Nearly everyone has a scanner at work or at home. Have you considered what type of scanner to purchase when the older model that you currently have wears out? Many bibliophiles are switching from a traditional model to a standard book scanner or a portable book scanner. This is the most advantageous choice for anyone that has ever needed to scan in a page of a book. If you have ever tried this with the old scanner on top of your desk, you know that it is easier said than done.
You position the book on the platen glass of the scanning bed, shut the cover and push the appropriate button. The result ends up being two squashed pages that are neither straight nor completely visible. Therefore, you take the book out, balance it so that one page is on the platen glass and then hope for the best. Not only do you end up with a disappointing scan result, you also end up with a bookbinding that has been completely bent out of shape.
Using a book scanner eliminates most of these issues. The platen glass goes nearly to the edge of the scanning bed, allowing the user to place the book so that the area where the pages meet lays on the edge of the scanner. The scanner is low enough that the book does not dangle precariously off the edge; it simply lies gently on the desk.
Some models are compatible with an optional scanner stand. This stand sits under the scanner allowing larger books the height they need so that the binding does not get mangled. These edge type scanners are multi-purpose, which means they will work for your other everyday scanning needs, such as documents and photos. A scanner with a dpi of 300 is perfectly acceptable for text but you would want to use a scanner with a higher dpi if you plan to regularly scan photos or artwork. Different book scanner models feature different dpi levels, so purchase according to your personal needs.
Plustek offers a choice when it comes to book scanning. The four OpticBook models offered by Plustek are the:
1. OpticBook A300 – amazing scan speed of 2.4 seconds while featuring the ability to do A3 large format scanning
2. OpticBook 4600 – scan speed of 3.2 seconds, offers one button functionality and an optional scanner holder
3. OpticBook 3600 – Shadow Elimination Technology is built in and offers 1200 dpi hardware resolution
4. OpticBook 3600 Plus – all of the features of the 3600, while presenting OCR support in 176 different languages and easily converting scanned pages into PDF files
With easy user interfacing and affordability, book scanners can now be used by anyone that has the need. Local historians and museum curators love using these scanners because it allows them to keep a digital record of vintage books available to share without having to handle the books repeatedly. Librarians are now able to scan in publications for online sharing, and home users have found multiple uses from scanning in children’s handmade books to recording pages of favorite, oft-read novellas.
