7/9/2016 EBookEnlightenment

ScanningBookPages
IlikegoingtousedbooksalesandoneofthethingsIgenerallypickup
atthesesalesareinterestingolderbooks.I'mnottalkingaboutfirst
EBOOKENLIGHTENMENT editionsofwellknownbooks,butobscurebooksthatwillprobablynever
beprintedagainbutwhichhavesomethingneataboutthem.It'skindof
funowningbooksthatnobodyelsehas,butIthinkitwouldbemorefun
tosharemycollectionwiththeworldinebookformat.TodothatIneed
tocreateimagesofthebookpages.

INTRODUCTION
ReadingAndLeadingWithOne FlatbedScannerOrDigitalCamera?
LaptopPerChild

FINDINGEBOOKS
Youmightthinkyouneedaflatbedscannertocreatebookpageimages.
Whileyoucoulddoitthatway,itisn'ttheonlymethod.Flatbed
SourcesForFreeEBooks
scannersarevery,veryslow.Whenscanningprintedmaterial(asopposedtophotos)youneedtoscanat
FreeEBookFormats averyhighrate(300DPIormore)togetaclearimage.Puttingabookonaflatbedscannercandamage
SugarActivitiesForFindingE thebindingtoo.Thereisanalternative,whichistotakepicturesofthepageswithadigitalcamera.
Books

SUGARACTIVITIESFOR UsingDigitalCameras
READINGEBOOKS
TheReadActivity LibrariesandotherinstitutionsusemachinesliketheAtizBookDrive,whichusestwodigitalcamerasto
digitizebooks.Youcanreadaboutithere:
TheReadEtextsActivity

TheViewSlidesActivity http://www.atiz.com/
CREATINGYOUROWNE
BOOKS Therearenopricesonthewebsite,whichsuggeststhatthesearereally,reallyexpensive.

BeforeWeBegin Manyamateurshavebuilttheirownbookscanners,andtheplacetoreadabouttheirworkishere:
ConvertingYourOwn
Documents http://diybookscanner.org
Booki
Thesebookscannersgofrombarebonestoprofessionalquality.Hereisanelaborateonedesignedand
ScanningBookPages
builtbyDanielReetz,whorunsthesiteandhasgivenpermissiontousethesepictures:
MakingPDF's
MakingCBZ's

MakingDjVu's
MakingPlainTextFiles
MakingEPUB's

PUBLISHINGYOUREBOOKS
Introduction
Copyrights,LicensesAndFair
Use
DonatingEBooksToThe
InternetArchive
DonatingTextsToProject
Gutenberg
calibre
ThePathagarBookServer
genCollectionInterfacegCI

APPENDIX
MakingABookScanner
GettingARule6Copyright
Clearance

ABookiOfYourOwn
AboutTheAuthors
Credits

Thebasicideaisthatthebookisheldopenata90degreeangleinacradle.Twopiecesofglass,alsoata
90degreeangleandcalledaplaten,holdthepagesflatsotheycanbephotographedbytwodigital
cameras.Brightlightsshinedownonthebookfromabove.Hereisaviewofthebookinthecradleheld
flatbytheplaten:

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IfIdidn'tvaluemymarriagesomuchIwouldbuildsomethinglikethis.Fortunatelyformethereisan
alternative.Theverysimplestbookscanneryoucanmakeisdescribedinanarticleat
www.instructables.com:

http://www.instructables.com/id/BargainPriceBookScannerFromACardboardBox/

IbuiltoneofthesemyselfoneFridayeveningandspentmostofthatSundayscanningmyfirstbook.
Hereitis,theSimmonsHomeBookScannerMarkI:

Ifyoucouldseeitupcloseyou'dfinditevenlessimpressivethanthepicture.Itconsistsofthefollowing
parts:

Onecardboardbox,salvagedfromadumpsteratwork,sealedshutwithstrappingtapeandsliced
diagonallytocreatetwowedges.Thewedgesaretapedwithstrappingtapetothetable.The
distancebetweenthewedgesisthethicknessofthebook'sspine.Thepurposeofthewedgesisto
cradlethebooksothatthepagescanbephotographed.
Onedesklamp,costwithoutbulb.Thelampshouldshinestraightdownwardsontothebookas
shown.Ifthereareotherlightsintheroomturnthemoff.
One100wattincandescentbulb,savedfromwhenweconvertedtoCompactFluorescentsbecause
Ineverthrowoutanythingthatmightbeuseful.
OnepieceofglassfromapictureframeboughtatWalgreen's.Theglassneedstobebiggerthan
thebookpage.Youwillusetheglasstoholdthepageyouarephotographingflat.
Onetripodoriginallyboughtforusewithavideocamera.Itisvitallyimportanttohavesomething
toholdthecamerasteadyandpointedatthepageinsuchawaythatthecameraisparalleltothe
pageandtheimageofthepageisanuntiltedrectangle.Ifyoudon'tgetitcompletelyperfectyou
maybeabletofixsomeproblemswithsoftware,butyoudefinitelydonotwantahandheldcamera
forthis!

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OneKodak5Megapixelcamerawhichwealreadyhad.Youmightwantabettercameraforbooks
withlargerpages,butforthebooksI'mdoingtheKodakwasfine.
Onecomputerwithfreesoftwaretopostprocesstheimagestakenbythecamera.Whatever
computeryoualreadyhaveshouldbefine.

Iusedthesetupinthepicturetoscanmyfirsttwobooks.ThatexperienceconvincedmethatIreally
neededaproperplaten,soImadetheoneshownhere:

Therearemanydesignsforplatens,andtheyareallcheaptomake,butwhatIwaslookingforwas
somethingeasytomake.ThedesignIcameupwithconsistsof:

TwoLexansheets,10"x11",eightdollarsapieceatMenard's
Twometalbracketsmeantformountingshelves,alittleundersevendollarsapieceatDoItBest
Hardware.IhaveseensimilarbracketsatalocalDollarStoreforadollarapiece.
EpoxyglueandasetofsmallclampstoholdeverythinginplacewhiletheEpoxycured.Icould
havedrilledholesintheLexanandusednutsandboltsinsteadofepoxy,andifIwasgoingtomake
anotheroneI'ddoitthatway..

Theproceduretoscanbookswiththissetupisasfollows:

Putthebookbetweenthetwowedgeswiththefrontcoverfacingthecamera.
Removeallexistingpicturesfromthecamera'smemory.Thisisimportant!
Usingtheglass(orplaten)toholddownthepages,startphotographingthebookfromfronttoback
gettingthefrontcoverandalltherighthandpagesallthewaytotheendofthebook.Zoominso
thebookdoesn'tquitefilltheframe.Useacloseupsettingifyourcamerahasone.Setwhite
balancetoIncandescentorTungsten.Tryveryhardnottophotographapagemorethanonceor
missapage.
Whenyou'redoneconnectthecameratoyourcomputeranddownloadalltheimagestotheirown
directorynamedsomethinglike"BookTitleRightPages".Havethecomputerdeletetheimages
fromthecameraafterwords.
Plugthecameraintothechargerandtakeanap.
Repeattheprocessfortheleftsidepages,beingsuretogofromfronttoback.Youwillverymuch
regretgoingtheotherway.Downloadthepicturesintoadifferentdirectorythanyouusedforthe
rightsidepages.
Thescanningprocessproperiscomplete.Whatremainsispostprocessing.
UsingAFlatbedScanner

Atthispointyoumightthinkthatthedigitalcameramethodisdefinitelythewaytogoandthatyou
shouldneveruseaflatbedscanneratall.Itisn'tthatsimple.Therewillbetimeswhentheflatbed
scannerwilldoabetterjobwithlessworkthanusingcameras.

Ifyourbookissmallenoughtoscantwopagesatatime,youmightsaveenoughtimenothaving
tofindandreplacemissingorduplicatedpagestomakeupfortheadditionaltimescanningthe
pages.
IfyouplantosubmitthebooktoDistributedProofreaderstheymightwantblackandwhitePNG
filesforallthepagesforOCRandproofingpurposes.Ascannercanproduceoutputlikethatdirectly
andgivebetterresultsthanconvertingphotosforthatpurpose.
Thereareawholehostofproblemslikekeystoning,whitebalance,andskewingthatareeasierto
avoidonaflatbedscannerthantheyarewhenusingadigitalcamera.

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Ascannermightdoabetterjobonillustrationsthanadigitalcamera.WhenImakeEPUBSIwill
sometimescreatepageimagesforOCRusingthecamera,thenusethescanneronjusttheimages
togetthebestpossiblequality.
WhenusingascanneruseaDPIof300fortextpages,and600forillustrations.OnWindowsyoucanuse
theScannerandCameraWizardtomakethescans.UsetheBackbuttonaftereachscanratherthan
goingtoFinisheachtime.Thescannerwizardwillautomaticallynameyourscanswithasequence
number(exceptforthefirstone,whichwillhavethenameyougiveitwithnonumberafterwards.You
canrenameittohavethesequencenumber"000"whenyouarefinishedscanning).

ThePostProcessingForkInTheRoad
Therearetwowaysyoucantaketheimagesyouhavemadeandmakeanebookoutofit.Onewayis
easy,mostlyautomated,andproducespagesthatarereadableandattractive.Thedownsideisthatthe
pagesdon'tlookexactlylikethepagesinthebook.Themarginswillbedifferent,andthetextwillbeblack
onawhitebackgroundnomatterwhatthepagecolorwasoriginally.However,theresultwillbeanice,
compactebook.

Theotherwaystrivestopreservetheoriginallookofthepagesasmuchaspossible,andislargely
manual.Itismorework,andmaygiveresultsthatarelessthanperfect.Thefilesizeoftheebookmay
belarger.InthescanstheInternetArchivedoesitselftheytrytopreservethelookoftheoriginalbook,
andifyouwanttofollowtheirexamplethismethodisthewaytogo.(Thereisnorequirementtodothis.
YoucanuseScanTailortopreparesubmissionstotheInternetArchiveifyouwish).Ifyouhaveabook
thatislavishlyillustrated(children'sbooksareagoodexample)you'llwanttousethismanualmethod.
Forexample,considerthisbookfromtheInternetArchive:

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Youcan'tgetresultslikethatautomatically.

Thestepsinbothmethodsarethesame,butinthemostlyautomatedmethodthecomputerdoesmostof
thework.Tomakethewholeprocessunderstandableitmakessensetodescribethemanualmethod
first.Iwillcallthismethod...

TheRoadLessTravelled
TrimmingThePages

Ifyou'vedoneeverythingrightwhenscanningthebookyou'llhaveabunchofimagesthatlooklikethis:

Granted,thatdoesn'tlooktoopromisingbutitwillgetbetter.ThebookIscannedwaspublishedin1928
andistitledTheBigAviationBookForBoys.Itisfilledwithtruestoriesofaerialheroismandwillappealto
anyboywithredbloodinhisveinsandthesortofgirlwhoisnotputoffbybookswithBoysinthetitle.

Thefirstthingweneedtodoisrotatealltheimages.InWindowsyoucanopenthedirectoryinan
Explorerwindow,doaSelectAll,thenrightclickononeoftheimagesandchooseoneoftheRotate
options.InLinuxthegThumbImageViewerwillletyoudothesamething.Inthisexamplerightside
pagesarerotatedclockwise,leftsidepagescounterclockwise.Doingitthiswaywillrotateeveryimagein
thewindow,givingresultslikethis:

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Nextweneedtocroptheimagesoallthatisvisibleisthepage.Wedothiswithafreeprogramcalled
TheGIMP(GNUImageManipulationProgram).TheGIMPislikeafreeversionofAdobePhotoshop.
Youcandownloadithere:

http://www.gimp.org/

ThereareversionsforWindows,Linux,andtheMacintosh.

AmoreelaboratebookscannerthantheMarkImightholdpagesinplaceconsistentlyenoughthatyou
couldcropthepageimagesautomatically.AsitisIprobablymovedmycameraonthetripodseveraltimes
whenphotographingthepages,soIdecidedtocropthepagesbyhand.Ididthisbyloadingeachpicture
intoTheGIMP,selectingtheboundariesofthepagewiththeSelecttool,thenchoosingCropImage
fromtheImagemenu.Thiscreatedanimageliketheonebelow,whichIthensaved.

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You'llnoticethatthetextonthepagesisalittlecockeyed(thetechnicaltermisskewed)andifthebookis
asoldastheoneI'mscanningherethepageslookoldanddirty.Actually,therealbookpagesarenotas
brownasthisimagewouldsuggest.IcouldnotfindthewhitebalancesettingonmycamerawhenI
tookthesepictures,soIusedthenormalsetting.SincethenIfoundhowtochangethesettingandwhy
it'sneeded.Whenacameratakesanindoorpicturewithoutaflashthecolorinthepictureisdistorteda
bitdependingonwhatkindoflightisintheroom.Ifthelightisincandescentyougetanorangetintto
thepicture.YoucansetthewhitebalancetoIncandescent(onmyKodakcamerait'scalledTungsten)to
correctforthis.

CorrectingSkewedPagesManually

WhenIscannedmysecondbook,anIllustratedJuniorLibraryversionofTheArabianNights,Imanagedto
setthewhitebalancetoTungstenandfigureoutawaytodeskewthepages.Hereisapageimagethat
hasbeenrotated.

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Thepagelooksgreat,butit'sskewed.UndertheLayermenuofTheGIMPisasubmenucalled
TransformwhichhasamenuoptionArbitraryRotation.Selectthatandyou'llgetthisdialog:

Bymovingtheslidertotheleftandrightwecanrotatetheentireimagesothatthepagewithinthe
imageisreasonablyvertical.Tip:whenthefocusisontheslideryoucanusethearrowkeysonyour
keyboardtogetamoreprecisecontrolthanispossiblewiththemouse.Secondtip:youcanusethe
edgesofthedialogtolineuptheedgesofthepage.Whentheyareparallelthepageiscorrectlyaligned.

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Nowwedoourfinalcroptogetthepage,readytosave:

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IfIhadtheopportunitytorescantheBoy'sAviationbookIwoulddefinitelydoitthisway.(Somewould
arguethatIdohavethisopportunity,sinceIstillownthebook.Whatislackingisthedesiretorescan
thebook.Soonyou'llseehowIwasabletoavoidrescanningitandstillhaveausableebook).

CorrectingKeystonedPages

Ifyoudidn'tlineupyourcameraexactlyparalleltothepageyourpageimageswon'tbeperfectlysquare.
Thebordersofillustrationsmakethisproblemquitenoticeable:

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Intheoriginalbookthefourpictureswererectangularwithsquarecorners.Ifyouhavesomepagesthat
arenoticeablylikethatyoucanusethePerspectiveToolinTheGIMPtotryandfixit.Selecttheareathat
needsfixingandthetoolwillgiveyoufourcornersyoucanmovearoundtotryandsquarethingsup:

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Itisofcoursebettertoattemptthisbeforecroppingthepage.

ImageMagick

Ifthereisoneindispensableprogramformakingebooksoutofscannedpageimagesthatprogramis
ImageMagick.ItisfreesoftwarethatrunsonWindows,Linux,ortheMacintosh.EveryLinuxdistribution
includesit.ForWindowsandtheMacyoucandownloadithere:

http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

ImageMagickneedssoftwarecalledGhostscripttocreatePDF'sandyoushouldinstallthatsoftwarefirst.
GhostscriptcomeswitheveryLinuxdistributionandshouldbeinstalledbydefault.ForWindowsandthe
Macyoucandownloadtheinstallprogramshere:

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

Clickonthelatestversionandlookfortheinstallerforyouroperatingsystem.

ImageMagickisalittledifferentfromothergraphicssoftwarebecauseitdoesmostofitsfunctionsfrom
thecommandline.Itmayseemoddthataprogramthatworkswithimagesdoesnothaveagraphical
userinterface,butthereisareasonforthat.ImageMagickdoesitsmostusefulfunctionsongroupsof
images,andthecommandlinesuitsthatkindofworkbetterthanaGUI.AmongthethingsImageMagick
canbeusedforisrotatingagroupofimages,croppingagroupofimages,andmakingPDFsfromagroup
ofimages.Thesefunctionscanallbedonewiththemogrifycommand.

BatchCropping

Ifyoudidagood(orreasonablygood)jobofkeepingyourbookandcamerainthesamepositionwhenyou
photographedthepagesyoumaybeabletodobatchcropping,whichwillsaveyouagreatdealoftime
andtedium.Batchcroppingisawaytoapplythesamecroppingdimensionstomanypages.Evenifyour
photosarenotperfectlyalignedallthewaythroughyoumightstillbeabletobatchcroptheminmultiple
passes.Ididthiswithmysecondbook.Hereiswhatsomepageslookedlikebeforecropping:

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IcopiedabunchofuncroppedimagestoanotherdirectorywhichIcalledTestCropping.NextIloaded
thefirstpictureinthatdirectoryintoTheGIMPandusedtherectangleselectiontoolontheToolboxto
selecttheareaIwantedtocroptheimageto.Ididnotcroptheimage.Instead,Ihadalookatthe
dimensionsoftheselectedrectangleinthetoolbox:

Youshouldreadthesedimensionsas:

UpperleftcorneroftherectanglehasanXoffsetof344pixels
ThatcornerhasaYoffsetof400pixels
Theselectedrectangleis1268pixelswide
Therectangleis1940pixelsinheight

IfIwanttoapplythesamecroptoeveryimageinthedirectoryIcanusetheImageMagickmogrify
command,whichupdatesafileinplace:

mogrifycrop1268x1940+344+400*.jpg

WhenIdidthisIgottheseresults:

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ThefirstfewpagescameoutOK,soIcopiedthembacktotheoriginaldirectory,overlayingtheuncropped
files.ThenIcopiedtheremainderoftheuncroppedpicturestotheTestCroppingdirectoryandrepeated
theprocess.Theimageswherebatchcroppingdidn'tworkshowedabitofthefacingpagesowhenI
selectedtherectanglefortherestofthepagesImovedtheleftsideoftherectangleabitawayfromthe
leftedgeofthepagetoavoidthis.Thistimemogrifydidwellonalltherestofthepages,withthe
exceptionoftheinsideoftherightcover,whichhadabeautifulillustrationthatreallydemandedmanual
deskewingandcroppingwithTheGIMP.Ifyoudobatchcroppingyoucanspendtimeonmanual
tweakinglikethatwhenitmakesarealdifferencetotheendproduct.

BatchRotation

Ifyourpagesareskewedyoucandoabatchrotationwithmogrifyaswell.Thetimetodothisisbefore
youcombineleftandrightpages,becausethepagesonthesamesideofthebookarelikelytobeskewed
thesameamountorclosetoit.UseTheGIMPtofigureouthowmuchrotationyouneed,butdon't
actuallydotherotationontheimage.Instead,useamogrifycommandlikethis:

mogrifyrotate.9*.jpg

ThiswithrotateeveryJPEGinadirectory.9degreesclockwise.JustlikewhenyourotatewithTheGIMP,
youwanttorotatethecompleteimagefirst,thencrop.

DealingwithFocusIssues

Morelikelythannotyourdigitalcamerawillautofocus,withnooptionformanualfocus.Thisworksjust
fineifthecenterofthepageyou'rephotographinghassomethingthecameracanfocuson.Ifthecenter
ofthepageisblankthecameracan'tfocusproperly.Nowifthewholepageisblank,noproblem,because
acroppedoutoffocuspagedoesnotlookmuchdifferentthanitwouldinfocus.However,youmayfind
yourselfwithafewpagesthatlooklikethis:

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You'regoingtohavetophotographthosepagesagain.Thistime,cutoutaparagraphoftextfrom
somethingyou'veprintedoutandputthatslipofpaperinthemiddleofthepage,betweenthepageand
theglass.Thiswillgiveyourcamerasomethingtofocuson:

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Well,thatsolvedthefocusproblem.NowwehavetouseTheGimptogetridofthatslipofpaper.The
firstthingwedoistousetheSelecttooltoselectablankareaofthepagejustabovewherethepaperis.
ThenwecopytheselectiontotheclipboardusingtheCopyoptionontheEditmenu:

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NowwedoaPastefromtheEditmenu.WhatthatdoesiscreateaLayerwhichwecanmovearound
withtheMovetool.Wecancovertheslipofpaperwiththislayer,thensavetheimage.Thisshows
movingthelayerinprogress:

CombiningLeftAndRightPages

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Whenyouhaveallthepagesinbothlefthandandrighthanddirectoriescroppedit'stimetobringthe
pagestogether.Ifyoupaidattentiontomywarningstoclearyourcamera'smemoryofpicturesand
photographbothsetsofpagesfronttobackyoushouldhavetwodirectorieswithpicturesnamed
somethinglike

BoysAviation001.jpg,BoysAviation002.jpg...BoysAviationnnn.jpg

Whatyouneedtodonowisrenametherightsidepagesto

BoysAviation001a.jpg,BoysAviation002a.jpg...BoysAviationnnna.jpg

andtheleftsidepagesto

BoysAviation001b.jpg,BoysAviation002b.jpg...BoysAviationnnnb.jpg

InLinuxandprobablyontheMacintoshtoothereisacommandrenamewhichwilldothisquiteeasily:

rename.jpga.jpg*.jpg

Thiscanbereadas"foreveryfilenamedendingwith.jpgchangethe.jpginthenametobea.jpg".

ForWindowsyoucantrytheRenamerutilitywhichcanbedownloadedfrom:

http://www.albert.nu/programs/renamer/main.htm

ThisiswhattheRenamerutilitylookslikeinaction:

TheInsertoperationintheprogramallowsyoutoinserttextatarelativepositioninthefilename,andis
justwhatweneed.

BeawarethattherearetwoversionsofRenamer:theoriginalandtheunfortunatelynamedRenamerNG.
Youwanttheoriginal.RenamerNGhassomebugs,themostimportantofwhichisthatwhenyouselect
filestoberenamedtheyarenotlistedinascendingsequence.Thismakesthatversionoftheprogram
uselessforourpurposes.

Whenyouhavethefilesinbothdirectoriesrenamedyoucancopy(notmove)themintoonenew
directory.Beforeyoudothat,checktoseeifbothoriginaldirectorieshavethesamenumberoffilesin
them.Iftheydo,chancesareyoudidn'tmissorduplicateanypageswhenyouphotographedthem.If
not,you'llneedtofigureoutwhichpagesaremissingorduplicated,correctthatandrenamefilessothat
youhaveacompletesetofpagesinsequencefromfronttoback.Thereisnopainlesswaytodothis.Asit
happened,ImissedthreepageswhenIscannedtheleftpagesofmyfirstbook.TheonlywayIcould
thinkoftomakethingsrightwastorenameeachandeverypagewithitspagenumber,thenseewhich
onesweremissing.

Ifyouneedtodothis,theWindowsRenamerprogramcanhelp.Itcandoagreatdealmorethansimply
insertacharacterinafilename.Itcanalsoremovetheexistingsequencenumberfromafileandreplace
itwithanewone.Youcanstartthenumberatanyvalueandincrementitbyanyamount.Ifyouuse
thisonyourleftandrightpagesbeforecombiningthemyoushouldbeabletogiveeachpageasequence
numberthatmatchesitspagenumber.

OnLinuxtherearekrenameandpyrename.Theseshouldbeincludedinyourdistribution.

WhenyouhaveacompletesetofpagesinsequencebackupyourworktoaCD.You'vedonealotofwork
andyoudon'twanttoloseanyofit.

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CleaningUpPageImages

ThepagesoftheBoy'sAviationbookareshowingsignsofage(andalackofwhitebalance),anditwould
benicetocleanthemupabit.Asyoucanseeintheillustration,somearedirtybrownandsomearedirty
gray.

Iaskedforsuggestionsoncleaningupthepagesinthesugardevelmailinglistandgotseveral,plusI
figuredoutamethodonmyown.MyfirstthoughtwasIwantedsomesortoffilterthattakesthedarkest
coloronthepageandmakesitblackandmakeseverythingelsewhite.ItturnsoutthatTheGIMPhas
suchafilter,calledThreshold,whichisfoundontheToolsmenu.RunningThresholdontheTableof
Contentspagegivesthisresult:

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Thismightdoforsomeuses,especiallyifyou'repreparingpagesforOCR(OpticalCharacterRecognition).
Itisn'tmuchgoodforillustrations.SeveralpeoplesuggestedthatIconverttheimagetoGrayscale
(ModeundertheImagemenu)andusetheBrightnessContrastdialog(foundintheToolsmenu)to
lightenthepageanddarkenthetexttocomeupwithacleaneduppageimage.

YoudonotneedtoediteachpagewithTheGIMPtoprettyitup.Onceyoufigureoutwhatyouwanttodo
youcanchangethepicturesasagroupfromthecommandlineusingImageMagick.Thechangesyou
dowithImageMagick'smogrifycommandcannotbeundone,sobeforeyouuseitcopyallyourimages
intoanotherdirectoryandworkwiththat.

Iranthefollowingcommandonmyimages:

mogrifymodulate150,0,0*.jpg

Thiscrankedawayforaboutanhourandproducedthefollowingresults:

Thecommandasshownconvertsthefiletograyscaleandincreasesthebrightnessto150%.Afterit's
donesomepagesarestilldarkerthanothers,butallarequitereadable:

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Otherthansometolerableskewingthepageslookgood.IwouldbeentirelyjustifiedinmakingaPDFwith
theseimagesandconsideringmyworkdone.Ofcourse,ifwe'regoingtosubmittotheInternetArchive
we'llwanttoreplacethenowgrayscaledimagesofourfrontandbackcoverswiththeoriginalfullcolor
versions.

Ifyoulookattheseimagescloselyyou'llseethatpartofthepageisbrighterthantherestofit.Thisis
wherethedesklampIusedshinedbrightestonthepage.Togetagoodqualityimageyoureallyneedto
havemorethanonelightshiningonthepage.AfterIhaddoneafewbooksandhadgrownfrustrated
withthedingycolorofmyphotographedpagesIinvestedinacoupleofclampondesklampstoshinelight
ontheeithersideofthepage,aswellasdirectlyfromabove.Thisseemstohavehelped,andthelamps
wereonlyaboutfivedollarsapieceatMenard's.Ifpostprocessingdoesnotgiveyouthepagecoloryou
want,considerinvestinginimprovedlighting.

TheEasierRoad:ScanTailor
YoucanuseScanTailoronWindowsoronLinux.ForWindowsthereistheusualinstallprogram.For
Linuxyouwillneedtocompilefromsource.Youcangetbothhere:

http://scantailor.sourceforge.net/

ScanTailorisanamazingprogramthatcandoallofthefollowingtotheimagesyouoriginallycaptured
withyourcamera:

Rotatetheimagesclockwiseorcounterclockwise
Ifyouuseaflatbedscanner,split2upscansintoseparatepages.
Calculatetheskewofyourpagesoitcanbecorrected
Identifythecontentofyourpage,whetheritbeablockoftextoranillustrationorboth
Cleanupthecontentportionofthepage.Forblocksoftextitwilldotheequivalentofthe
ThresholdfilterinTheGIMP.Forphotositwillbrightentheimage.
Deskewthecontentportionofthepage.
Placethecontentofthepageinanew,emptypagewiththemarginsyouspecify.
Create.tifffilesinanoutputdirectorywithallthesecorrectionsmade,leavingtheoriginalimages
untouched.
Inotherwords,youstartwithunrotatedpicturesofabookrestingagainstacardboardboxandinone
operationyougetpagesthatlooklikethis:

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Hereisasamplepageforcomparisonpurposes:

Thebiggestdifferencebetweenthetwomethodsisthatwiththemanualmethodyoutrytoidentifythe
boundariesofthepageinthephotoandcroptothat.ScanTailordoesn'tcareabouttheboundariesofthe
pageit'smoreinterestedintheboundariesofthecontentonthepage.Onceitknowsthatitcande
skewthatcontentandplaceitonanewpage.

InthescreenshotbelowyoucanseethattherearesixtasksthatScanTailorperformsinsequence.Split
Pagesdoesn'tapplyinmysituationitwouldmakesenseifIwasusingaflatbedscannertoscantwo
pagesatatime,forinstance.SelectContentmustberunbeforeyoucangenerateoutputpages.As
youcanseeinthescreenshotitcaneasilyfindthecontentareaonapage.Itoccasionallymessesupa
picture,butyoucanusetheManualbuttontocorrectthis.

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PageLayoutisusedtospecifythemarginsofthepagewherecontentwillbeplaced.Theimportant
thingtorememberhereisthatScanTailorassumesthatallpagesgiventoitwillhavethesemargins.If
theinsideliningofthebookcoverhasillustrationsthatgototheedgeofthepagethatcanmessupthe
waytherestofthepagesareformatted,soitisbestnottogivesuchpagestoScanTailor.Instead,you
candothesepagesbyhandorsimplydon'tincludetheminyourebook.

OutputcreatesthepagesasTIFFfilesinaseparatedirectory.Whenyoucreateoutputyouhaveachoice
ofthreeformats:

BlackandWhite
Grayscale/Color
Mixed

IfyourbookisacombinationoftextandimageschooseMixed.Thiswilldetectwhichpagesarejusttext
andmakethemblackandwhite,andmaketherestcolorasneeded.

Someexampleswillgiveyouanideaofwhattoexpect.ThisisapagerenderedinBlackandWhite.

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ThisisthesamepageincolorwithWhiteMarginsselected.Youcanchoosenottohavewhitemarginsbut
youwouldnotliketheresult.Thisisagoodchoiceifthepaperthebookisprintedonisacidfreeanda
nicecolor,clearlynotthecasehere:

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7/9/2016 EBookEnlightenment

Ifyoucheckthe"EqualizeIllumination"checkboxinColormodeyou'llgetthis:

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"Mixed"willtrytogiveyouacolororgrayscaleimagewithwhitebordersandequalizedilluminationwhen
itneedstoandblackandwhiteforpuretextpages.Thisisareasonablygoodoption,butforthebook
shownabove(ThirteenWomenbyTiffanyThayer)BlackandWhiteisclearlythebestchoice.

ScanTailorhasaUserGuidehere:

http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/scantailor/index.php?title=User_Guide

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