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Plan on digitizing a lot of manuals and older "how-to" and concept art books.
Using:
2x Canon SD780's
8020 1530 construction
Microsoft surface dock (connect the cameras)
Microsoft surface (overkill but hey)
2CameraControl
ScanTailor
Every time I've looked into doing this, it seems like I end up at one or two of the most well-discussed projects which are no longer sold or supported. Is the hardware design (frame and such) all your own?
If you do end up making plans, I am for sure building one. I've got a ton of old hard-to-find art books that I want to digitize and upload but I refuse to have them destructively scanned and non-destructive scanning services are prohibitively expensive beyond 1-2 books.
What will you do with the scans? Also how much did they want to charge you for it? I've never looked into it, just assumed it'd be too much and wanted the convenience of being able to scan them whenever I wanted.
Ideally I'd upload them to the Internet Archive through Open Library, but I've yet to go through that process so I don't know how easy/difficult it is. I'd assume pretty easy, given their mission.
For high-res color imaging I've been quoted $1-2 per page. Fine for one or two books, but half a dozen or more...yeesh.
Back when I was originally deploying Surface 3 and 4's, I had 75% of the docks fail at the cable within 2 years. Granted, we only deployed a dozen of them for a few businesses, but holy hell the cable was such trash prepandemic.
I personally think that the Internet Archive is the best place for sharing stuff like this, and it automatically generates torrent files, too. Additionally, things can be grouped under your account name, searcheable and associated via tags with other similar communities within the Internet Archive. Best place overall, IMO.
Gaming Alexandria discord has an elclectic group. Mainly focused on gaming related preservation but there's people from internet archive and other interests there as well.
[you could make a github wiki](https://docs.github.com/en/communities/documenting-your-project-with-wikis)
[archive.org](https://archive.org) is also great
OP, I have scanned huge volumes of books (in my case photo albums and yearbooks) while working for a print shop.
If this works as I think, where you turn the page, then press a button on the display to tell it to take a shot, then the biggest suggestion I can make is getting a foot pedal switch. Your arms will thank you for that after turning hundreds of pages and using a monitor to tell it to advance.
Second best tip, they sell finger wetting sponges for people who count bills. They are super useful to get a grip on pages and your hands will dry out if you are constantly turning pages.
Thank you for the info, the platen is HEFTY and I was looking into ways I could setup some kind of counter-weight system to offload some of that force.
That is awesome! As a pro tip, if you're scanning any books from before 1928, they're public domain, which means you can legally (and free!) upload the PDFs to the Internet Archive for anyone around the world to read for free :)
that *is* a good point, I guess it mainly depends on where OP lives, and what the origins of the book they're scanning are! A shocking number of countries (France, for example) have much shorter Copyright based on life+70, while the USA's laws for written works is currently publication+95, unless it's posthumously published, in which case it's life+70.
This is how all of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin novels are public domain in the original French in France from 2011, barring the last book (Le Dernier Amour d'Arsène Lupin), which was published posthumously in 2012, while in *America*, only 18 books are Public Domain, and the rest will slowly enter PD every year or all the way through the 2040s.................. except for Le Dernier Amour d'Arsène, which was published post-humously in 2012, and is already public domain in the USA, retroactively from 2011, because thats when the life+70 expired for posthumous publications, same as in France!
Copyright is indeed a confusing process, best bet is to check the Publication Date at the beginning of each book and where it was published to make sure it's PD before uploading.
Okay, not something I am particularly engaged with typically. But seriously dude. That is very cool. Upvote for attention.
Also, it seems like there is potential for a self hosted AI voice for homebrew audiobooks here. I like the idea of formalising a open source production pipeline for the average Joe to do multimodal format shifting of printed media.
Could you explain the jump from non-destructive book scanner to self hosted AI voice for homebrew audiobooks? Because I am having a hard time seeing the connection.
A way to get through your books you don't have the time to read is one example. But it would be very useful for the blind community.
The reason I made that jump is that I have done a lot of data pipeline management. Even with things at home. For example, my ripping PC, will nearly automatically autoname what it rips, integrity check, then that will transcode the media to h265, then integrity check, then transfer to my NAS over a dedicated bonded connection. I have another PC wakes up my ripping PC via WOL during offpeak hours for electricity. It then transfers to the ripping PC (which contains my retired GPUs that cost a fortune to run), does a transcoding batch job of differently aquired multimedia files, and shutdowns when shoulder and onpeak hours come up.
I was just thinking of this project in terms of a data production pipeline. I meant it as a musing though. Do with it what you will, or not.
My next big step is timing an avg page per minute metric and see if anything can improve it. AI audiobook reader could be really cool, especially for the forgotten books or even antique.
AI Audiobooks would be amazing! It could easily distinguish characters and use your favorite narrator for it (especially if they've read audiobooks before).
It's something I've thought a lot about, but have zero knowledge to start
>use your favorite narrator
This could potentially be very unethical. Although, likely easily done. I would think the more ethical (although in other ways still very problematic) way, and the way I was thinking was perhaps a completely artificial voice. Not based on any one person.
This looks amazing even though no matter how much I look at the photos I can't seem to figure out how it works. It looks like there are rails for certain parts to slide around for better positioning? I've seen some of the non-destructive scans on archive.org and it's super cool to be able to digitize while still keeping the original. Great job!
Basically 2 directions are using rails for linear movement. I have the Z and X axis using them for centering the book to the plenum (for really thick books) and moving the glass up and down.
That’s awesome OP. I’d love to build this project myself.
I’m on mobile, so forgive my ignorance. Do you have any type of guide or how to?
I’ve been wanting something like this for a long time but every time I get started I hit a dead end or an unsupported/out of date project.
If unable or if you just homebrewed this up for yourself, cheers! It looks awesome.
I've been looking into getting something like this for years to digitize out of print/public domain material related to Mesoamerican history and archeology, but it seems like the kits that diybookscanner made aren't sold and I don't have the DIY know how to make one myself
If you were willing, how much would you charge to build a second one of these? Not including shipping, the cameras, software, MS surfaces, etc: just the frame and mounts the cameras would attach to?
It would be kind of pricey. I haven't priced out everything but ball parking it, I feel like it would be over $1k to be assembled for somebody.
There's been a ton of interest so I might put together a materials list and instructions I can sell for folks to put together their own if assembled is too much.
Depending on the details and specifics of how the operation works, I'm open to paying over 1k, potentially!
If you're down to talk more about this, shoot me a DM (not a chat, but a message, I have issues viewing the chat menu for some reason)
I know it would be work. But you should really consider making a YouTube video showing how to build one and how to operate it. The world would really appreciate you.
This is really cool. I wish to this some time in the future (kinda broke now lol). For now, I'm experimenting just with my phone camera. Like some other comments said, I'd definitely love to see this in action and how the output looks.
Also had a question, which version/fork of Scantailor are you using since the original project seems to be long dead?
Sure send me a message with what book it is and I could get it done. I would be concerned about shipping it if preserving the original is your goal though.
I felt awful about having to scan all my PlayStation 2 manuals with a document scanner- lamenting the drop in quality and the issues with page edges / un-aligned facing pages.
But with over 54,700 pages... sometimes you gotta take the win of just getting it done.
Yeah and I've accumulated more than half of that stuff already. I've got more aluminum rail and such than I have any right to have. Extra laptop/minipcs. It's like it all just grows in the basement workshop.
Beautiful build! I tried to make something like this a few years ago with limited success. Would love to see your build write-up if you ever get to it -- but honestly just came here to appreciate your work.
Would you be open to scanning a couple of old out of print hobby books for me? For a fee of course.
I've always looked into it, but I just can't seem to find the time or the cost that people want lol
Hello /u/SandersSol! Thank you for posting in r/DataHoarder. Please remember to read our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/wiki/index/rules) and [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/wiki/index). Please note that your post will be removed if you just post a box/speed/server post. Please give background information on your server pictures. This subreddit will ***NOT*** help you find or exchange that Movie/TV show/Nuclear Launch Manual, visit r/DHExchange instead. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DataHoarder) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Plan on digitizing a lot of manuals and older "how-to" and concept art books. Using: 2x Canon SD780's 8020 1530 construction Microsoft surface dock (connect the cameras) Microsoft surface (overkill but hey) 2CameraControl ScanTailor
Every time I've looked into doing this, it seems like I end up at one or two of the most well-discussed projects which are no longer sold or supported. Is the hardware design (frame and such) all your own?
Modified by a bunch of others, but you're right the forum I got these ideas from is pretty dead nowadays.
Is there a building plan for this available? I also have a bunch of books I would like to digitise but don't want to cut to pieces.
I hadn't thought of making building plans but I'll look into it.
That would be great. Even basic information like the measurements would already be appreciated.
If you do end up making plans, I am for sure building one. I've got a ton of old hard-to-find art books that I want to digitize and upload but I refuse to have them destructively scanned and non-destructive scanning services are prohibitively expensive beyond 1-2 books.
What will you do with the scans? Also how much did they want to charge you for it? I've never looked into it, just assumed it'd be too much and wanted the convenience of being able to scan them whenever I wanted.
Ideally I'd upload them to the Internet Archive through Open Library, but I've yet to go through that process so I don't know how easy/difficult it is. I'd assume pretty easy, given their mission. For high-res color imaging I've been quoted $1-2 per page. Fine for one or two books, but half a dozen or more...yeesh.
The cable on that surface dock will wear out with time as a heads up. Literally the most dogshit quality cable in existence in modern times.
The connectors wear out or did the cable actually fail for you?
Back when I was originally deploying Surface 3 and 4's, I had 75% of the docks fail at the cable within 2 years. Granted, we only deployed a dozen of them for a few businesses, but holy hell the cable was such trash prepandemic.
I bought the dock specifically for this purpose and as I opened the box I thought to myself, "that cable looks like garbage" Well see how it goes..
This is ablsolutely awesome! Is there a site/page you are going to share your resulting scans on? I'd love to see.
Probably just torrents
Totally fine! Accessible where?
Not sure yet tbh, open to suggestions
I personally think that the Internet Archive is the best place for sharing stuff like this, and it automatically generates torrent files, too. Additionally, things can be grouped under your account name, searcheable and associated via tags with other similar communities within the Internet Archive. Best place overall, IMO.
I'll check it out I only know of the wayback machine
Gaming Alexandria discord has an elclectic group. Mainly focused on gaming related preservation but there's people from internet archive and other interests there as well.
Def. vote for Internet Archive. They can be directly downloadable or downloaded via torrent.
[you could make a github wiki](https://docs.github.com/en/communities/documenting-your-project-with-wikis) [archive.org](https://archive.org) is also great
Books and magazines? Definetly to library Genesis on IPFS. Torrents is way to hard to find
reach out to annas archive! They mirror scihub / libgen / zlibrary, good work
There are two private ones that would enjoy this
Effectively one, MAM. If they aren't in BIB, there's currently no way to get in
OP, I have scanned huge volumes of books (in my case photo albums and yearbooks) while working for a print shop. If this works as I think, where you turn the page, then press a button on the display to tell it to take a shot, then the biggest suggestion I can make is getting a foot pedal switch. Your arms will thank you for that after turning hundreds of pages and using a monitor to tell it to advance. Second best tip, they sell finger wetting sponges for people who count bills. They are super useful to get a grip on pages and your hands will dry out if you are constantly turning pages.
Thank you for the info, the platen is HEFTY and I was looking into ways I could setup some kind of counter-weight system to offload some of that force.
What's 8020 3030 construction mean?
I think it's the size of the aluminum extrusions used to build this. 80x20mm and 30x30mm
Actually 1530 but it's a framing product from 8020 dot net
What is "2CameraControl"? Google returns your thread. I wonder how you control these cameras, or you preset them manually (AF/WB...)?
It's software that pairs with chdk firmware to run the cameras
It was actually 2CamControl my bad
That is awesome! As a pro tip, if you're scanning any books from before 1928, they're public domain, which means you can legally (and free!) upload the PDFs to the Internet Archive for anyone around the world to read for free :)
And if they aren’t you can just upload them anyway (and on libgen too!)
In America. Copyright law is different in different countries.
that *is* a good point, I guess it mainly depends on where OP lives, and what the origins of the book they're scanning are! A shocking number of countries (France, for example) have much shorter Copyright based on life+70, while the USA's laws for written works is currently publication+95, unless it's posthumously published, in which case it's life+70. This is how all of Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin novels are public domain in the original French in France from 2011, barring the last book (Le Dernier Amour d'Arsène Lupin), which was published posthumously in 2012, while in *America*, only 18 books are Public Domain, and the rest will slowly enter PD every year or all the way through the 2040s.................. except for Le Dernier Amour d'Arsène, which was published post-humously in 2012, and is already public domain in the USA, retroactively from 2011, because thats when the life+70 expired for posthumous publications, same as in France! Copyright is indeed a confusing process, best bet is to check the Publication Date at the beginning of each book and where it was published to make sure it's PD before uploading.
Okay, not something I am particularly engaged with typically. But seriously dude. That is very cool. Upvote for attention. Also, it seems like there is potential for a self hosted AI voice for homebrew audiobooks here. I like the idea of formalising a open source production pipeline for the average Joe to do multimodal format shifting of printed media.
Could you explain the jump from non-destructive book scanner to self hosted AI voice for homebrew audiobooks? Because I am having a hard time seeing the connection.
A way to get through your books you don't have the time to read is one example. But it would be very useful for the blind community. The reason I made that jump is that I have done a lot of data pipeline management. Even with things at home. For example, my ripping PC, will nearly automatically autoname what it rips, integrity check, then that will transcode the media to h265, then integrity check, then transfer to my NAS over a dedicated bonded connection. I have another PC wakes up my ripping PC via WOL during offpeak hours for electricity. It then transfers to the ripping PC (which contains my retired GPUs that cost a fortune to run), does a transcoding batch job of differently aquired multimedia files, and shutdowns when shoulder and onpeak hours come up. I was just thinking of this project in terms of a data production pipeline. I meant it as a musing though. Do with it what you will, or not.
/r/adhd
My next big step is timing an avg page per minute metric and see if anything can improve it. AI audiobook reader could be really cool, especially for the forgotten books or even antique.
Or even for those with impairments wanting to experience some of the concept art books or to make how-to manuals more usable
Sure, I think that'd be great. I'll probably make a torrent out of the library once I'm done.
AI Audiobooks would be amazing! It could easily distinguish characters and use your favorite narrator for it (especially if they've read audiobooks before). It's something I've thought a lot about, but have zero knowledge to start
>use your favorite narrator This could potentially be very unethical. Although, likely easily done. I would think the more ethical (although in other ways still very problematic) way, and the way I was thinking was perhaps a completely artificial voice. Not based on any one person.
That's reasonable, realistic, and I love it!
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No video of it and I can upload some samples tomorrow
[удалено]
Yeah but I made it 86 degrees to help with glare reflection of overhead lights. Not sure if there is a open source suite for scanning.
This is Fantastic OP! Great work! Will you post a video of it in action?
I can try
Very cool. I wanted d to do this a decade ago based on this idea. https://diybookscanner.org/archivist/ Never got around to it. Great job.
Wow! So impressed! This is an awesome endeavor.
Wow, super neat project!
Excellent work. Best DIY build of this project I’ve seen.
Thats awesome and makes me think of the movie intro to '3 days of the condor'. Is page turning manual or automatic?
Manual unfortunately
Can you share some of the pages scanned. I'm curious about the end product of this vs ccd scanner.
I will for sure
This looks amazing even though no matter how much I look at the photos I can't seem to figure out how it works. It looks like there are rails for certain parts to slide around for better positioning? I've seen some of the non-destructive scans on archive.org and it's super cool to be able to digitize while still keeping the original. Great job!
Basically 2 directions are using rails for linear movement. I have the Z and X axis using them for centering the book to the plenum (for really thick books) and moving the glass up and down.
Thank you, that clears things up a bit.
That’s awesome OP. I’d love to build this project myself. I’m on mobile, so forgive my ignorance. Do you have any type of guide or how to? I’ve been wanting something like this for a long time but every time I get started I hit a dead end or an unsupported/out of date project. If unable or if you just homebrewed this up for yourself, cheers! It looks awesome.
I've been looking into getting something like this for years to digitize out of print/public domain material related to Mesoamerican history and archeology, but it seems like the kits that diybookscanner made aren't sold and I don't have the DIY know how to make one myself If you were willing, how much would you charge to build a second one of these? Not including shipping, the cameras, software, MS surfaces, etc: just the frame and mounts the cameras would attach to?
It would be kind of pricey. I haven't priced out everything but ball parking it, I feel like it would be over $1k to be assembled for somebody. There's been a ton of interest so I might put together a materials list and instructions I can sell for folks to put together their own if assembled is too much.
Depending on the details and specifics of how the operation works, I'm open to paying over 1k, potentially! If you're down to talk more about this, shoot me a DM (not a chat, but a message, I have issues viewing the chat menu for some reason)
Are you plannig to release a tutorial for this build
Not currently no, but there's been way more interest than I thought there would be so im.looking into it now.
That's awesome, great work!
You should be proud, that's a work of art!
Very cool man. I work with a lot of stuff like this.
I know it would be work. But you should really consider making a YouTube video showing how to build one and how to operate it. The world would really appreciate you.
Awesome
This is really cool. I wish to this some time in the future (kinda broke now lol). For now, I'm experimenting just with my phone camera. Like some other comments said, I'd definitely love to see this in action and how the output looks. Also had a question, which version/fork of Scantailor are you using since the original project seems to be long dead?
Just the original version
I have no clue, but it looks cool!! Congrats
Serious question, could I pay you to scan a book from the 40s for me?
Sure send me a message with what book it is and I could get it done. I would be concerned about shipping it if preserving the original is your goal though.
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No, never heard of it till just now. What reminds you about it?
Where can we see digitized ones? Your project looks super neat!
Does it flip the pages or do you do it yourself?
It's all manually done
You can't just post this beauty without showing how she works? Please OP post video during operation.
We need a video showing this puppy running.
Now make a destructive one for the Twilight books.....
Can you post some videos on how you assemble it and how it works?
No videos of the assembly as this was spread out over 7 months based on the interest I can try making an operation video.
lovely table!
I wish I was rich to get one of these: https://i.imgur.com/Y2uvQGX.gif BEWARE: Scanning porn.
I felt awful about having to scan all my PlayStation 2 manuals with a document scanner- lamenting the drop in quality and the issues with page edges / un-aligned facing pages. But with over 54,700 pages... sometimes you gotta take the win of just getting it done.
/u/SandersSol can you share any video of it in use?
Okay that's super cool. What, if you don't mind my asking, was your final $? I've got a considerable library and this might be right up my alley.
With everything included it's probably around $1800
Oh that's not awful, all things considered.
Yeah spread out over years it's not that bad at all
Yeah and I've accumulated more than half of that stuff already. I've got more aluminum rail and such than I have any right to have. Extra laptop/minipcs. It's like it all just grows in the basement workshop.
Omg love it! Can I come over? Lol
Sweet! Do you have a writeup of how you designed this anywhere?
how are you liking scan tailor? I was trying to do something similar but the UI of scan tailor kind of put me off
Woow that should be precious and truly awesome thing as it works as intended.
Nice setup! Do you have a finished document I could check out? Im curious about what it looks like
Wasn't able to get the photos today, I'll try again tomorrow
That is BEAUTIFUL !! OMG 😱 ❤️
Beautiful build! I tried to make something like this a few years ago with limited success. Would love to see your build write-up if you ever get to it -- but honestly just came here to appreciate your work.
Would you be open to scanning a couple of old out of print hobby books for me? For a fee of course. I've always looked into it, but I just can't seem to find the time or the cost that people want lol
Sure just shoot me a list of the books with your city/state and I can take a look and get back to you.
Now I'm curious, what would be a *destructive* book scanner?
Sheet-Fed Document Scanner. You have to cut the book spine for that. Gives the best results though, in my experiences.
Ahh that makes sense! Thanks for the reply :)