided scanner with ADF
(Model S510; newer version available). Scanner converts to PDF + OCR, and is
very fast, and reliable. One advice is to have a tiny vacuum with a soft brush
head - this is needed to vacuum paper dust and particles that tend to accu-
mulate on the light sensors inside the scanner. If you don't, you'll get streaks
on your scanned pages. I also scan in color. The current readers will show shades
of grey, but I do it in anticipation of when color readers start to appear.

Step 3. Open pdf of cut pages with Acrobat 8 (came with Scanner above), and add tags.
This is a very important step. Tags act like markers that signify paragraphs, page
breaks etc. You can find this option under "Advanced" drop down menu.

Step 4. I use MS Word to rebuild the PDF above into a format that is friendly to the
Sony Ereader. I set up margins and a page layout that is equal to the screen
size. Once done I save it as a template that is protected. Also in "Word Options"
I set the "PASTE" settings to "Match Destination Formatting".

Step 5. Install "PURETEXT". Search for it.

Step 6. I open the master PDF of the book I created using the scanner. Copy a page of text.

Step 7. Before I paste it onto my Word Template, I set the font, font size, paragraph layout...etc. I then use Puretext to paste it onto the word template, and save it under a different name; such as the title of the book. Repeat step #6, until done.

Step 8. Once the Word document is complete, I then convert it back to PDF using the internal Word "SAVE AS PDF" function. However, I've invested in PDF Xchange 4 since it has easier settings than MS WORD.

I'm crazy about fly fishing, and I have invested hundereds in books that I reference over and over again. I use to carry maybe 25-50 lbs of books, and my library is still growing. Now I've started to convert everything to pdf that is readable on my PRS-700. I've already got two books over 300 pages each, and I enjoy re-reading them everytime. More on the way.

I've attached the Word Template formatted for a PRS-700 or like sized ereader screen. Font is set for "Times Roman" size 11 - which I find comfortable to my eyes. I've also attached a sample page from a handbook I converted.

So above is the process I use, and am continually finding ways of optimizing. For example, I started by doing the cutting myself, and then found out that Kinko's actually had a commercial machine that did it for a small fee. This sped up the process. Next, the Fujitsu S510 scanner came with ABByy Finereader, so this means that it can scan and output directly to MS Word with tags, reformating...etc, and this may rid the extra step of PDF -> Word -> PDF. However, I have yet to try it. Lastly, the latest version of the S510, the S1500 can scan directly to MS WORD without the use of ABBYY to my understanding.

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by charleski

You left out: stripping out page numbers/headers, spell-checking (even good OCR programs can still produce howlers), tagging chapters, removing errant paragraph marks and general clean-up.

ABBYY does a reasonable job of pouring the pages into raw text, but transforming that into a properly-formatted eBook that can be read without glaring errors every page or two still requires a lot of manual editing.

They claim that FR10 has improved automatic detection of page structure: chapter headings, page numbers etc. Trial version is available now.

[dippybird]

hi guys thank you for all your suggestions but sounds bit over my head, (ardeegee the books are the duncton collection by william horwood have had them for years and love them soo much would be great to be able to have them with me to read anytime, have read them at least dozen times and bought the whole collection at least four times) was hoping it would be more simple than suggested above i can use basic functions on comp but ocr and things like that are way over my head but cant see these books ever going to e book well not for lot of years thank you for all the links am going to look at them see if my blonde brain can work it out using them x

[rvdparis]

If you have a Mac: You could try to just scan book pages with a regular scanner, and then OCR with Devonthink Pro Office (convert to pdf). It turns your PDF file into one that is indexed (you can select text, copy, paste, etc.). Then turn it into an RTF file to then be converted to ePub or whatever for your reader (pdf also can be put into epub format with Calibre). It is so easy, it's unbelievable. I have thousands of pdf files (some old articles) that I just churned through DTPro, then into epub. The results astonished me...I used OmniPage way back when, and had to do so much correction etc. Things have evolved since then. There are so few errors I found with DTPro, that I am sticking with it for now. DTPro Office uses an ABBY plugin to do the work.

If you've only got 6 books, then I would do the scan thing, OCR with DTPro Office and then epub them. Cutting up the books sounds like a good idea (will certainly make your job easier) but maybe not necessary if you're careful.

[Slite]

Or... if it doesnt bother your moral issues all that much. You could try to turn to the "darknet" as I am pretty sure they are available as unauthorized versions already.

the problem with that however is usually what quality they are in

[dippybird]

from a moral point of view slite i do own copies of all the books i want on my e reader but wouldnt have a clue where to look on the darknet dont even now what that is (told you got blonde brain) so dont think it would be immoral to get them there as long as the person i got them from knew i was getting them if that makes sense oohslite i dont suppose slightly off track you have mms and wap settings for 3 network i keep ringing them for them and all they keep telling me is they dont have them samsung has and when i ask samsung they say to get them from 3 again thanks to everyone for your help x