Advice for two column layouts?

stickybuns · 04-19-2011, 01:38 PM

My dad has a HUGE collection of science fiction books/magazines from the 1950s that are starting to fall apart and will be going into the trash bin before too long. Just the thought makes me sad, so I'll be taking on the task of scanning his collection.

Almost all of the books use a two column format. What do I need to do to keep an OCR from just reading straight across column A to column B? I know that making PDFs is an option, but it would mean either making the image teeny-tiny to fit on my e-reader screen or paging back-and-forth to read the two columns... not something I really care to do.

wannabee · 04-20-2011, 12:36 AM

I haven't used OCR for a while but the last time I used Omnipage it recognised the columns and even worked through tables. The software's pretty intelligent these days and considering that 19th April 2011 is the date that Skynet became self-aware and started a war with mankind in Terminator II I reckon by tonight you should be able to ask the software for an answer to your question.

stickybuns · 04-20-2011, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabee

I haven't used OCR for a while but the last time I used Omnipage it recognised the columns and even worked through tables. The software's pretty intelligent these days and considering that 19th April 2011 is the date that Skynet became self-aware and started a war with mankind in Terminator II I reckon by tonight you should be able to ask the software for an answer to your question.

Oh, my goodness! Thank you so much for such an awesome response. Seriously, you totally made my day

Sadly, Omnipage is a bit out of my current price range of... oh, let's see... zero dollars and zero cents. I'll have to look around for other options (or see if my dad is willing to pick up the tab).

wannabee · 04-20-2011, 03:15 AM

Also see WIKI at the top of the page and check out OCR for other options in your price range.

Jellby · 04-20-2011, 03:52 AM

Split the scan in two images, one for each column, and proceed normally.

DDHarriman · 04-20-2011, 07:12 AM

Hello

Maybe you can consider Finereader Pro 10 (http://finereader.abbyy.com/), It’s cheaper then Omnipage Pro 17 and will do what you need and much more

Best regards,

04-19-2011, 01:38 PM	#1
stickybuns Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 479729 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3, Kindle Paperwhite 2	Advice for two column layouts? My dad has a HUGE collection of science fiction books/magazines from the 1950s that are starting to fall apart and will be going into the trash bin before too long. Just the thought makes me sad, so I'll be taking on the task of scanning his collection. Almost all of the books use a two column format. What do I need to do to keep an OCR from just reading straight across column A to column B? I know that making PDFs is an option, but it would mean either making the image teeny-tiny to fit on my e-reader screen or paging back-and-forth to read the two columns... not something I really care to do.

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04-20-2011, 12:36 AM	#2
wannabee Media Bloke Posts: 2,381 Karma: 113956855 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: NSW - Australia Device: iOS	I haven't used OCR for a while but the last time I used Omnipage it recognised the columns and even worked through tables. The software's pretty intelligent these days and considering that 19th April 2011 is the date that Skynet became self-aware and started a war with mankind in Terminator II I reckon by tonight you should be able to ask the software for an answer to your question.

04-20-2011, 03:15 AM	#4
wannabee Media Bloke Posts: 2,381 Karma: 113956855 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: NSW - Australia Device: iOS	Also see WIKI at the top of the page and check out OCR for other options in your price range.

04-20-2011, 03:52 AM	#5
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Split the scan in two images, one for each column, and proceed normally.

04-20-2011, 07:12 AM	#6
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	Hello Maybe you can consider Finereader Pro 10 (http://finereader.abbyy.com/), It’s cheaper then Omnipage Pro 17 and will do what you need and much more Best regards,