There was a thread about CZUR scanners several years ago. I’m looking for more recent experiences with a book scanner, one low-end enough to be economical but with good quality.
Is anyone here using a CZUR regularly, or are there other choices. Scanning book sections with iPhone camera + software gets unpleasant after a few pages.
Katie
While not a solution for everyone, several years ago, I was in the same place, and when looking at prices of “flat” scanners and having a Scan Snap…
I bought this
It’s was $40 cheaper then
and sawed off the covers from 1009 books and fed them
into the Scan Snap creating searchable .pdfs.
I use a couple of different “voice to pdfs” to serve as audiobooks,
or read them physically as .pdfs
(Seriously, I did this)
Yeah, well. Not planning to cut up my books or those my friends lend me. But. Yeah, that’s an idea. For sure.
Katie
I was going to get one, but through Amazon reviews (I think), I got links to warnings that the software has to phone home to servers in China every time it runs. I decided against it. Please take with a grain of salt - I know “I saw it on the internet somewhere but can’t remember where” isn’t exactly authoritative.
-Eric
If you are into hacking hardware yourself then you should take a look at DIY Book Scanner. There is a simple scanner — basically a cardboard box with a lamp to one side and a digital camera on the other — through to a more sophisticated version with dual cameras and lights plus control software that includes OCR (I think it includes OCR).
Of COURSE it depends on your use case,
this was primarily an archival task, and a 1TB
disk takes up a lot less space than 10 bookcases.
I’ve been looking for a book scanner as well. Plustek seem to have decent reviews but not all models are Mac compatible. Look for details of the book edge and ability to drape the other half of the book off the side. My gotcha is I really want something that can scan 12x12 inch scrapbook size pages so A3 minimum although it cuts off 1/4 inch. A2 is better but I haven’t found any of those yet that work with Macs.
I eliminated the CZUR due to the phone home to China issue.
I’ve been using a CZUR scanner for several years, and it works pretty well for my needs. I use Little Snitch to prevent it phoning home to China. Apart from scanning books, it’s also handy for scanning large pages that can’t be scanned with a standard scanner. (I also have an Epson flatbed scanner that I’ve been using for about twenty years and a ScanSnap.)
I should add that the interface is not at all Mac-like and has some quirks. I’ve managed to get around most of them with some Keyboard Maestro macros that I activate from my Stream Deck.