For those that are curious, this section is a bit of background of how I process each piece of literature along with the software and hardware I’m using.
I started out using Nuance PaperPort Professional 12 as the scan manager. While it offered a pretty good workflow, let’s just say I had my reasons for looking around for something else. I have not totally abandoned it as there might still be times it could be useful.
Now I am using Abbyy FineReader 10 Pro. It’s more of an OCR program than a document manager. It’s scanning capabilities are okay but the OCR seems very good in the recognition department.
When the quality of the scan matters, I am using VueScan, which is an excellent program that does one thing: scan. VueScan offers many options and adjustments giving me the best scans possible. I’ve used it for years: Highly recommended.
For the non-magazine documents, I am scanning most at 200 dpi (a few at 300 dpi) and use the grayscale mode for black and white pages.
For the magazines, I’m using VueScan to scan 300 dpi originals to barely compressed JPGs. I run them through Abbyy FineReader Pro to do very basic cleanups, OCR and output a sPDF at 200 dpi with a moderate amount of compression to control the file sizes.
Also in my list of available tools are two bitmap image editors. For the greatest control cleaning up pictures, I use CorelDraw X4′s PhotoPaint. For quick edits, resizing and such, Paint .NET does the job quickly and efficiently as speed and a straightforward design are huge pluses in my book.
I have three unique scanners allowing me to match the document to the scanner itself:
The Visioneer Strobe 500 is a sheet-fed page scanner even acquires both the front and back sides of each page in a single pass. For a personal scanner, this device is fast (about 15 pages per minute), reasonably compact and works quite nicely. Also, this scanner seems to be a repackaged version of the Xerox DocuMate 3115.
I also have an Epson V30 flatbed scanner. Paper scans are very good, a benefit likely gained from being related to higher end Epson models. It is odd in that the lid is on the long side of page rather than the top, but since it folds flat, if I put a book under it to make it level, this has not been much an issue.
I also have a Brother MFC-6490CW “All-in-One” that has one distinctive feature: The ability to scan 11×17. While the scan quality is not as good as the Epson, it is acceptable, especially for the convenience dealing with larger pieces of literature.
The PDF thumbnails are pre-generated by hand to reduce the load on the web server using Tracker Software’s PDF X-Change Viewer. This is a free program that has a highly configurable graphic export for PDF pages. I use AutoHotKey (a powerful script-based keyboard macro utility, although not for the timid) to automate the process quite nicely.
(It is worth noting that the PaperPort ImageView can do this, as well, but I prefer the options that PDF X-Change offers and that it is quicker and better fits into the workflow. One tip installing PDF X-Change Viewer: Be aware that you may want to turn off installing a search toolbar.)
Before uploading the thumbnails to the web server, I use the batch convert feature of the FastStone Image Viewer to size them accordingly. I’ve used this free program for years and recommend it highly.
Finally I use the FileZilla FTP Client to send the PDF and thumbnails to their respective folders on the server.
As for this server, I’m presently using a modified version of snif, a php file listing program. However expect this to be replaced with a searchable database sometime in the future.
Well, that’s all there is to it. Now I’ve just got to acquire more materials…
