[sebhc] SCANS

[Jack Rubin]

> 
> I see some of you have been scanning manuls, etc to upload. What 
> software are you using to scan them? I have some info and a 
> scanner. Carroll
>

I use Adobe Acrobat 6.0 which lets me scan directly into a .pdf using a
TWAIN driver. In my case, I have an Epson Expression 800 scanner with an
auto document feeder :>) which I set for "line art" (2-bit black and
white) at 400 dpi resolution. The major problems with this setup are the
size of the output image and impolite messages from earlier Acrobat
readers (sorry, Dave) but the seamless workflow and the ability to truly
duplicate the original are important to me. 

Another approach is to scan the originals as .tif files (here I use
SilverFast AI from LaserSoft which replaces the TWAIN driver) and then
combine the individual images into a .pdf with something like tumble
(linux) or t2p (Windows). This makes for much faster scanning (the Epson
TWAIN driver is not exactly highly tuned) but for me it would also mean
buying new software and following a multi-step conversion process. Final
output file size is about the same. The .tif format also allows
"cleaning" of the images which can't be done in a .pdf; in fact if I
have to remove stains/spills/tears from a .pdf, I convert to and from
.tif to do the work. For this process, I work in PhotoShop.

Finally, you could OCR the docs, converting scanned images back into
text files. This is great if you need to be able to search the file
contents or use the text for another function (e.g. scanning an assembly
listing and then reassembling it), but it requires a lot of post-scan
work to proof and reformat the output. Preserving non-text material
(like the Heath logo on manual pages) requires additional steps. If you
want to go this route, I've had great results with OmniPage Pro 12. Note
that these files are _much_ smaller than .pdf images.

Given that the quantity of material I have to scan is measured boxes
rather than pages, a fully automated workflow is best for me.

Jack

> 
> I see some of you have been scanning manuls, etc to upload. What 
> software are you using to scan them? I have some info and a 
> scanner. Carroll
> 

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