Using handheld scanner

Idoine · 06-06-2009, 11:03 PM

Hi all !

I have some books I'll want to scan. I tried with my printer/scanner, but it's way too fastidious (open the book, put on the glass, click button, verify the scanned text, change page, etc...)
So I think of handheld scanners, as Docupen (for a full page) or IrisPen (for a one-line-at-a-time scan).
Is anyone of you using these, or anything like it ?
And what is your opinion ?

Thanks in advance !

PS : I don't want to unbind my books, they are mostly books out of publishing, hard to find (if not impossible !)

ahi · 06-07-2009, 01:51 AM

Wow... just checked out the Docupen on youtube.

I'm not certain it's ergonomically viable for any large project... but I'd also be curious about any first-hand impressions.

- Ahi

katysax · 06-07-2009, 12:20 PM

Most people now use a digital camera instead of a handheld scanner.

ahi · 06-07-2009, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katysax

Most people now use a digital camera instead of a handheld scanner.

Professionally though?

The necessary setup for taking consistently high quality and easily processable pictures with a digital camera almost seem more onerous than using a flatbed scanner.

Not that I'm entirely convinced the hand-held scanner would do a perfect job either... but based on the demonstration video I saw, it seemed to do.

- Ahi

katysax · 06-07-2009, 02:06 PM

There are three ways to get a high quality professional scan of a book:

1. Cut the binding and scan the pages either with a sheetfed or flatbed scanner.

2. Have a very high end scanner specially designed to compensate for the curvature of a book.

3. Use a camera.

A flat bed scanner is less satisfactory than a camera because of the curvature of the book. Camera scanning can be OCRd with a product like ABBYY and made into an ebook. Handheld scanners are terrible and good for minimal scanning. The main reason is that there are almost no handheld scanners made is that digital cameras are better. Scholars who work in libraries regularly use digital cameras.

Idoine · 06-07-2009, 03:27 PM

Well, I'm no scholar, neither professional ! I just want to scan 20 or so books, small paperback ones, and I don't want to spend too much in specialized scanner, or digitalizing systems...
I have a little digital camera, but no tripod, and I don't see how to take pics of a page in a book that keeps closing itself !

At least I could do it with a handheld scanner, and keep sitting at that !

DDHarriman · 06-07-2009, 04:42 PM

Hi

I advise you to check the optickbook 3600 (http://www.plustek.com/product/book3600.asp), who is a dedicated book scanner (and it does everything any other flatbed does too).

Probably it will cost you the same or less then a handheld scanner, and gives outstanding results.

Best regards,

phenomshel · 06-07-2009, 05:21 PM

Also, for a camera solution, try www.bkrpr.org The set up costs about fifty dollars US to make, (not counting the cameras, of course), and looks like it'd work really well. The problem would then be the proofreading.

Idoine · 06-10-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

Hi

I advise you to check the optickbook 3600 (http://www.plustek.com/product/book3600.asp), who is a dedicated book scanner (and it does everything any other flatbed does too).

Probably it will cost you the same or less then a handheld scanner, and gives outstanding results.

Best regards,

Thanks, it seems more respectful of the book, and easier to use too. But I'm a little bit short of place...

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Also, for a camera solution, try www.bkrpr.org The set up costs about fifty dollars US to make, (not counting the cameras, of course), and looks like it'd work really well. The problem would then be the proofreading.

It seems to be great, but I'm not really the "do-it yourself" gal; in my flat, yes, the usual things, but that...

hydin · 06-14-2009, 12:43 AM

I am in kind of the same boat. I have a few paperback books I would like to scan in, but have no desire to destroy the book. I think I might try the pen scanning thing first (wizcom infoscan or quicklink) as opposed to the plustek scanner though. Mainly an issue of price versus the sheer amount of time I have to do this.

Has anyone tried using a hand scanner like the old handheld photo scanners or the pen scanners to digitize a book?

Idoine · 06-14-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydin

...
Has anyone tried using a hand scanner like the old handheld photo scanners or the pen scanners to digitize a book?

This week I had the opportunity to try an IrisPen scanner, and though it's great for scanning articles, or paragraphs, it would take too much time to scan an entire book with it !

So I'll wait a little to spare some money, and buy the Docupen RC800 instead !

hydin · 06-14-2009, 01:29 PM

The Docupen looks pretty cool, but can it scan a paperback sized book? All the videos and pictures I have seen show it scanning full sized things, not smaller.

It looks pretty awesome though, and I can see using it a little easier than finding the place to put one of those tabletop scanners....

Idoine · 06-14-2009, 01:46 PM

They insist on the width capability, but if you watch the presentation, you'll see it can scan receipts and so, though I don't see why it couldn't scan paperback books.
It goes with Paperport, that permits to rotate the scanned page, so you could even scan the book from the binding side, then rotate, and send to Word or whatever text editor...

hydin · 06-14-2009, 06:42 PM

I did some checking and found some troubling reviews on the lower models.

I can't seem to find any reviews on the 805 though, so I guess it's pretty new.

The lowest I can find the 805 is 249.99, which is 20$ more than the plustek book scanner... I think I may have to decide if I really want to move this stuff to ebook or not.

Either way

for the heads up about the pen scanner

06-06-2009, 11:03 PM	#1
Idoine Which book will be next ? Posts: 661 Karma: 2172 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: France Device: Cybook Gen3 1.5, Sony PRS 600 RC, Samsung Omnia...	Using handheld scanner Hi all ! I have some books I'll want to scan. I tried with my printer/scanner, but it's way too fastidious (open the book, put on the glass, click button, verify the scanned text, change page, etc...) So I think of handheld scanners, as Docupen (for a full page) or IrisPen (for a one-line-at-a-time scan). Is anyone of you using these, or anything like it ? And what is your opinion ? Thanks in advance ! PS : I don't want to unbind my books, they are mostly books out of publishing, hard to find (if not impossible !)

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06-07-2009, 01:51 AM	#2
ahi Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 507333 Join Date: May 2009 Device: none	Wow... just checked out the Docupen on youtube. I'm not certain it's ergonomically viable for any large project... but I'd also be curious about any first-hand impressions. - Ahi

06-07-2009, 12:20 PM	#3
katysax Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 222 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Los Angeles Device: Kindle2, Kindle DX, prs 505	Most people now use a digital camera instead of a handheld scanner.

06-07-2009, 02:06 PM	#5
katysax Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 222 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Los Angeles Device: Kindle2, Kindle DX, prs 505	There are three ways to get a high quality professional scan of a book: 1. Cut the binding and scan the pages either with a sheetfed or flatbed scanner. 2. Have a very high end scanner specially designed to compensate for the curvature of a book. 3. Use a camera. A flat bed scanner is less satisfactory than a camera because of the curvature of the book. Camera scanning can be OCRd with a product like ABBYY and made into an ebook. Handheld scanners are terrible and good for minimal scanning. The main reason is that there are almost no handheld scanners made is that digital cameras are better. Scholars who work in libraries regularly use digital cameras.

06-07-2009, 03:27 PM	#6
Idoine Which book will be next ? Posts: 661 Karma: 2172 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: France Device: Cybook Gen3 1.5, Sony PRS 600 RC, Samsung Omnia...	Well, I'm no scholar, neither professional ! I just want to scan 20 or so books, small paperback ones, and I don't want to spend too much in specialized scanner, or digitalizing systems... I have a little digital camera, but no tripod, and I don't see how to take pics of a page in a book that keeps closing itself ! At least I could do it with a handheld scanner, and keep sitting at that !

06-07-2009, 04:42 PM	#7
DDHarriman Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4380 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Almada, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS 505, Kindle DXG and Samsung Galaxy Note	Hi I advise you to check the optickbook 3600 (http://www.plustek.com/product/book3600.asp), who is a dedicated book scanner (and it does everything any other flatbed does too). Probably it will cost you the same or less then a handheld scanner, and gives outstanding results. Best regards,

06-07-2009, 05:21 PM	#8
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Also, for a camera solution, try www.bkrpr.org The set up costs about fifty dollars US to make, (not counting the cameras, of course), and looks like it'd work really well. The problem would then be the proofreading.

06-14-2009, 12:43 AM	#10
hydin Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 186 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Paperwhite, Nook Glowlight 3	I am in kind of the same boat. I have a few paperback books I would like to scan in, but have no desire to destroy the book. I think I might try the pen scanning thing first (wizcom infoscan or quicklink) as opposed to the plustek scanner though. Mainly an issue of price versus the sheer amount of time I have to do this. Has anyone tried using a hand scanner like the old handheld photo scanners or the pen scanners to digitize a book?

06-14-2009, 01:29 PM	#12
hydin Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 186 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Paperwhite, Nook Glowlight 3	The Docupen looks pretty cool, but can it scan a paperback sized book? All the videos and pictures I have seen show it scanning full sized things, not smaller. It looks pretty awesome though, and I can see using it a little easier than finding the place to put one of those tabletop scanners....

06-14-2009, 01:46 PM	#13
Idoine Which book will be next ? Posts: 661 Karma: 2172 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: France Device: Cybook Gen3 1.5, Sony PRS 600 RC, Samsung Omnia...	They insist on the width capability, but if you watch the presentation, you'll see it can scan receipts and so, though I don't see why it couldn't scan paperback books. It goes with Paperport, that permits to rotate the scanned page, so you could even scan the book from the binding side, then rotate, and send to Word or whatever text editor...

06-14-2009, 06:42 PM	#14
hydin Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 186 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Paperwhite, Nook Glowlight 3	I did some checking and found some troubling reviews on the lower models. I can't seem to find any reviews on the 805 though, so I guess it's pretty new. The lowest I can find the 805 is 249.99, which is 20$ more than the plustek book scanner... I think I may have to decide if I really want to move this stuff to ebook or not. Either way for the heads up about the pen scanner

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