Handheld scanner to scan documents?

[Freddie]

I work in a cramped area at a local courthouse. I have to scan
documents such as real estate deeds, etc., which are either on
microfilm or in large books which cannot be taken apart.

Is there such a thing as a small hand-held scanner that is small but
you can just "roll" or "rub" down the page to capture the image.

I work in a very limited space so a flatbed scanner is ruled out. So,
I print out from the microfiche reader or make a copy from the book.
Then, I go back to the office and scan in all those papers.

There has to be an easier way but my boss has been doing it this way
for years.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Freddie

 

[Guest]

Any suggestions?

Perhaps this will work:

http://www.spinics.net/am/B0002W5QXW

 

[jeremy]

I work in a cramped area at a local courthouse. I have to scan
documents such as real estate deeds, etc., which are either on
microfilm or in large books which cannot be taken apart.

Is there such a thing as a small hand-held scanner that is small but
you can just "roll" or "rub" down the page to capture the image.

I work in a very limited space so a flatbed scanner is ruled out. So,
I print out from the microfiche reader or make a copy from the book.
Then, I go back to the office and scan in all those papers.

There has to be an easier way but my boss has been doing it this way
for years.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Freddie

Go to eBay and buy a Ricoh RDC 5300 digital camera, for about $60.00. It
was one of the few cameras that featured a Text Mode, allowing you to
photograph documents and to display the printed text clear and sharp. I
routinely use it to copy birth, marriage and death certificates in my
genealogy work. It also photographs directly off the screen of microfilm
readers at libraries. No need to print out first.

The text is so sharp that you can run the image through OCR (Optical
Character Recognition) software and it will convert it to computer-readable
ASCII text!

The camera has a macro mode that will let you get as close as 1.5 INCHES
from the document if need be.

If you pick up a Pentax Copipod ($35.00 on eBay) you can set up a portable
copy station. The Copipod will hold the camera about 18" high, facing
downward, and you just lay your documents on the desktop and photograph
them.

Also, the camera has a remote control, sold separately for $25.00, that acts
as a sort of electronic equivalent of a cable release. You can photograph
documents without risk of shaking the camera when pressing the shutter
button.

 

[Olga]

I work in a cramped area at a local courthouse. I have to scan
documents such as real estate deeds, etc., which are either on
microfilm or in large books which cannot be taken apart.

Is there such a thing as a small hand-held scanner that is small but
you can just "roll" or "rub" down the page to capture the image.

How about this one:

http://orders.visioneer.com/item.jsp?item=90-0527-000&category=MOBILE

 

[Freddie]

How about this one:

http://orders.visioneer.com/item.jsp?item=90-0527-000&category=MOBILE

That looks good except in many cases I can take the document out of a
large book.

Thanks.

 

[Freddie]

Go to eBay and buy a Ricoh RDC 5300 digital camera, for about $60.00. It
was one of the few cameras that featured a Text Mode, allowing you to
photograph documents and to display the printed text clear and sharp. I
routinely use it to copy birth, marriage and death certificates in my
genealogy work. It also photographs directly off the screen of microfilm
readers at libraries. No need to print out first.

The text is so sharp that you can run the image through OCR (Optical
Character Recognition) software and it will convert it to computer-readable
ASCII text!

The camera has a macro mode that will let you get as close as 1.5 INCHES
from the document if need be.

If you pick up a Pentax Copipod ($35.00 on eBay) you can set up a portable
copy station. The Copipod will hold the camera about 18" high, facing
downward, and you just lay your documents on the desktop and photograph
them.

Also, the camera has a remote control, sold separately for $25.00, that acts
as a sort of electronic equivalent of a cable release. You can photograph
documents without risk of shaking the camera when pressing the shutter
button.

I am going to look for one of those now.

Thank you.

 

[Barry Watzman]

There used to be such scanners back in the late 1980's, when full size
monochrome scanners were $500. but they have disappeared (more than a
decade ago). I'm unaware of any now.

 

[Talker]

That looks good except in many cases I can take the document out of a
large book.

Thanks.

There was a scanner that would do what you wanted, but I searched
and found it's no longer made. It was the Logitech ScanMan Pagescan
Color, sheet fed scanner.(I have one). You could either feed the
document/picture to be scanned into the scanner, or, remove the
scanner from it's base by lifting it up, and then, place the scanner
on the page and click on "Scan". The scanner had small wheels on it
that pulled it across the page, if the page couldn't be removed from
the book.
It's a shame, but Logitech no longer makes this scanner. I would
think that someone else would make a scanner just to do what you need,
but I haven't been able to locate one yet. I'll keep looking
though...

Talker

 

[Talker]

I am going to look for one of those now.

Thank you.

I think this is your best choice. They do make document
scanners, but they are expensive compared to this camera. If you'd
like to check out a document scanner, you can find one here
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/de...=adwords&cm_pla=Video&cm_ite=toshiba_tlp-c001
Good luck!

Talker

 

[jeremy]

I am going to look for one of those now.

Thank you.

Here is the link to the owners manual. See pp 44-45 for the text mode.

http://www.ricohzone.com/support/manuals/PDF_MANUALS/5300/RDC-5300.pdf

This is, by the way, a wonderful camera. It has a 9-element optical GLASS
lens, with 3 aspheric surfaces. It is one of the few P&S cameras that use a
3:2 aspect ratio, just like 35mm film. It is 1200x1800 resolution, and it
makes a 4x6 snapshot that is 300 ppi in both the vertical and horizontal
dimensions.

It was a prosumer model that sold for $700 when it was introduced, and it
has features that you will not find on today's P&S cameras--read the manual
for the list of all it does.

I have 3 of them, and they are the only digital cameras that I use. Most of
my serious work is done on film and is scanned and digitized for editing and
printing, but this is a great little camera to carry around for unexpected
shots or for text copying.

It is styled to look almost like the legendary Contax G2n and it has a most
unusual feature: the LCD screen has a protective cover. The camera can be
used by uncovering the screen OR you can use the optical real-image
viewfinder, which changes magnification as you zoom in or out. I typically
use the optical viewfinder, just as I would on a traditional film camera.
Keeping the LCD screen off saves battery power and the camera runs 4 times
as long on a single set of batteries.

It uses rechargeable AA cells, not expensive proprietary batteries.

It comes with its own AC adapter, saving you about $45.00. Most P&S cameras
charge extra. It comes with connecting cables for USB and Serial Bus, for
PC and MAC.

It comes with a VHS videotape that describes how to use its basic functions!

It uses the Fuji Super CCD chip, and because it does not pack a lot of
megapixels on the chip there is little noise.

Smart media cards are available on eBay, and the 64 meg size (the biggest
one that the camera will accept) gives you 79 shots at fine
resolution--about the equivalent of three rolls of film. In addition, the
camera has a built in "reserve tank" that will hold another 9 shots at fine
resolution.

It offers automatic bracketing, for those really important shots. The
camera will take 3 exposures over a 2-second period--one at the meter's
setting, one at half-stop below and one at half-stop above. This feature can
be turned on and off in the menu. I use it a lot, and I always end up with
at least one perfect shot out of the three exposures.

It has a Keep Settings feature that lets you customize it to YOUR
requirements. For example, if you are an insurance adjustor that is taking
photos of accident claims, you can set the camera to ALWAYS imprint the
date, or the date and time--on each photo. If you are a landscape
photographer, you can set the camera to always NOT print the date on the
image. You can set the camera to always use automatic flash or to never
flash (if you shoot outdoors, or shoot in places where flash is prohibited).
There are lots of these settings that you can pick as your default settings,
and the camera can be made to fit your needs like a glove.

The drivers don't work well on Windows XP, and you should just pick up a
little memory card reader that plugs into your USB port (unless your
computer already can read SmartMedia cards). I've seen them for $10.00.
Don't bother trying to install the USB drivers in a WIN XP computer.

This may not be the camera for everyone, but if you are looking for a little
workhorse that can be used in addition to more serious equipment, I
recommend this model highly. As I said, I have a full complement of film
bodies, prime lenses and accessories, and I can always use that when I need
more megapixels for larger prints. But I have had Kodak produce 8 x 10
prints from the Ricoh camera, and the results have been quite pleasing.

For the money it represents incredible bang for the buck.

 

[Jeff]

I work in a cramped area at a local courthouse. I have to scan
documents such as real estate deeds, etc., which are either on
microfilm or in large books which cannot be taken apart.

Is there such a thing as a small hand-held scanner that is small but
you can just "roll" or "rub" down the page to capture the image.

I work in a very limited space so a flatbed scanner is ruled out. So,
I print out from the microfiche reader or make a copy from the book.
Then, I go back to the office and scan in all those papers.

There has to be an easier way but my boss has been doing it this way
for years.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Freddie

There used to be handheld scanners such as plustek or mustek, very dated,
used to have one long time ago. Doubt anything made today and anything that
would work on a modern machine with modern software.

 

[Brendan R. Wehrung]

There used to be handheld scanners such as plustek or mustek, very dated,
used to have one long time ago. Doubt anything made today and anything that
would work on a modern machine with modern software.

I posted a not very happy review (about set-up) on this topic a month or
so ago. Google will probably find it and for what it's worth it's exactly
what you are looking for.

Another solution would be to look for a used HP 4670
http://search.hp.com/query.html?cha...t=HP+Scanjet+4670+See-thru+Vertical+Scanner&o
coldqt=4670+scanner&oc=303642

If your problem is having a table on which you lay things of various sizes
which cannot easily be reversed and laid on a flatbed scanner. The gray
part of the one pictures is the whole shooting match, with the black part
just a co;py holder. You can lay the top (gray) part on whatver you wish
to scan and then use stitching software to piece something over size
together. I've done it with an oversize map.

There is one caution, that as soon as the subject curls away from the glass
it goes out of focus and won't join up (a form of stitching that makes one
continuous image, so the gutter in books might be a problem. Other than
that I've been happy with the job mine has done. And being all glass dust
would present a problem if you weren't dealing with print.

Brendan

 

[spmiller]

Handheld scanner to scan documents

Hi Freddie – I noticed that a couple of years ago, you posted a question regarding the need to scan documents such as real estate deeds, etc. while working in a cramped work space. I was curious if you identified a suitable scanning solution, and if you did, what approach you took. I have a similar need and was curious to learn about how you tackled this situation. Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Steve

 

[Jose]

hi all,

I'm late to this thread but I am selling my Logitech "Scanman 32" Hand Held Black & White Scanner complete in its original package, all Manuals, OCR software, and disks included. Condition: like new but slightly used.
contact me by PM if interested.

works with DOS or Windows. located in Florida, USA.

I am attaching a picture.

Jose