correction of page curvature

On Aug 2, 1:32 pm, wrote:

I will be in the process of imaging pages of different books for archival purposes, and I was wondering how useful Photoshop might be for improving image quality of the pages. I mainly want to know if it can enhance images of a page that have a great deal of curvature in the center.

Hi,
Can you post a link to an example typical of what you will be working with?

Thanks,
Ron

On Aug 2, 7:16 pm, "" wrote:

On Aug 2, 1:32 pm, wrote:

I will be in the process of imaging pages of different books for archival purposes, and I was wondering how useful Photoshop might be for improving image quality of the pages. I mainly want to know if it can enhance images of a page that have a great deal of curvature in the center.

Hi,
Can you post a link to an example typical of what you will be working with?

Thanks,
Ron

This is the best picture I can come up with.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arendle/122135090/

If I was allowed to attach a file to this post, I could give you a better example. The kind of curvature I’m thinking of that I would want to eliminate would be more pronounced than this, but hopefully have more space in the inner margin.

On Aug 2, 7:25 pm, wrote:

On Aug 2, 7:16 pm, "" wrote:

On Aug 2, 1:32 pm, wrote:

I will be in the process of imaging pages of different books for archival purposes, and I was wondering how useful Photoshop might be for improving image quality of the pages. I mainly want to know if it can enhance images of a page that have a great deal of curvature in the center.

Hi,
Can you post a link to an example typical of what you will be working with?

Thanks,
Ron

This is the best picture I can come up with.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arendle/122135090/

If I was allowed to attach a file to this post, I could give you a better example. The kind of curvature I’m thinking of that I would want to eliminate would be more pronounced than this, but hopefully have more space in the inner margin.

That’s a tough one. How do you plan to do the imaging?

Hi,

I’m running away from Photoshop instantly here (I’ve tried and failed to sort this problem with that before).

However, we did use this: http://atiz.com/bookdrive_diy.php

The hardware’s irrelevant unless you’re planning on doing an awful lot of scanning; but they do recommend this: http://www.snapter.atiz.com/ – and it works.

As they say:
"Algorithm is the magic.
There are things you can’t do even if you are a Photoshop pro. For example, you can’t flatten curled book pages and produce easily legible output. Snapter looks simple but it’s got advanced algorithms from years of research that will help convert curled book pages you’ve snapped into flat, nice looking pages."

It’s cheap too, and a download available above.

Regards,

simon

OUCH! A 280 year-old book being handled by ungloved hands!

I’d think be inclined to not try to place the book flat on a scanner but rather set up a copy stand arrangement with a high-megapixel camera. That way the books can be opened to just past 90 degrees thereby reducing the risk of damaging the bindings and the pages can be held flat with a sheet of glass thereby eliminating the need to correct the curvature.

The main potential problem I see with this arangement is resolution. You’d have to run some tests to see if the resulting resolution will suffice.

Of course, the process will be a lot slower than if you used a scanner, but these are irreplacable books you are handling and saving a bit of time is not adequate justification if the books get harmed in the process.

JMVHO
Ken Lipworth.

wrote in message

On Aug 2, 7:16 pm, "" wrote:

On Aug 2, 1:32 pm, wrote:

I will be in the process of imaging pages of different books for archival purposes, and I was wondering how useful Photoshop might be for improving image quality of the pages. I mainly want to know if it can enhance images of a page that have a great deal of curvature in the center.

Hi,
Can you post a link to an example typical of what you will be working with?

Thanks,
Ron

This is the best picture I can come up with.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arendle/122135090/

If I was allowed to attach a file to this post, I could give you a better example. The kind of curvature I’m thinking of that I would want to eliminate would be more pronounced than this, but hopefully have more space in the inner margin.

On 3 Aug, 10:10, "Ken" wrote:

OUCH! A 280 year-old book being handled by ungloved hands!

<Librarian>
I’m absolutely with Ken on this one – I assume you’re archiving and digitising to protect original content and to make collections available for a while to come. This is good, especially if you handle then without gloves! It’ll eat them away.

That’s why we used the Atiz scanner – the resolution is fantastic as it’s a camera based system, and the little angles shelf protects the spine and centre binding. Oh. And with gloves of course. 🙂 </Librarian>

simon

wrote in message

Hi,

I’m running away from Photoshop instantly here (I’ve tried and failed to sort this problem with that before).

However, we did use this: http://atiz.com/bookdrive_diy.php
The hardware’s irrelevant unless you’re planning on doing an awful lot of scanning; but they do recommend this: http://www.snapter.atiz.com/ – and it works.

As they say:
"Algorithm is the magic.
There are things you can’t do even if you are a Photoshop pro. For example, you can’t flatten curled book pages and produce easily legible output. Snapter looks simple but it’s got advanced algorithms from years of research that will help convert curled book pages you’ve snapped into flat, nice looking pages."

It’s cheap too, and a download available above.

Regards,

simon

what a very cool software

BookDriveDIY looks like an ideal solution… but any time the "buy" page says "Call For Price Quote" you know it’s expensive.

I agree that a flatbed scanner is too destructive of your book. That points us to a digital camera. In your example
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arendle/122135090/
the recto (right-hand) page looks pretty flat. How about shooting one page at a time instead of two-page spreads?

My suggestion:
Get a piece of picture glass a little larger than the page. Make a jig to hold the book flat in one place and to support the other side at about 45 degrees. Position the camera looking straight down on the page, using a macro lens in the short-telephoto range. Cut a hole in a black card the size of the lens and affix it to the lens. Use a spotlight at 45 degrees off-angle to illuminate the page.

Shoot all the verso pages, then the recto pages. Shoot a page, lift the glass, turn the page, replace the glass and shoot again. Make all the exposures the same and test to make sure your exposures are right on. You should be able to shoot the book pretty quickly.

Tom Nelson
Tom Nelson Photography

wrote:

On Aug 2, 7:16 pm, "" wrote:

On Aug 2, 1:32 pm, wrote:

I will be in the process of imaging pages of different books for archival purposes, and I was wondering how useful Photoshop might be for improving image quality of the pages. I mainly want to know if it can enhance images of a page that have a great deal of curvature in the center.

Hi,
Can you post a link to an example typical of what you will be working with?

Thanks,
Ron

This is the best picture I can come up with.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arendle/122135090/

If I was allowed to attach a file to this post, I could give you a better example. The kind of curvature I’m thinking of that I would want to eliminate would be more pronounced than this, but hopefully have more space in the inner margin.

You can san as Greyscale then use Level to adjust the Dark/Light color, and better yet scan as ORC then save as PDF for similar format.

Joe wrote:

You can san as Greyscale then use Level to adjust the Dark/Light color, and better yet scan as ORC then save as PDF for similar format.

Scanning stained work in color is advantageous because you can filter out certain stains. Greyscale just makes it more difficult.