software to disect & assemble (for lack of a better description)

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I know Gazumped & GrumpyMonkey are major hard core scanners, so I thought I'd pose this question. I'm having a difficult time describing this. Say you have a brochure you want to scan & it's twelve pages. I normally remove the staples & now I have three separate pages. I then use a paper cutter to slice them down the middle & I now have six separate pages. I can now scan them with either of my scanners & I'm good to go.

However...if I have a say 60 page brochure & would rather scan the pages after stapling but before slicing, is there any software you're aware of that would recognize that a single, double sided page (front & back) is really four pages? And be able to take such a scan & virtually slice the pages & reassemble into the proper place? (Hope that makes sense...)

I'm sort of thinking this doesn't exist. But I figured if it does, either of you would already know about this. Or at the very least be able to give me the right terms I should use when Googling for this type of software.

TIA...

[gazumped 11,643]

I'm hard core but old school I'm afraid - I'd split the booklet into single pages and scan from there. I have the occasional problem when brochures aren't meant to be read as double-sided pages from cover to back - if pages 1-4 are side by side on the front of the brochure forinstance, and 5-8 are on the back. Then I Simplex scan the pages in the correct order - takes two scans, but I get all the pages in the right order just by joining the two PDF files together.

For bigger brochures with lots of pages I attack the binding with either a metal rule and a very sharp knife (and lots of card to protect my desk) or a very large, lethally sharp and scary (mainly to visitors) knife which slides through the paper where its folded. I don't actually have to remove the staples beforehand either - slicing up the central fold excises the staples neatly.

I've seen a YouTube video of a scanning fanatic using a circular power saw and two chunks of wood to remove the binding from a 600-page book neatly - well fairly neatly - before it succumbed to his scanner. Can't remember if I got the link from this forum, or whether I just searched online..

None of which I really relevant, I know.. I did a search for "page order book scanning" (without the quotes) which turned up various companies that will do it for you, and one reference to some software that helps - http://sourceforge.net/projects/bookscanwizard/ That seems a lot more aimed at the maker market, but it did give me an idea.

If you have PDF software you can automate (with AutoHotKey if necessary), or something like Photoshop which can record process steps, you should be able to scan your document into a file with each single scanned page containing two of your document pages. Two pages of the scanned file will have all four sides of your document.

You should (I think) be able to arrive at a series of steps - rotate, crop, cut/ paste etc which will change those two pages into the four separate original pages, or if not at least into two consecutive pages from your original brochure. (You'd then have to keep a scanned file and process it twice to get a full set of pages).

I hope that makes some kind of sense. It just me want to go and scan something with lots of pages...

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Sorry BNF. Brochures and pamphlets are the worst. What I really hate are brochures that fold out so there is something like a massive map on one side and lots of text all divided up on the other so that it is impossible to really view the pamphlet well once it has been dismembered. But, what can you do?

My guess is that if such software exists it would be more trouble than it is worth. Unfortunately, that is often the case.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I've seen a YouTube video of a scanning fanatic using a circular power saw and two chunks of wood

:lol:

Thanks for the book scan wizard!

Sorry BNF. Brochures and pamphlets are the worst. What I really hate are brochures that fold out so there is something like a massive map on one side and lots of text all divided up on the other so that it is impossible to really view the pamphlet well once it has been dismembered. But, what can you do?

I KNOW!!! One of the decluttering/digitizing tasks I'm trying to do is take some brochures & maps we've kept of vacations we took years ago. (sigh)

One thing I did think helped my Googling on the topic is the idea of splitting a PDF page in half. That way, I can scan each physical page in (which is really four "pages", IE if I have a eight page brochure/booklet that is comprised of two physical pages, the first physical page contains pages 1, 2, 7 & 8. So I'm thinking I can scan both sides of the two physical pages (a total of four scans now) & then (maybe) use a PDF page splitter to split the four scans into the eight pages. OTOH, it may be a nightmare reassembling the split pages...IDK. Going to have to play with this. But would be nifty if I figured out a workflow for these things, since I have several I'd like to scan.

Here is a PDF page splitter I've found but not had the time to check out. So as GM said, maybe more trouble than it's worth.

http://www.a-pdf.com...ages-in-pdf.htm

[gazumped 11,643]

..Another random thought concerning large brochures - one of my many "techniques", if the process can be dignified with such a name, is to flatten out a large document against a handy and well-lit wall, and have at it with a digital camera or the 'phone. It's fairly simple to edit good quality JPEGs down to a specific item or page, and they can be assembled back into a full PDF of the whole document in the correct reading order. Again I find it simpler to take pictures in page order than to chop a larger picture or scan into individual images in the right sequence. The sole proviso would be I'll photo one complete side of the document (in separate sections), then the other, so if page numbers span both sides I'm back to merging files together to get a full set.

End of the day, it's whatever works for you - and you need to hope that you don't have enough of that kind of paper to require a fully orchestrated 'process'.

PS - I also cheat and search brochure code numbers* or key phrases on the net. You can often find online PDFs that will save you a lot of time!

*Those little teeny numbers in bottom margins that printers like to use to show this is brochure <nnn> printed on <date>

[GoingPaperless 0]

Check out some of these home brew things:

https://www.google.c...iw=1600&bih=675

Or if you really get into it there is a whole culture evolving to scan books:

https://www.google.c...iw=1600&bih=675

Sorry for the long URL, I just did a quick and dirty search.

The ones I have a real problem with are the brochures from Charles Schawb ... which are large fold out things that won't fit into the scanner and are not really logically cuttable.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

To clarify, this is for a booklets/brochures/manuals that are stapled in the middle. When you remove the staples, each physical page contains four "pages" & each physical page is less than or equal to a legal size pad (8 1/2 x 14 inches). In my case, I'm talking about booklets/brochures you get at a museum, play, ballet, etc. The specific one I used for this test is a 104 page brochure from "The Nutcracker". There is a lot of information on the dancers & musicians as well as info on upcoming local events that I wanted to include. Since they are interspersed with the various ads, I decided I really wanted to preserve the document in it's entirety, rather than pick out the pages of interest. Yes, I could have sliced the pages, which is what I've done with other, thinner brochures. But you have to be careful when slicing the pages & be sure they don't stick together when scanning (more of a problem when you've sliced the pages than with uncut pages) and this would have required a bit more scanning time & effort. (Not a big deal, though, unless you have a lot of these items you want to scan. For this 104 page brochure, I only needed to scan 26 physical pages. Since I did this on a duplex scanner, that was 26 scans. If I'd sliced the pages & done both sides on the duplex scanner, it would have been 52 scans on my duplex & 104 scans on my Xerox - (not duplex but is able to scan one side of a stack of pages & then the other side & assemble them correctly)...if I did my math correctly...)

Anyway, scan the pages so you end up with a PDF as illustrated in the attached image. (Easily done by either software or how you load the pages in your scanner.)

Then I used Boxoft PDF Pagecutter. Loaded the PDF & selected "last-first" as the "cut pages order". Save the resultant file. Open the newly created file. Find the number of pages & divide by 2. In my case, there were 104 pages, so 52. Rotate, 180 degrees, the odd numbered pages in the first half (1-52). (Easily & quickly done with most PDF viewers.) Then rotate, 180 degrees, the even numbered pages in the last half (53-104). Done!

I guess this sounds a bit tedious. But it took longer to write this out than to do it, once I figured the process out.

FWIW, it appears Boxoft PageCut & A-PDF PageCut are the exact same software. However, A-PDF is $35 & Boxoft is $27. (Not sure what happened there. Seems like a couple of people deveolped it initially & then one went out on his own...)

Usual disclaimers - I'm not affiliated with either A-PDF or Boxoft.

[gazumped 11,643]

Glad you got a quick result! I have, of course, Evernoted the links just in case I get a similar problem or see a similar query in future..

Not to be a sore loser, but I have scanned some fairly large (100 pages or so) booklets that have been gutted with my BF knife - the advantages of having something like a small sword being the weight of the implement and the precision of the cut tends to give a clean result even with quite thick folded documents. Plus it removes all staples.

I may be spoiled by my ScanSnap which very rarely jams or misfeeds - single pages snap through efficiently with a very occasional stop to check that a misfeed hasn't occurred. If there is a problem, the software allows me to check what I last scanned and re-feed pages as necessary.

Anyway. Whatever works!

[Michael Campbell 4]

I've seen a YouTube video of a scanning fanatic using a circular power saw and two chunks of wood to remove the binding from a 600-page book neatly - well fairly neatly - before it succumbed to his scanner. Can't remember if I got the link from this forum, or whether I just searched online..

Moron is using power tools... in bare feet. <eye roll>

Anyway, I've considered doing this with some books (although I have a bandsaw with a fence on it, so it's easier and safer), but I've yet to have the need for a digitized book that I had the hardcopy to.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I do have a paperback book that I'd like to scan. I'd keep the full copy on my hard drive & split it to drop it into Evernote. I have an editor's version (or whatever they call it before it's actually published) as well as a published copy. Since it wasn't a best seller & there are a dozen copies on Ebay every day, I'll probably get a copy just to disassemble. I'm so clumsy that even if I had access to one, I don't trust myself with a power saw. (NO WAY!) I've never disassembled/dismantled a book before, so I guess I'll have to play it by ear while keeping this thread info handy.

@Gazumped - BF knife? Googled it & found battlefield knife. The ones I found resemble switchblades and may not be legal in the U.S.??? (As you can tell, I'm not familiar with knives other than ones designed for kitchen use.)

And FYI..., I have an old skool, low tech paper cutter similar to this one that I've used for years, when splitting docs for scanning.

[gazumped 11,643]

@Michael Campbell: Yep - that's the exact one. I left out the barefoot bit - didn't think anyone would believe me.. If you haven't used a Fujitsu scanner, check out the speed of the 1500 in the video. This is pretty accurate - even that size book would take a matter of minutes -rather than hours- to scan completely. The OCR process is part of the scan now (depends on your settings) but would still take a while to complete. I leave big scans until I'm just about to go to bed so I can leave the system running if necessary.

@BNF: Ah. Lessee. A BFG is literally a BF gun - a *really* big gun. I thought BFK was a bit of a stretch for a .. really big knife .., hence BF Knife. And no, it's not "Battlefield".

Well I guess it is in a way - mine is actually a Kukri. We British have a long history of friendly alliance with the Ghurka, and I had the priviledge of being mock ambushed by a unit in training a few years ago. Imagine an idyllic quiet country scene with grass and low bushes... that suddenly turn out to be small guys with twigs in their hat, various BFGs and really nasty smiles. It was truly amazing how many guys had completely disappeared themselves in a very small area.

The curved shape of the knife with its heavy leaf-shaped bade turns out to be the ideal configuration for splitting thick folders of paper along the seam. That and the fact I spend some quality time pretending to be Conan (the Barbarian, not the O'Brien) running a sharpening stone along the blade.

Look. I'm (well) over 21 and live in Wales, UK - I'm not really that scary. Honest.

[Owyn 457]

A BFG is literally a BF gun - a *really* big gun.

Been reading John Ringo lately?

[gazumped 11,643]

I may have read a couple of John Ringo books in my youth, but I didn't inhale.