What is the best book scanning service?

[norweger]

I am thinking about using 1dollarscan. What alternatives are there, and are there any you'd recommend?

I would like to get my bookshelf with paper books over to a e-reader, will ship probably 5-15 books for scanning per year.

[Toxaris]

You are better off doing it yourself...

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by norweger

I am thinking about using 1dollarscan. What alternatives are there, and are there any you'd recommend?

I would like to get my bookshelf with paper books over to a e-reader, will ship probably 5-15 books for scanning per year.

Well, if you're looking for uber-cheap, no: I don't have a recommendation. However, I send all my clients-the ones that will listen--to Stan Drew, at Golden Images, www.pdfdocument.com . He's NOT the cheapest, at all, but I am far, far, far happier, as a book converter, working from his scans than anyone else's. In my opinion, he's the best, and trust me, we see a LOT of scanned stuff. I can't speak, of course, to scans from someone like Toxaris, doing his own work, but for commercial work? Definitely Stan. Stan's the man.

Originally Posted by Toxaris

You are better off doing it yourself...

Arguably, this is true, if you have the time and the expertise. Personally, I suck at AbbyFineReader, mostly. I'm not like Tox--a steely-eyed Scanning Superman. I mean, yes, I manage; but I'd much rather foist it off on Stan. ;-)

Hitch

[RobertDDL]

I'm quite happy with bookscan.us. They charge far less than 1dollarscan -- when I have a 250 page book directly shipped to them from Amazon, it costs $6 with 1dollarscan, and $1 with bookscan.us. They scan 300 dpi b/w, while 1dollarscan scans 300 dpi color. For OCR, this makes almost no difference. 1dollarscan's color-scanned pages, when read on a screen, are easier on the human eye, but the bookscan.us b/w files are much smaller, like, 15 MB instead of 150.

No matter who does the scanning and who does the OCR (I'm doing this myself, with Abbyy FineReader), after OCR you'll have to do a lot of proofreading and editing to turn the output into a reasonably error-free and reasonably well-formatted e-book.

If you want to read the scanned PDF "as is", you'll need a device that can handle them, and you may find that the quality of the images is not always perfect -- some pages may be skewed or warped, though usually to a degree that can still be handled by the OCR (except for color vs. b/w, I've found no big difference in scan quality between 1dollarscan and bookscan.us).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by RobertDDL

No matter who does the scanning and who does the OCR (I'm doing this myself, with Abbyy FineReader), after OCR you'll have to do a lot of proofreading and editing to turn the output into a reasonably error-free and reasonably well-formatted e-book.

Yes, that, ^, exactly.

Hitch

[Turtle91]

I thought that there was some provision in the law that only allows an individual to format shift themselves...not having someone else do it for them. Is that no longer the case?

If it is not, then do I still have the same rights to the format-shifted ebook as I did with the original pbook I purchased? Can I lend that ebook to friends and family members, or give it to my local library when I am done with it?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I thought that there was some provision in the law that only allows an individual to format shift themselves...not having someone else do it for them. Is that no longer the case?

If it is not, then do I still have the same rights to the format-shifted ebook as I did with the original pbook I purchased? Can I lend that ebook to friends and family members, or give it to my local library when I am done with it?

Uuuhhhh....did I miss an entire conversation here? I thought we were discussing scanning; most of my clients do this for their backlist, to put it into digital form?

I also don't think that there's actually any provision in the law about format-shifting--is there?

Hitch

[Turtle91]

Yes...scanning. I have quite a few pbooks that I am in the process of scanning via a homemade scanner (link). One reason I made my own scanner was because it was fun...the other was because I was under the impression that format shifting for others wasn't allowed - only yourself - thought I had read that somewhere??

If we are allowed to have scanning services format shift our books...then great! I was just wondering how the copyright rules followed a book that had been shifted. I didn't purchase a "license" that restricts me from letting my kids read the book...I purchased a book that allows me to lend it and donate it if I desire.

It just seemed like the OP was talking about their bookshelf - not their own backlist, of which they own the rights. I thought it was related to the thread and was relevant... sorry if I was wrong

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Yes...scanning. I have quite a few pbooks that I am in the process of scanning via a homemade scanner (link). One reason I made my own scanner was because it was fun...the other was because I was under the impression that format shifting for others wasn't allowed - only yourself - thought I had read that somewhere??

If we are allowed to have scanning services format shift our books...then great! I was just wondering how the copyright rules followed a book that had been shifted. I didn't purchase a "license" that restricts me from letting my kids read the book...I purchased a book that allows me to lend it and donate it if I desire.

It just seemed like the OP was talking about their bookshelf - not their own backlist, of which they own the rights. I thought it was related to the thread and was relevant... sorry if I was wrong

Hey, Turtle:

I think I'm going to stay out of this one. I honestly don't know if the law allows, or doesn't allow, format-shifting for one's own device. My gut says (and this is NOT something that ought be listened to, in this, mind you), that format-shifting isn't allowed. I don't recollect any exceptions, in the Federal copyright statutes, about this. OTOH, could there be updates, court cases, etc., of which I'm unaware? Sure.

Secondly, I seriously doubt that anybody would chase you for format shifting your book from paper to your own Kindle. BUT, that's just...a common sense reaction to it, not an informed one, not on this topic. (I think that...who is it, is it Harry? Someone around here is quite expert about the legalities surrounding format-shifting, etc.) I have NO idea if a scanning company would take...well, of course they would. How would they know that a backlist book is a rights-reverted book, versus one that isn't? So, I would say, from a technical standpoint, you could likely get the work DONE. From a legal standpoint, oh, no, ain't touching that one with a ten-foot-pole.

HItch

[Turtle91]

Wow...that was a bunch of reading. I googled the topic and found a great thread right here in MR!! (I should have searched here in the first place).Thread (Starts to get good around the bottom of page 3)

Lots of arguments in both directions...HarryT had a link to a legal site that had one individual very vociferous about saying case law did NOT allow copying...but someone else showed later appeals of those cases DID allow it.
One question I wasn't certain was finalized was a question I brought up here: Do I have to perform the work myself or can someone else do it for me? I think the answer is "depends"... If I understood correctly: UK law requires an individual to do it himself, but US law allows the individual - or their legal extension ( a company ) to do the copying. If 1dollarscan is operating in the US then I would have to assume that it is legal.

The million dollar question: What rights do I have as an individual if I DO format shift (assuming it's legal)? Do the rights of the pbook (lending/donating) still apply, or do those rights revert to the ebook "license"??

I have the feeling that is too far off topic for this thread...so I'll ask it over there...just thought I would post what I found...

Cheers!

[norweger]

As long as they can get a book scanned to pdf for less than ten-fifteen dollars, the quality is the most important. That they have OCR for various languages (Icelandic, German, Norwegian) and that everything is as it should be, no errors.

[norweger]

Update. I have tried pdfdocument.com and the customer service was good and they converted the book quickly, but the software (or scanner) they used was such that they didn't manage to get special characters right and there were many errors in the epub I got when they digitalized italicized text. I sent the same book later to overnight-scanning.eu and I only spotted a few errors, and when I told them about the errors they re-calibrated their conversion software and it came out perfect. So I'd recommend the latter website (I am not affiliated with them in any sort of way).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by norweger

Update. I have tried pdfdocument.com and the customer service was good and they converted the book quickly, but the software (or scanner) they used was such that they didn't manage to get special characters right and there were many errors in the epub I got when they digitalized italicized text. I sent the same book later to overnight-scanning.eu and I only spotted a few errors, and when I told them about the errors they re-calibrated their conversion software and it came out perfect. So I'd recommend the latter website (I am not affiliated with them in any sort of way).

norweger:

The owner of PDFdocument.com is looking for you, trying to address your comments, particularly as they almost never output ePUBs. He has PM'ed you, and I hope you'll get back to him as soon as you are able. He obviously wants to ensure that he can assist or fix whatever you needed.

Thanks.

Hitch

[graatch]

Has anyone done business with bookscan.us recently? I have an order that I'm trying to put through with them right now, but, it's odd, I sent the books over and filled out their order form, and then they stopped communicating. I haven't sent them any money, but I did send them my books so I hope this is just some unforeseen issue. It's been about a week.

[jago25_98]

May I ask in this thread about converting pdfs of various disaster quality to NICE epubs that reflow like a normal spin and can read on a small screen. I'd like to read scientific papers on the small screen in a big font ideally. There are loads of other pdf types to try.
It's potentially a lot of work, depending on the pdf.

I couldn't figure out the pricing for this on 1dollarscan? I think they'd need different prices for different quality pdfs.

Thing is, even if it costs 20usd for a 200page pdf and it takes me an hour to do it myself, that still a lot cheaper than doing it myself.

I can't read pdfs on my 5" screen but I don't want to carry a 10/12" screen to the beach.

I live in China. I'm from the UK.

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