thank you for making this video. I am the sole remaining volunteer for our local genealogical library and am trying to digitize some ledgers from 1832-1837 and some of the surname materials on the shelves in order to keep as much material locally as possible if the library has to close. I bought the ET16 and now feel confident that I will be successful in my efforts after watching your video and reading the comments that follow.
Wow! Great job Russ, Thanks for your work in getting this going. It will provide a priceless resource - not only to preserve the content but to make it available to a much wider audience.
After having used this for several months I have some additional comments. The "automatic" software with the scanner says it will automatically scan the books, flatten the images, and crop and erase fingers or finger cots holding pages down. I have not had much success with the auto functions, the images are sometimes rotated at a 45 degree angle, the fingers/cots not completely removed and the processing time is very slow. My strategy to get the most and fastest page scanning is to go manual, set my own cropping borders and do no auto processing. That is fast, works pretty good, gives me decent images and no worry about the auto software messing things up. So, don't assume the automatic processing will work I also found that moving the scanned files to a google drive is pretty good, as google attempts to do OCR on those files and often finds words in cursive writing as well as printed.
Thank you for sharing this video. I am a volunteer for a museum that is considering buying either the CZUR 16 or 18. I've read and watched many reviews, but they all demonstrated the scanning of contemporary printed books. However, we will be scanning old Journals, handwritten, and of poor quality. Your video demonstrated that the final product will be legible if the original is legible.
In my comments after I posted the video I mentioned that the software they used to automatically process the images (flatten) was somewhat flakey, so I turned that off and just take the photos and use other software for working with the photos. The camera part works good though. I had hoped they would fix the processing software but they seem to never upgrade their software. There are many options for cameras like this and so I would check out others too before ordering. However I am pretty happy with it as the way I use it, I can rapidly scan the old records and get decent copies.
I can save the files as jpg or pdf -- a file per page. Then when I am done, I combine the pages into a pdf book that I can turn the pages like the original and read. It works best at the height set but I tried it about 3 feet above a large image and it focused it OK, although the image was grainy, it was readable. That means it would work for a large newspaper scan too. Each time I do a new book, I change the root file name and folder so when I am done, each book is in its own folder of images. Then I use Acrobat to combine the images into the pdf file. I found that when I setup manual image area recognition and draw a box around the image, I don't get auto yellow finger cot removal. It would be nice to have a post-processing step to remove those. I also found I needed to get a larger black drop cloth than the one provided to do my scans. The black background is supposed to allow the image to be cropped automatically on single or double page imaging. The jpg image file size is slighly over 1 mb per image at highest resolution and dpi. One can set the choices lower if not needed. I am still working with it, although have done 40 of these type record books so far in about 6 hours over 2 sessions. The built in lighting is sufficient for imaging, even the larger pages. One can adjust the exposure light before taking the pictures. I found that at higher distances I could adjust the exposure to work OK. You can see an example of a scanned book at this link. drive.google.com/open?id=1oYQN_NlHdYLypQRc9u0aaW3fjeXnHuhH
Thanks for the video. Can you make a video scanning old Music records LP and EP vinil records ? I would like the qaulity on color images . Thanks again
Thanks so much for making this. Definitely the most genuine and practical review I've seen. I have so many large books that need scanning, not as large as yours but if it can handle that, it can handle mine. Thank you, and also, how is the scan quality? Are the words clear or blurry?
The quality is good for what I do Here is a link to some scanned large images you can review. It is a double wide tax record book drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eVjZ1P6vXQ5xIN9P0z41FlRhF-H2XK0R?usp=sharing Although I don't consider it the right choice for very high resolution photos, it is fine for newspapers, books etc where readability is more important the the very fine detail in an old photo
No, all of the control is in the computer. A stand alone setup would be nice. To use the real-time processing features you need decent speed computer to keep up. For my use, -- just getting the images in, I use an old Windows 7 laptop that works fine. I don't use the other software that comes with the camera -- ocr, image processing etc, as I have other programs to do that (Adobe Acrobat mostly). I really just use it as a camera that is controlled by a computer and a foot pedal. A camera on a tripod with a foot pedal might work as well for what I do and then not need a computer. Look at this gadget! www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3221271
It adjust the focus automatically like a camera with auto focus function. However when I do photos at 3 feet or more, you can see some pixelization so the image quality is less. However it is usable if what you are after is readable text. I am using it outside its recommended height because it works OK to do that!
I have done books about 30 inches wide when opened fully. I did a newspaper that was 30x30 inches. I just raise the camera higher and it autofocuses on the larger area below. Of course the higher one goes, the lower the quality of the image -- so when I did a table to floor photo, although the text was readable, you could see the quality was less. If you are trying to do verly large format, a good quality camera on a tripod may work better.
It is not high resolution, the software has some problems, but for my purposes -- rapidly copying old record books it works fine. What do you plan to use it for? I can tell you better if I know that.
@@RiverRoadRambler I wanna use it for college trxt books, scanning a 600 pg math book and I aanna upload it and access anywhere in my devices so when I'm in school I won't have tow orry, does it also scan in color?
@@calista910 Yes, it would work for that and does color. However, you probably could do that with just about any cell phone or digital camera too. I put my scans on my google cloud drive where google automatically does OCR on them so they are searchable by word.
@@RiverRoadRambler wow okay, i have a question, will it look like a e-book when you use it? lke, can you scroll down individual pages and such ? will it look exactly as the book?
thank you for making this video. I am the sole remaining volunteer for our local genealogical library and am trying to digitize some ledgers from 1832-1837 and some of the surname materials on the shelves in order to keep as much material locally as possible if the library has to close. I bought the ET16 and now feel confident that I will be successful in my efforts after watching your video and reading the comments that follow.
Wow! Great job Russ, Thanks for your work in getting this going. It will provide a priceless resource - not only to preserve the content but to make it available to a much wider audience.
After having used this for several months I have some additional comments. The "automatic" software with the scanner says it will automatically scan the books, flatten the images, and crop and erase fingers or finger cots holding pages down. I have not had much success with the auto functions, the images are sometimes rotated at a 45 degree angle, the fingers/cots not completely removed and the processing time is very slow. My strategy to get the most and fastest page scanning is to go manual, set my own cropping borders and do no auto processing. That is fast, works pretty good, gives me decent images and no worry about the auto software messing things up. So, don't assume the automatic processing will work
I also found that moving the scanned files to a google drive is pretty good, as google attempts to do OCR on those files and often finds words in cursive writing as well as printed.
thanks for the tip Grandpa!
I was linked to this product then found your video. Thank you for giving a realistic impression and also for sharing the example file.
I like your idea of "Jacking" the camera up. I will have to try that with my CZUR Aura Pro!!!
Excellent demo video. Thank you
Thank you for sharing this video. I am a volunteer for a museum that is considering buying either the CZUR 16 or 18. I've read and watched many reviews, but they all demonstrated the scanning of contemporary printed books. However, we will be scanning old Journals, handwritten, and of poor quality. Your video demonstrated that the final product will be legible if the original is legible.
In my comments after I posted the video I mentioned that the software they used to automatically process the images (flatten) was somewhat flakey, so I turned that off and just take the photos and use other software for working with the photos. The camera part works good though. I had hoped they would fix the processing software but they seem to never upgrade their software. There are many options for cameras like this and so I would check out others too before ordering. However I am pretty happy with it as the way I use it, I can rapidly scan the old records and get decent copies.
I can save the files as jpg or pdf -- a file per page. Then when I am done, I combine the pages into a pdf book that I can turn the pages like the original and read. It works best at the height set but I tried it about 3 feet above a large image and it focused it OK, although the image was grainy, it was readable. That means it would work for a large newspaper scan too. Each time I do a new book, I change the root file name and folder so when I am done, each book is in its own folder of images. Then I use Acrobat to combine the images into the pdf file. I found that when I setup manual image area recognition and draw a box around the image, I don't get auto yellow finger cot removal. It would be nice to have a post-processing step to remove those. I also found I needed to get a larger black drop cloth than the one provided to do my scans. The black background is supposed to allow the image to be cropped automatically on single or double page imaging.
The jpg image file size is slighly over 1 mb per image at highest resolution and dpi. One can set the choices lower if not needed. I am still working with it, although have done 40 of these type record books so far in about 6 hours over 2 sessions. The built in lighting is sufficient for imaging, even the larger pages. One can adjust the exposure light before taking the pictures. I found that at higher distances I could adjust the exposure to work OK. You can see an example of a scanned book at this link. drive.google.com/open?id=1oYQN_NlHdYLypQRc9u0aaW3fjeXnHuhH
Thanks for the video.
Can you make a video scanning old Music records LP and EP vinil records ?
I would like the qaulity on color images . Thanks again
Thanks so much for making this. Definitely the most genuine and practical review I've seen. I have so many large books that need scanning, not as large as yours but if it can handle that, it can handle mine.
Thank you, and also, how is the scan quality? Are the words clear or blurry?
The quality is good for what I do Here is a link to some scanned large images you can review. It is a double wide tax record book drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eVjZ1P6vXQ5xIN9P0z41FlRhF-H2XK0R?usp=sharing Although I don't consider it the right choice for very high resolution photos, it is fine for newspapers, books etc where readability is more important the the very fine detail in an old photo
can the scanner work without a computer?
and the scans are then processed using a computer...
No, all of the control is in the computer. A stand alone setup would be nice. To use the real-time processing features you need decent speed computer to keep up. For my use, -- just getting the images in, I use an old Windows 7 laptop that works fine. I don't use the other software that comes with the camera -- ocr, image processing etc, as I have other programs to do that (Adobe Acrobat mostly). I really just use it as a camera that is controlled by a computer and a foot pedal. A camera on a tripod with a foot pedal might work as well for what I do and then not need a computer. Look at this gadget! www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3221271
I would imagine, that raising the height would make it harder for the camera to focus properly.
It adjust the focus automatically like a camera with auto focus function. However when I do photos at 3 feet or more, you can see some pixelization so the image quality is less. However it is usable if what you are after is readable text. I am using it outside its recommended height because it works OK to do that!
Please let me know the measure of the "book" when both pages are opened, i mean the book widht an height inches
I have done books about 30 inches wide when opened fully. I did a newspaper that was 30x30 inches. I just raise the camera higher and it autofocuses on the larger area below. Of course the higher one goes, the lower the quality of the image -- so when I did a table to floor photo, although the text was readable, you could see the quality was less. If you are trying to do verly large format, a good quality camera on a tripod may work better.
@@RiverRoadRambler thanks for your information,
Does it work really good
It is not high resolution, the software has some problems, but for my purposes -- rapidly copying old record books it works fine. What do you plan to use it for? I can tell you better if I know that.
@@RiverRoadRambler I wanna use it for college trxt books, scanning a 600 pg math book and I aanna upload it and access anywhere in my devices so when I'm in school I won't have tow orry, does it also scan in color?
Is it readable if not high resolution?
@@calista910 Yes, it would work for that and does color. However, you probably could do that with just about any cell phone or digital camera too. I put my scans on my google cloud drive where google automatically does OCR on them so they are searchable by word.
@@RiverRoadRambler wow okay, i have a question, will it look like a e-book when you use it? lke, can you scroll down individual pages and such ? will it look exactly as the book?
Personally I like the Fujitsu ScanSnap SV600 better.