View Single Post
Old 06-16-2006, 02:38 AM   #2
ath
Addict
ath doesn't litterath doesn't litter
 
Posts: 222
Karma: 110
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Malmo, Sweden
Device: iLiad, Sony PRS-505, Kindle Paperwhite & Oasis
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Gray
But that leaves the question of how do I do it? Flatbed scanners seem desructive and although I have a very good OCR program (Abby fine reader), the "lift" in the spine seems to cause problems.
Unless you have access to an overhead scanner, scanning is very probably going to be destructive to some extent.

Scanning books quickly means, unfortunately, cutting them up, and running them through a page-fed scanner.

You can scan page spreads with a flat-bed scanner, but it will stress the spine and the hinges of the book in a way that doesn't happen with ordinary reading. I've done several late 19th century books on a largish flatbed, and if the books don't break up entirely, the back cover is usually ripped afterwards, and some of the sections are starting. There is also some risk of ripping or folding a page due to clumsy handling.

There are scanners where the scanning area extends to the edge of the device (see Plustek OpticBook 3600, or the 3600 Plus if you're going for PDF -- and I think Xerox has/had a similar scanner). This lessens the stress on the spine, but it doubles the effort and time, as well as doubles the risk of damaging the page.

I know of some experiments with a camera (a digital camera is a kind of overhead scanner, and with a film camera you can often get decent scans made from the film), but it definitely requires more than just point-and-click. You will at least need some kind of good camera stand, as well as good, even lighting. See project Runeberg for more info.

Last edited by ath; 06-16-2006 at 03:19 AM.
ath is offline   Reply With Quote