New trend? digitize your books for $1USD each. - Page 10

anamardoll · 02-17-2012, 09:31 PM

Krystl, yay! (I need to just write a blog post about this, maybe.)

I haven't noticed any missing pages. I haven't read through every single book I've had scanned (they scan faster than I find time to convert), but I've converted several dozen and had no missing pages or problems.

andyh2000 · 02-18-2012, 04:17 AM

If only someone in the UK would start offering this sort of service. Nobody knows of one yet do they?

Andrew

Krystl · 02-18-2012, 06:02 AM

Anamardoll, why yes, you should

...and perhaps I should get myself in gear and start playing so that I can get this figured out. I am not against my PBB, and at first the thought of cutting books took some getting used to, but I plan on mixing and merging but there are just those books from college that are simply taking up space and unusable for research, as i cannot access them--such books are perfect for this!

Ab, about your experience with bookscan--have you noticed missed pages or so? As Anamardoll's process works with pdfs (without OCR unless she finds out otherwise) both companies seem to fit.

Right now I am setting up a serious plan of conversion, etc.

BeccaPrice · 02-18-2012, 01:08 PM

What format are the scans in? pdf? do their pdfs convert well to epub or mobi?

AnemicOak · 02-18-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

What format are the scans in? pdf? do their pdfs convert well to epub or mobi?

They're image based PDF's so you'd need to run them through OCR software like ABBYY Fine or Readiris to get them to a text based format like HTML, RTF or Doc and then do your conversion from there.

anamardoll · 02-18-2012, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

They're image based PDF's so you'd need to run them through OCR software like ABBYY Fine or Readiris to get them to a text based format like HTML, RTF or Doc and then do your conversion from there.

This. And ABBYY is $170 a license. It's not something that Calibre or whatever can automatically convert for free, I'm afraid.

BeccaPrice · 02-18-2012, 08:16 PM

all of a sudden, that $1/book doesn't sound so cheap after all.

blue_skies · 02-18-2012, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

This. And ABBYY is $170 a license. It's not something that Calibre or whatever can automatically convert for free, I'm afraid.

Is the cheaper ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Express Edition not as accurate as the ABBYY FineReader 11 Professional Edition? http://buy.abbyyusa.com/content/free...d-2181f10feed1

DebbyS · 02-19-2012, 11:08 AM

All the inexpensive scanners I've bought or used at work came with OCR software, most often Textbridge, plus an interface software, usually Paperport. I've found Textbridge to be quite accurate. A customer sent us a clean, clear PDF (that had not been made from a Word file but was an image), and Paperport pulled it up okay and Textbridge OCR'd it very nicely.

Just for your info

ps: thanks to whoever got my avatar to show up

I love taking pics of birds around here!

Kumabjorn · 02-19-2012, 12:14 PM

I can't claim to know the difference between the two versions. Usually there isn't a lot of difference in the OCR engine, they may even be identical at times. Instead the full version comes with networking or collaborative tools, handles formatting and graphics more exactly, perhaps with the capacity to schedule jobs, support for paper fed scanners etc.

anamardoll · 02-19-2012, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

all of a sudden, that $1/book doesn't sound so cheap after all.

It's not.

But when publishers cannot or will not release specific books as eBooks, the rest of us have an alternative.

AnemicOak · 02-19-2012, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

all of a sudden, that $1/book doesn't sound so cheap after all.

No, it's not. IMO it's most worth it for books you have a pretty good idea won't be coming out as eBooks anytime soon.

ab78727 · 02-20-2012, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krystl

Anamardoll, why yes, you should

...and perhaps I should get myself in gear and start playing so that I can get this figured out. I am not against my PBB, and at first the thought of cutting books took some getting used to, but I plan on mixing and merging but there are just those books from college that are simply taking up space and unusable for research, as i cannot access them--such books are perfect for this!

Ab, about your experience with bookscan--have you noticed missed pages or so? As Anamardoll's process works with pdfs (without OCR unless she finds out otherwise) both companies seem to fit.

Right now I am setting up a serious plan of conversion, etc.

Hi Krystl, I scrutinized the first set of 20 books from bookscan.us very carefully (i.e. moved to each page and checked page numbers) and found no errors in there. I even did random keyword searches and they came up as expected. My second (larger) set is in progress right now and I will scrutize it carefully as well (at least for page numbers - it may sound tedious but using Foxit + side-by-side view ensures that I can skim through the smaller books quickly).

I have not noticed any problems with 1DS either though sometimes their scans come in as slightly faded for some of my books (but not bad and the text within such blocks OCR's correctly as well from my random checks).

ab78727 · 02-20-2012, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

What format are the scans in? pdf? do their pdfs convert well to epub or mobi?

Both services (bookscan and 1dollarscan) offer OCR for additional cost. Bookscan will do OCR for $2/300-pages (vs. $1/300-pages) and so far, the quality looks good to me.

Arbait · 02-20-2012, 10:07 AM

Back with my report about BOOKSCAN.US

Fast and accurate scan and unbeatable support. I mention cheap?
(Fast = Book Received 02-15, List Sent 02-16, Scanned 02-17, Processed 02-17, Uploaded 02-17, Dropbox Notify 02-17)
300 pages per dollar, then increments of 200 pages per dollar, auto scan old books in color (yellow pages), files are named with human names (like Tarzan Alive_Philip J Farmer_312.pdf) and they are small - 312 pages = 32 MG.
Also they use Google Docs + Dropbox, so is easy to integrate with one workflow.

examples:
work list received from BOOKSCAN.US ->

page scanned ->
page OCR (ABBYY 11) ->
in work ->

Conclusion: I am very pleased with the result of collaboration with BOOKSCAN.US.
If you live - like me - in the EU, the cheapest way to send books to U.S. is the M bag, ask at the post office...

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02-17-2012, 09:31 PM	#136
anamardoll Chasing Butterflies Posts: 3,132 Karma: 5074169 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: American Southwest Device: Uses batteries.	Krystl, yay! (I need to just write a blog post about this, maybe.) I haven't noticed any missing pages. I haven't read through every single book I've had scanned (they scan faster than I find time to convert), but I've converted several dozen and had no missing pages or problems.

02-18-2012, 04:17 AM	#137
andyh2000 Avid reader Posts: 897 Karma: 6543210 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: UK Device: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 / Kindle Paperwhite / TCL Nxtpaper 14	If only someone in the UK would start offering this sort of service. Nobody knows of one yet do they? Andrew

02-18-2012, 06:02 AM	#138
Krystl Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 513697 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Salzburg, Austria Device: sony prs-t1	Anamardoll, why yes, you should ...and perhaps I should get myself in gear and start playing so that I can get this figured out. I am not against my PBB, and at first the thought of cutting books took some getting used to, but I plan on mixing and merging but there are just those books from college that are simply taking up space and unusable for research, as i cannot access them--such books are perfect for this! Ab, about your experience with bookscan--have you noticed missed pages or so? As Anamardoll's process works with pdfs (without OCR unless she finds out otherwise) both companies seem to fit. Right now I am setting up a serious plan of conversion, etc.

02-18-2012, 01:08 PM	#139
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	What format are the scans in? pdf? do their pdfs convert well to epub or mobi?

02-18-2012, 08:16 PM	#142
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	all of a sudden, that $1/book doesn't sound so cheap after all.

02-19-2012, 11:08 AM	#144
DebbyS Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 1472692 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Device: Jetbook Lite; Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0)	All the inexpensive scanners I've bought or used at work came with OCR software, most often Textbridge, plus an interface software, usually Paperport. I've found Textbridge to be quite accurate. A customer sent us a clean, clear PDF (that had not been made from a Word file but was an image), and Paperport pulled it up okay and Textbridge OCR'd it very nicely. Just for your info ps: thanks to whoever got my avatar to show up I love taking pics of birds around here!

02-19-2012, 12:14 PM	#145
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	I can't claim to know the difference between the two versions. Usually there isn't a lot of difference in the OCR engine, they may even be identical at times. Instead the full version comes with networking or collaborative tools, handles formatting and graphics more exactly, perhaps with the capacity to schedule jobs, support for paper fed scanners etc.

02-20-2012, 10:07 AM	#150
Arbait Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 673502 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: enTourage pocket eDGe,Pyrus mini, NOOK HD+, KAO, S6, S8, KP4, Note 10+	Back with my report about BOOKSCAN.US Fast and accurate scan and unbeatable support. I mention cheap? (Fast = Book Received 02-15, List Sent 02-16, Scanned 02-17, Processed 02-17, Uploaded 02-17, Dropbox Notify 02-17) 300 pages per dollar, then increments of 200 pages per dollar, auto scan old books in color (yellow pages), files are named with human names (like Tarzan Alive_Philip J Farmer_312.pdf) and they are small - 312 pages = 32 MG. Also they use Google Docs + Dropbox, so is easy to integrate with one workflow. examples: work list received from BOOKSCAN.US -> page scanned -> page OCR (ABBYY 11) -> in work -> Conclusion: I am very pleased with the result of collaboration with BOOKSCAN.US. If you live - like me - in the EU, the cheapest way to send books to U.S. is the M bag, ask at the post office...

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