My Dad has a collection of nearly 12,000 35mm slides, which I want to digitize. They've been out in the garage for years, and many of them are 30 to 50 years old. I'd like to make them look as good as possible after scanning. Early results are not what I'd like.
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posted by zompist
on Feb 10, 2013 -
14 answers
In search of large scale scanning solutions in NYC to convert a ton of paper into PDFs.
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posted by lassie
on Jan 5, 2013 -
5 answers
I have inherited a 1,000+ pages of my grandmother's writings. I would like to scan them, OCR them and (after fixing OCR mistakes) share them with the rest of my family online. My question is this: what's the best way to scan so many pages? Also, I should point out that many of the pages are on thin typing paper. Maybe this is carbon paper? or onion skin paper? I'm not sure but I don't want to damage the originals.
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posted by dylan_k
on Oct 5, 2012 -
15 answers
Is cheap book-scanning available to consumers yet? I'd like to get a few hundred books scanned, to save space, destructive OK. AskMe hasn't addressed this for a couple of years, and I'm hoping folks know - and ideally have personally experience with - what the best options are these days.
posted by caitlinb
on Sep 1, 2012 -
4 answers
I'm getting a scanner. I would keep my personal files electronically. Is Evernote Premium pretty much my option, or is there some other less expensive alternative I can use if I don't need cloud storage?
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posted by gracedissolved
on Sep 1, 2012 -
12 answers
I have a large number of books that I want to donate to a library or sell. I want to give my friends and family first pick at anything they want (my primary aim is to quickly reclaim the physical space used up by the books). I need a workflow that will allow me to scan the books' UPCs, etc. with my iPhone 4's camera and end up with an email-able spreadsheet
pre-populated with ISBN/Title/Author. Columns for genre, edition and/or year, and short blurbs would also be welcome.
I have a PC laptop with the MS Office suite in addition to the iPhone. What are my options? Thanks, hivemind!
posted by Inspector.Gadget
on May 20, 2012 -
6 answers
I have a poster of great sentimental value mounted on foamcore that I'd like to scan and make a couple of copies of for some family members. How do I get this to happen?
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posted by sciencegeek
on Feb 8, 2012 -
4 answers
Can anyone recommend a place where I can scan 35mm slides on my own at a workstation in NYC?
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posted by Digital_Man
on Dec 31, 2011 -
6 answers
We're looking for an OCR program that will handle batch processing and columns automatically.
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posted by pahool
on Nov 28, 2011 -
5 answers
Looking for hardware/software that will scan a physical form with handwritten fields and generated accurate delimited text with it.
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posted by jsturgill
on Nov 15, 2011 -
2 answers
Is there a way to run an annoying program (Epson Scan in this instance) so that it doesn't obliterate your desktop? Any way to force it to use less processing power?
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posted by sully75
on Oct 27, 2011 -
19 answers
I'm about to go through my old belongings from age 0-18. I plan to photograph or scan some of the interesting or sentimental items before I get rid of them. Examples include: stuffed animals, concert tickets, favorite magazine covers, handwritten notes... What naming convention / folder structure would you use for the files, and if you've done anything like this, do you have any other tips?
posted by beyond_pink
on Oct 12, 2011 -
13 answers
Librarians, Record Keepers, Microfilm Users: I have a big digitization project coming up and I'm wondering if you have a preferred microfilm scanning machine.
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posted by sleepy pete
on Oct 7, 2011 -
4 answers
Online Photo scanning services that ship to/from UK - does anyone have any recommendations? Doesn't need to be professional quality, they're just normal everyday pics.
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posted by Mave_80
on Aug 27, 2011 -
2 answers
My museum is about to set off on a big slide-scanning project. After finding out how much it would cost to outsource the scanning, we've decided to just buy a higher-end scanner and throw an intern at it. I'd like some guidance as to which scanner to buy.
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posted by COBRA!
on Jun 29, 2011 -
25 answers
Elderly parent has boxes and boxes of photos which are not in any particular order. Some are loose, some are in albums, and a few are on CDs. I have offered to assist in the organization and scanning of some or all of these photos. What would be the easiest way to accomplish this?
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posted by mintchip
on Jun 14, 2011 -
8 answers
I'm trying to figure out what services are good for scanning a large number of family photos.
We have about 60 photo albums, some with photos marked on the back with descriptions, and we want to scan them and keep them somewhat organized so we can view and print them.
So I think we have somewhere 3000 photos and I want to know if these online places do what they say on the tin, if some are better than others, etc. We are in the US, California.
What services do this, and how do I make sure I get the originals back, and the photos get metadata added to them if it's there?
posted by artlung
on Jun 5, 2011 -
12 answers
I have been asked to provide a quote for digitizing a bunch of documents. What is the going rate for this type of work? More details inside.
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posted by archivist
on May 16, 2011 -
6 answers
Hi all,
I am a neuroscience student and I'd like to get my mentor a print of one of Santiago Ramon y Cajal's famous drawings of a neuron as a going away gift. Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere that sells prints or photos of these drawings online, but I was able to find a book at my university's library that has larger (12" x 24") high quality images of these drawings.
My question: what is the best way to go from book to print? Are there particular scan qualities or types? Particular types of paper/material to print onto? Places (FedEx, architecture firms) to go to? Any advice would be really helpful.
Thanks!
Brian
posted by quickasfoxes
on May 4, 2011 -
3 answers
I draw and write with a variety of black pens in a Rhodia Reverse notebook. The notebook's paper is gridded with thin bluish lines, which I appreciate to help with ruling, etc., and because I like how the grid pattern looks with my drawings. I'd like to scan the notebook for safekeeping, but find that my scanner will only pick up a fraction of the gridding.
I don't know if the gridlines are a true photo blue, but is there any way to ensure that my scans will match how I see the pages? I'm using an Epson Perfection 1660 Photo scanner.
posted by the sobsister
on Jan 31, 2011 -
10 answers
I would really appreciate any assistance in establishing a workflow for scanning images from the books I have piled on my desk as I prepare a series of "slide lectures" for an art history class I will be teaching from April. I'm sure there are AskMefites out there who are experienced enough to be doing this kind of thing in their sleep; I'd
love to hear from you! Any help is appreciated!
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posted by segatakai
on Jan 6, 2011 -
8 answers
My Christmas gift to my parents this year is that I have been scanning my baby pictures using a Pandigital Photolink One-touch scanner, which scans individual pictures. I have been saving them to a memory card, and then to my computer. I am trying to figure out the best way to present this to my parents.
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posted by jenlovesponies
on Dec 15, 2010 -
10 answers
I need to have about 20 novels scanned, OCRed and professionally proofed for conversion to ebooks. Destructive scanning is acceptable. Have you had recent experiences with a company that provides such a service? What did it cost, and how was their proofing?
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posted by mumkin
on Sep 30, 2010 -
6 answers
I have many books - several thousand. I may soon be moving to a house with more limited space. I'm considering scanning all the books, and then destroying them or putting them into storage. Is this feasible? What hardware and software would I need? Has anyone done this already, and are there any internet resources to help with this?
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posted by siskin
on Aug 11, 2010 -
56 answers
I need a Digital Camera (Sub-$300) suitable for taking handheld pictures of documents.
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posted by Benjy
on Jul 7, 2010 -
9 answers
I am in Pittsburgh with some old MRI film that needs to be scanned. Anyone know a place in the Downtown/Oakland/Squirrel Hill area I can go to do this?
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posted by isnotchicago
on Jun 9, 2010 -
5 answers
My Brother MFC-290C all-in-one gives me the following error almost every time I scan something: "The image data size is too large for the computer memory." Help!
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posted by nosila
on May 10, 2010 -
4 answers
Any recommendations for scanning / PDF management software for my Mac that is cheap or, better yet, free?
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posted by synecdoche
on Mar 21, 2010 -
9 answers
Help me scan some precious old family photos! I need advice on the best settings to use: TIFF, dpi, encodings, and the rest of it..
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posted by bchaplin
on Mar 16, 2010 -
7 answers
Why do flatbed scanners seem to have so little dynamic range for sketches? I draw for fun, usually with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. I do not put a lot of pressure onto the pen because it allows for more details/subtle shading.
When I scan the images, the "light" details are always blown out and no amount of fiddling xsane's settings (gamma, brightness, contrast) seems to reveal them.
Is there a trick I'm missing, or paper+scanner just really sucks and I should just use my tablet?
Example scanned drawing lacking much of the visual information that the eye can see on paper.
Scanners I have used over the years: HP ScanJet 3300C, Canon lide (briefly), and now a Brother MFC-5840CN.
posted by a007r
on Jan 28, 2010 -
23 answers
Help me find a place in NYC that will scan my B/W drawings quickly and beautifully.
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posted by kenzi23
on Jan 26, 2010 -
2 answers
I'm starting up a textbook digitization business on campus which converts physical textbooks into PDFs: Is the legal grey area that this falls into more of a legal deathwish?
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posted by gacxllr9
on Dec 29, 2009 -
25 answers
What document imaging company do you recommend that is user-friendly, cheap, and secure?
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posted by Merlin144
on Dec 25, 2009 -
6 answers
