What is the best way to convert scanned books?

Wolfrott · 12-20-2015, 06:54 AM

If I had a book that had an insane number of pages; say, 500-1200, I cannot possibly use OCR for obvious reasons.

What would be the most efficent, easiest way to convert it via Calibre to read on a Kindle?

PDF or...?

HarryT · 12-20-2015, 07:12 AM

Use a commercial scanning service, such as 1dollarscan.

Wolfrott · 01-13-2016, 05:53 AM

Is it safe? Reputable and such?

HarryT · 01-14-2016, 03:58 AM

Yes. Be aware, though, that you don't get your book back; it's a destructive scanning process.

deback · 01-31-2016, 11:47 AM

Convert the file to .txt, add ## above each section in the book using your text editor, and then when done editing the file, open the .txt file in Calibre, click on Txt Input, choose Markdown in the Structure dropdown box, and then convert the file to epub. Markdown will create separate HTML files for each section that's in your .txt file. Then you can use the Edit Book feature in Calibre to edit everything. Then convert the epub file to mobi.

HarryT · 02-01-2016, 03:17 AM

The OP is asking how to convert the book to text, not how to format it.

nomistakes · 02-05-2016, 05:23 AM

Adobe X Pro

HarryT · 02-05-2016, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomistakes

Adobe X Pro

How much does that cost?

goldilocks · 02-05-2016, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfrott

If I had a book that had an insane number of pages; say, 500-1200, I cannot possibly use OCR for obvious reasons.

What would be the most efficent, easiest way to convert it via Calibre to read on a Kindle?

PDF or...?

Are your books already scanned? If so, how, and what file type were they saved as? What are the obvious reasons they cannot be OCR'd? Not so obvious to me. If you don't OCR and correct the book, you will have pictures only and quite a large file.

Reference 1dollarscan - don't let the name fool you. It is not $1.00 per book. It is $1.00 per hundred pages. Then you have to pay to ship it and of course, the book is cut up for scanning. So if you have a 1200 page book it will cost you $12.00 plus. If an eBook is available it may be cheaper to purchase then sending it out for scanning.

R-Bowe · 02-14-2016, 06:05 AM

tesseract-ocr : dated but free, command line driven and batchable
process I use is: scan to BMP - batch trim with imagemagick and batch convert to RTF with tesseract followed with proofing in a widely available wordprocessing app then calibre to mobi/epub.

12-20-2015, 06:54 AM	#1
Wolfrott Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad Mini / Voyage	What is the best way to convert scanned books? If I had a book that had an insane number of pages; say, 500-1200, I cannot possibly use OCR for obvious reasons. What would be the most efficent, easiest way to convert it via Calibre to read on a Kindle? PDF or...?

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12-20-2015, 07:12 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Use a commercial scanning service, such as 1dollarscan.

01-13-2016, 05:53 AM	#3
Wolfrott Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad Mini / Voyage	Is it safe? Reputable and such?

01-14-2016, 03:58 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes. Be aware, though, that you don't get your book back; it's a destructive scanning process.

01-31-2016, 11:47 AM	#5
deback Book E d i t o r Posts: 432 Karma: 288184 Join Date: May 2015 Device: Laptop	Convert the file to .txt, add ## above each section in the book using your text editor, and then when done editing the file, open the .txt file in Calibre, click on Txt Input, choose Markdown in the Structure dropdown box, and then convert the file to epub. Markdown will create separate HTML files for each section that's in your .txt file. Then you can use the Edit Book feature in Calibre to edit everything. Then convert the epub file to mobi.

02-01-2016, 03:17 AM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The OP is asking how to convert the book to text, not how to format it.

02-05-2016, 05:23 AM	#7
nomistakes Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2014 Device: Samsung Galaxy note 8	Adobe X Pro

02-14-2016, 06:05 AM	#10
R-Bowe Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2016 Device: kindle	tesseract-ocr : dated but free, command line driven and batchable process I use is: scan to BMP - batch trim with imagemagick and batch convert to RTF with tesseract followed with proofing in a widely available wordprocessing app then calibre to mobi/epub.

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