The Improvised Planetary Camera

[Kamisama]

Alright, so I've read through much of the document, read many different sources on the web.

Then I decided, "Screw the tripod, too much work, rather build a copystand."

The problem exists with weight, time, money, etc.. So I come here to ask for help on this project because I am in no way a builder. I have a McGyver gene in my DNA which helps me out, though. :D

Anyways, I'm decided to build a copystand. I've found a few websites, one with a PVC copystand, and the other with a metallic copystand.

I'm not familiar with PVC too much but I believe with that I could do the metallic design with PVC pipes instead of metal pipes. Thus, reducing cost.

- Metallic Design (http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161040&page=1)

- PVC Design (http://www.csigizmos.com/products/photography/photostand.html)

I believe I can knock off some money because I have a few household lamps, but more importantly these light sockets that sprout other light sockets to allow someone to put 4 lightbulbs in one lamp or more.

I remember my livingroom being brighter than the freakin' sun once.

I'm sure the PVC design is pretty nice, however I don't understand where I mount the digicam, also on another note is the problem of the digicam I put in another thread, but decided to move here because it's not an opinion or a contemporary world event.
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I've been saving up money for a 4.0 MP camera ever since I read the how-to guide. The thing is, I came looking for this type of thread and noticed that you had said it would be somewhat O.K. for a person to use a 2.1+ MP camera. I really question what the megapixel resolution required is.

I've got some books I want to scan 8/9.5 x 11
These books aren't highly graphic except this one (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007298936X/qid=1133722665/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-4060590-4008740?n=507846&s=books&v=glance). It includes photographs and art of different people from Picasso to a detailed B&W picture of Charlie Chaplin in a scene from Modern Time where he is standing next to a bunch of gears (http://www.stadtkinowien.at/imgs/filme/26/01_big.jpg).

In a science book I would assume those gears and their location would be of importance. I do have some psychology books that talk about neuroscience so I find capturing some detail to be important. I don't need great in depth, but I need enough detail to understand what the picture is telling me.

Math books will be of importance; Electronic books, also.

So I've got about $130 USD. I could have bought a 5 MP camera for $45 with the LCD broken but didn't because I did not know if the LCD would be important for the accuracy and position of imaging. I didn't know if some users here found the LCD to be a huge help or not.

If I can get a digicam with a lower MP and if it works correctly, then I should be able to save some cash. However, does a lower MP work?

Note: I don't really care about OCR'ing the text. I don't care about having a search feature at all really. I just care about bending my physical books up because I have to flip through them. I have a page down key and quick eyesight, I'll do fine without the search option.

I figure since I don't care about OCR, that means I'm allowed to have the MP go down a bit, right? I remember you had said in the tutorial that 4.1MP was the minimum for OCR'ing, but I don't feel the need for it.

So from the info, would getting a lower MP be allowed so I can save some cash? Should I go with 4 MP even though? I thought about going up to 5 MP, but as I said I don't care about OCR, I care about image quality and detail.

Quality images like this would become necessary to view:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bookres.fcgi/mboc4/ch1f19.jpg
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bookres.fcgi/mboc4/ch1f18.jpg
http://www.telemedicine.org/BioWar/bw06a.jpg
http://www.telemedicine.org/BioWar/bw12a.JPG
http://www.telemedicine.org/BioWar/bw43ba.JPG

Also something more about the turning of pages.
In my head I concieved the idea that a person could build a hinge system with a glass mirror attached, somewhat like on an entertainment center cabinent. That way the could lift the glass, turn the page, lower the glass. Anyone try this?
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Mounting the digital camera and having the correct digital camera will be something of concern. I read more of the document and learned the LCD screen means very little, which I can understand since 35mm SLRs back in the day had no such thing for doing copystand work. Precision had to have been known and learned when using the 35mm film.

The thing about the metallic plan is that it uses a table which also gives room to space for my idea of using a window pane and attaching it to some board with a hinge system. This allowing me to raise the glass, turn page, and then lower.

Not a bad thing for speed and accurracy I think. especially if you can find a simple ground such as posterboard for the book.. draw an outline on the posterboard of the book.. simply like tracing your hand. that way the book can be positioned back into place if moved. this could also be done to the window hinge system.

I believe a tripod system however would cause more greif because of the extension reach and positioning.. it would just take too much time to realign.

Also, to solve the simple problem of raising the other side of the book with air space underneath it, a person could use a laboratory jack to simply raise the other side.

I'm still wondering which plan to use. I'm leaning towards the metallic one, however I don't like screwing it into the drywall. I'll have to improvise a way to do that.

I figure the PVC copy stand will get the job done quickly.. However..

There were a few things mentioned, such as the labratory ring stand which seems to be of interest because of the lightbulbs.

http://www.csigizmos.com/products/photography/photostand.html
- Teaches me how to make a copystand, but I don't understand that part about: 1- Swivel camera head adapter $ 8.50 (optional)

How, when, what, where? What is it? how do i add it? when? where do i get it?

I assume these books will be...
9x12 inches long for a page.. perhaps 18x12 for the whole scanning of two pages.

Simply if I use my MacGyver skills I figure all I need is the stand part with the camera attachment, a piece of heavy wood 25x25 to screw it onto, and some bricks to make sure it doesn't fall.

What do you all think?

[Jacks Complete]

Ok, well, the use of PVC pipe makes things a lot easier when it comes to cutting. If you got a wide pipe, you could easily mount the camera head in the pipe itself. Once jigged properly, it will work just great. That's the whole point of the project!

If you can still get that 5.1MP camera with no LCD get it, as this is the perfect use for such a thing - the target is always in exactly the right place, so it will always be correct when set up. Make sure it comes with the PSU, though, or it will hold you back a lot!

The whole thing in PVC shouldn't take you long. Get a few joints for the PVC as well, and you will be able to mock it up before cutting or glueing anything. For a quick way to "make" a glass screen, get a cheap scanner, or a free but broken one. Take it apart, and invert the top so the glass is upwards and hinged onto the scanner lid. This will do the job of a complex system easily and quickly. Now sort out the lighting. You need lots of light, but diffused well, or at an angle such that reflections don't appear on the camera lense.

That should be it. From 1 page a minute or two to one page every 2 seconds. :-)

[Kamisama]

Hopefully this thread will help people who decide to do this project.

I did the csigizmos copystand with pvc cement as I figured the stand would only hold with the cement.
I found using clear tape to hold down a book is more wise than plain duct tape, mainly because it doesn't leave a sticky residue on it as much.
Of course when that tape is ripped off, it takes off some of the paper.. so there's gotta be some alternative method..

I think that with time and money saved up, a copystand that is not DIY and around $40 (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=1722&pq-locale=en_US) would be a good idea instead of a wobbly P.o.S made out of PVC.

I mean.. it seems that my 1/4" hex bolt didn't really stay too glued to the endcap. so yeah, that really made things suck but now i'm just more calm and cautious.
Lighting is a big issue and if any of you read this one line before I post up the link, I found some webpages on the web and it's said that when you are doing macrophotography with a copystand, it's usually best to turn off the lights and set up some 300w halogen lamps on a 45 degree angle pointing towards the project. Of course this needs to be diffused so getting some curtain stuff to make it all soft helps.

\..../
.._..

I found some interesting things for all of those who would like to view some stuff that relates.

Seems some type of military personel was trying to do this project themselves but in a more advanced way with language conversion.
- http://www.dtic.mil/matris/sbir/sbir022/a038.pdf
From looking at it, it seems that it gives an evaluation of different cameras used in the process of OCR'ing pics.

I also found a program for those of you who are interested. It's suppose to be exactly made for digital cameras.
- TopOCR (http://www.download.com/TopOCR/3000-6675_4-10428067.html?tag=lst-0-1)
User Reviews (http://www.download.com/TopOCR/3640-2192_4-10381376.html)

I did the project but I've found that I'm somewhat unable to OCR multiple things with skewed text in some OCR programs.. of course OCR was not a main objective for me. Simply JPG to PDF did well enough.

in about an hour or so I'm going to use Omnipage professional 15 and test out it's ability to differentiate between images and text so that things are sorted correctly.
I messed with the program and it doesn't seem to like me too much, of course I've got much more to work on. I've found that if the lighting isn't right for a project moving the EV setting in your digital camera will usually balance out the light settings. For the longest period of time my lighting was awful and it still is. However, it has greatly improved to a more white background than a light gray. This was achieved by changing the exposure values (http://www.digicamhelp.com/what-is-exposure-compensation/exposure-value-settings.htm) setting on my fujifilm a350 camera at 1.2+. With a very low setting in a 45-55w room with fluorescent lighting.. a high EV will be likely to succeed in image manipulation.

Sadly, the OCR'ing for this type of camera wasn't the greatest however the autofocus seems like the digital reading should be done easy, i'm simply updating for now.

While you're reading this, do you know any batch imaging digital program that can turn pages a very small degree in rotation? It seems that I have these pages all snapped but they are on a slight tilt. I don't know any program that could turn them clockwise about 8 degrees for batch besides using clearimage.

[megalomania]

I just bought a copystand for myself this Christmas, along with a macro ring light. My new macro lens makes it rather inconvenient to use my tripod since it needs to be higher up, plus I no longer trust my duct taped tripod to securely hold over $1000 in equipment.

I got a good deal off of ebay, but I did pay a premium for the copystand lights. If it is a stand you want I say go ebay. There are a bunch of good deals if you get one WITHOUT lights. I didn’t want to bother jury rigging my own lighting setup since I wanted the stand ASAP.

Funny, this started as something for me to do on the cheap, and now I have a DSLR camera, a nice macro lens, a professional macro stand with lighting, a ring light, and a wonderful bit of book editing software. Of course I can now crank out an ebook as good as any scanner in a matter of hours. My only snag now is getting a hold of some of the super expensive chemistry reference works recently published (libraries will not part with these).

The newer cameras have much better exposure compensation to allow more light in. Other techniques such as f-stopping the camera and decreasing the shutter speed accomplish the same effect. This means you can get away with a good natural light. Bacisially if you can see the page well, so can the camera.

I highly recommend setting the white balance on your camera if you can. The white balance will adjust the color temperature to the light source used. Daylight is different from fluorescent light is different from tungsten light bulbs, etc. If your camera can do it, setting a custom white balance is best. Having a properly adjusted white balance will make text stand out better and help make a white background actually look white.

If some of these photography terms are unfamiliar to you just look them up on the Internet. There are numerous websites devoted to explaining stuff like this in excruciating detail.

Since I have a new camera and better software I am in the process of completely rewriting my tutorial. I have also discovered the joys of using InDesign, so my little tutorial has taken on the appearance of a commercial ebook.

I certainly did not say, or I hope I did not, that a 2MP camera can be used. In my tests I found anything under 3MP to be unreadable. Personally I would not use anything under 4MP. When photographing text the higher the megapixels the better only if you intend to OCR the document. Also keep in mind you will not require a high megapixel count if you focus on a small portion of a page. A 2MP camera would do fine if you imaged a small newspaper classified ad (a few inches square). My camera can get over 300 dpi on a full 8.5 x 11 page.

I would not say an LCD is essential because pro DSLR cameras do not output a live image to the LCD screens, thus you (and by that I mean me) cannot use the LCD to line up a book. It is somewhat inconvenient to have to peer through the viewfinder since I have to climb up on a stepladder to do this. Pro cameras also do not output what they see to a TV monitor. I do wonder why only cheaper consumer cameras output a live signal and not pro cameras…

I compensate for my lack of an LCD view by being able to transfer all my shots directly to my PC via an attached USB 2.0 cable. The camera software shows a full screen image of the picture just taken. If something is egregiously wrong I just take the shot. Usually I don’t notice anything is funky until I do a close-up inspection of each page after I have finished the book. I do this immediately afterwards to catch any pages that may be slightly blurry (the perils of autofocus). The tiny LCD won’t help you find any mistakes anyway.

I have found when I use my pane of glass (a custom piece of anti-reflective glass with beveled edges) I just let it rest on an object about as high as the book I am imaging. This object provides leverage for me to lift the glass. No need for hinges or anything fancy. Ideally the book should be higher than what the glass pivots on so the glass can rest fully on the book. Now that I have software that can apply page curvature correction, and I use my flash, I don’t use glass much anymore.

I would think a camera head adapter is essential on that improvised copystand, Kamisama. If that is what I think it is, it is similar to the part of a tripod where you screw in the camera. A swivel head would allow for some creative camera angles other than just straight down.

To adjust the skew of images (angle slightly off) there are a few software packages that can help. However, automatic deskewing software leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. I find photoshop does a wonderful job of manual deskewing. Use the ruler tool to draw a line that you want to be made straight. Then use the rotate command. The ruler tool will automatically fill in the proper number of degrees to be rotated. If your pages are systematically skewed you can use the batch command to do a bunch at once.

I would go into more detail, but I am saving it all up for my new tutorial book.

[Kamisama]

I was wondering if anyone out there knew a good numbering program to reverse number the page pictures...

For example:

I find that if I snapshot the even pages, they are flimsy and difficult to deal with. Not only that, but I have to hold down the pages and cropping becomes more of a hassle.

What I found out is that if I take a picture of the even pages when they are in a mass at the end of the book, dealing with them is easier

i.e.) going from page 400-> 398 -> 396->... 44

Dealing with the pages is easier, however I don't know if there is a numbering system that allows me to number my pages correctly with a renaming file. Maybe I'm overlooking something like a fool. However, I don't see a way to change go from...

DSCF1178
then name it:page 400

and then move to

DSCF1179
then name it:page 398

Yeah, I don't know any way of doing this with a program.

Yet, I do have good news...
I found this really kick ass program that does tons of shit.

http://www.atalasoft.com/EyeBatch/

It's fucking awesome. It cuts a lot of time, seriously.
I googled (batch autocropping programs) and I got it.

It does lighting, cropping, grayscale, etc.

[megalomania]

I use a program called Flexible Renamer v7.3. Version 7.3 is the latest version I believe, and the software is freeware. See http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/

With Flexible renamer you can easily sequentially number any file, including in reverse as you desire. Flexible renamer does not need to be installed, you just unpack it and run the exe. I run it from straight from the zip file.

Lets say for example you have three pictures you want to rename names 01.jpg, 02.jpg, and 03.jpg.

After you browse to the folder where your files are you will see all of them in the list to the right of the program. Check the box named “Advanced rename” to get to some better options. By default the program has already selected “Wild Card” which is what we want. Where it says “Search for” enter *.jpg or *.whatever your file extensions are. Even *.* will be fine if you want to rename every file in the folder.

Where it says “Replace with” enter ???.jpg where each question mark will enter a digit. Two question marks will add 00 to 99, and three questions marks will add 000 to 999.

Click the button at the bottom of the program named “Option” and click “numbering” from the list that pops up. In the box named “Start from” choose a number that is equal to or higher than the number of files you have. The default value is 0 already. Just for example I will use 99. if you have 467 files to rename, then you would use 467, or maybe 500, or any number higher than the number of files you have.

In the box named step change this to -1 by clicking on the down arrow a few times. This changes the direction of numbering by subtracting 1 from the start number of 99.

Click OK and you will see your first renamed file starts with the highest number, and each successive file is numbered 1 less.

In our example those three files would be renamed to 099.jpg, 098.jpg, and 097.jpg.

I have attached screenshots that shows how this works. Remember, no renaming of files takes place until you click the “Rename” button. The program shows you what your files will be renamed to before you click it just so you can be sure.

There are other options you can play around with. For example you can set the step to -2 and renumber just your even or odd pages. I keep my original pictures in a folder with only even and only odd pages, then I use a step of 2 to renumber them according to page number.

[Jacks Complete]

I must say that I recently bought a new media card, and it is about 20 times faster than my old ones. If I get a decent camera (5+MP) I'll be able to do some of this scanning like this. I've found my old camera too slow and too small a capacity (fixed now) and with only 2MP it isn't good enough.

[Kamisama]

Who's ready for a well thought out ten-page document?
Hmm.. only 8 images? Well darn, I'll have to break it up.

Thank you Mega, Jack, and all who spoke of the Improvised Planetary camera project.
And by the way, mods, please don’t edit this unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
I rather someone reply.

Ok, I’m going to type up my guidance for people from complete noob to intermediate user. You could see this as me testing your procedures. All good scientists test a each other’s work.

I. Introduction
II. Camera and Accessories
III. Copy stand
IV. Lighting
V. Programs

I. Introduction

When I first came to this website seeking enlightenment for experimental weapons and explosives creation, I noticed a few documents users have created. Megalomania’s document to make an improvised planetary camera sparked interest in me right away. I had thought previous months before about how one could scan books already owned. Yet I didn’t have any guidance until I came across his tutorial.

After finding the tutorial, I read over it multiple times. I later came back to it weeks later to study it and research the validity, armchair think things through, and decided to go through with the project. I’ve learned many things; all are important and relate to each other. I hope to explain my method to some people, and maybe some will find it as an alternative method. All things covered are important, if I knew them ahead of time, so much time would have been saved. Maybe I was ignorant or just didn’t understand some things Mega (Megalomania) spoke of, but I finally understand a lot more now.

II. Camera and Accessories

The most important component of the whole digital book “scanning” process would have to be the camera. Without the camera, you aren’t going to take snapshots of pages. There will be no storage medium for documents copied without the camera. Now, Megalomania has stated belief in using a nice, expensive SLR camera.

Being the cheap bastard I am, I decided, “Nuh uh. I’m not going to buy an expensive toy.” I decided to buy something of lower quality. SLR cameras are nice, and top-notch. Those types of cameras probably allow someone to use a remote control to take pictures, thus freeing up someone’s hands when doing this copying process. However, I decided to do the manual labor route and choose a digital camera from Best Buy. (An electronics/tvs/computers/music supplier)

I somewhat disagree with what Mega said when he spoke of the LCD screen being completely worthless. I’m sure there must be old digital cameras from back in the day with the inability to give a proper WYSIWYG display. A What You See Is What You Get display often shows in very, very close resemblance of what the picture--after being shot--will look like on a computer picture-viewing program.

I bought a Fujifilm A350 digital camera. If you want pictures of it, just use google and the pictures tab. This camera has an LCD screen along with many other features. The camera was not the best thing around, but after looking at the megapixels of other cameras and the size of photographs they could take, I decided that this camera was the best affordable choice around. Now, after buying this camera and doing the project, I’ve discovered many things. One is that a person doesn’t need to buy a store bought camera

On Ebay, a person can often find cameras at 5MP (the megapixel amount I recommend).
Some of these cameras are less expensive because they have been used.
Yet the greatest find on ebay is a camera with a broken LCD screen.

People seem to be incapable of electronic engineering feats in today’s world, so they greatly knock off cash from a partially broken product that still works.
Just because the LCD is broke does not mean the whole camera is broke.

Something to remember from Mega’s document was that he would use the viewfinder.
The viewfinder is the second greatest part of a camera. The viewfinder is the primary reason I bought my fujifilm a350.

Imagine if my LCD screen broke--I would have to use the viewfinder instead. A person must learn to use a viewfinder without an LCD screen. After getting correct spatial reasoning of the viewfinder, and previewing pictures loaded to a computer to notice how they look when using the viewfinder--a person begins to learn how to use the viewfinder instead of the LCD.

The LCD is not necessary, but a nice feature on newer cameras.

Remember! Do not buy a camera if it does not have a viewfinder. I walked around the store noticing the bullshit cameras with no viewfinder. I thought, “What a rip! The old methods of photography are often better.”

People cannot always rely on the LCD; it eats up batteries anyway.

That brings me to another point: Power source. Jack’s Complete told me I should get a power adapter or the batteries will be eaten up very quickly. I used those new energizer lithiums, those died quickly. I noticed after I bought the camera that it didn’t come with a power adapter. If you can, buy a digital camera that comes with a power adapter. I highly recommend a digital camera that comes with a power adapter.

I looked online for a power adapter, but could not figure out if the U.S. adapter was much different than the Japanese. I called technical support and they guided me to B&H photo.

I’m not advertising here, but they are a pretty good online photography supply store. Of course, I’m still a cheap bastard. I researched what they were selling for my camera and then bought the power supply on Ebay. Research stores and then buy in the flea market. Sometimes a smart move if you know what you are doing.

Another note to remember is to get a high storage medium for the digital camera. I bought 256 MB card immediately when I bought the digital camera. (I think it was 256..)

Either way, these photographs of pages take up a lot of digital storage. If you want to spend less than 5 hours doing reprography I suggest you a higher digital card. That way, you won’t upload, delete, and restart more times than necessary. It pays off in the long run: Time vs. money. I also have more reasons about getting a better storage flashcard/smartcard, whatever they call them these days.

If you’re wondering, I didn’t really find a use for the optical zoom. I’m sure that if I take the camera on a trip through a garden with cherry blossoms or some other event in the fall, I could find a grandiose use for the camera. However, it was bought as an investment, not a toy. The optical zoom serves a feature for zooming in on subjects. With the distance involved in doing this reprographic process, I don’t believe the optical zoom is necessary.

I assume if someone has lower than 5.2 MP the optical zoom will become useful. That is because with a lower resolution, tuning and zooming in on the picture will give greater results. However, I would assume that it wouldn’t make much of a difference either way. I’m sure other users will put in their two cents about this; please do if you can.

After learning some things in depth about photography, I found a use for the macro photography button. However, we’re not really doing macro photography here.
Macro photography is taking pictures of tiny little things, and then blowing them up to a large size. Ever seen a picture of a small bug, and yet the small bug looks really big? That is macro photography. I guess in a way this is a blowing up of a page with pixels, resolution, zoom, etc.. but not really in some sense. Macro photography in an old definition is taking something smaller than the size of film and then making it look really big.

III. Copy Stand

Mega used a tripod. I assume he did that to be resourceful with present materials. Mega did eventually get a copy stand. Some tripods can be manipulated with its assembly to form a copy stand; Redirecting the assembly and parts.. Mega used ropes and ties on the legs, I don’t mean manipulating the assembly like that.. His way with the tripod was not the best in my opinion.

The copy stand is a lot more effective than using a tripod that is slanted and tied down. I made a copy stand because I understood some things about photography.

The copy stand is used in macro photography for taking pictures of still materials. The book in this situation is a still material. It stays still, hopefully. A person does not necessarily need to duct tape the book down as suggested. All a person has to do is be delicate, take his or her time, and turn pages without tugging. This takes practice, but things work out if you want to preserve the decency of a book.

I decided to do the DIY PVC copy stand found at [csigizmos.com]. This copy stand was made of PVC. One of the problems I came across was the length of my book described in this document later on. I tweaked some of the designs of the author in the website. Another thing I found was a problem with the spacers for the T connector that is slipped over the shaft to be brought up and down. I believe the csigizmos website has some typo when it comes to the T connector put over the shaft.

After I studied the design for a while, I came to insight that, no drilling was required for this project. The idea of holding the T connector with some long screw was unnecessary.

Step 2 - To build the camera mount and shaft, the following pieces are required:
1” PVC “T” with 3/4” out

Here’s what I did.

I thought, “your spacer description stuff is wrong, this isn’t working. WTF?”
So I was in my basement with a miter saw. I looked at the ¾” end caps and thought: Hey, those things cover a ¾” tube. What if I were to cut off the end and make it completely hollow so it slips over the tube?

I wasn’t stupid with the miter saw, so I took a pipe, put the end cap on it, held the endcap’s ending part under the miter saw and cut it off.

I looked at the endcap and than I tried slipping it over the tube up and down a few times to really see if my idea of using it as a spacer would work. It did.

So I took that thing to a bench grinder to smooth it out, which I recommend you don’t do.
The jagged ends usually give it a roughness and stubbornness when connected to something.

After I made one spacer, I inserted it into on side of the T-connector. It fit, also, it didn’t come out. I tugged pretty hard and then gave up. Lucky me.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9899/dscf39037tn.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39037tn.jpg)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1048/dscf39049sh.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39049sh.jpg)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2952/dscf39056cx.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39056cx.jpg)

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5761/dscf39074ao.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39074ao.jpg)
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9808/dscf39089qx.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39089qx.jpg)

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/5295/dscf39093ce.th.jpg (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39093ce.jpg)


On a side note: In all my years, I have never clicked on more ads accidentally any other site than imageshack.us. Those motherfuckers perfected the accidental click. Damn them. They use ingenious ad positioning.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1976/dscf39103nn.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf39103nn.jpg)

Although it seems like a nice copy stand, it wasn’t the sturdiest.

With some types of copy stands, there is a known evil called camera shake.

I’ve read many forums, boards, etc. Most people seem to find camera shake a bitch.

I’m not one for being a textbook so I’ll quote a definition.

Movement of camera caused by unsteady hold or support, vibration, etc., leading, particularly at slower shutter speeds, to a blurred image on the film. It is a major cause of un-sharp pictures, especially with long focus lenses. www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/glossary/terms_c.htm

The unwanted movement passed along to your camera by involuntary hand and body tremors, it's a major cause of unsharp pictures. www.frommers.com/tips/photography/article.cfm

Hence the importance of the term and what comes with it: Unsharp pictures and blur.

Not something you want to encounter when you are trying to study a read material. Especially a book material you are composing in digital format.

Now, the reason I get camera shake from my copy stand is because it is a piece of crap.
That being said, “Why is it a piece of crap?”

1. It’s plastic (pvc)

PVC: A plastic made from the gaseous chemical vinyl chloride.

Plastics are nice, no doubt. PVC doesn’t break very easily either. It is also very easy to cut and assemble. To tell you the truth, if you wanted to take apart and assemble a copy stand that is lightweight and portable, this would be your best bet. I would probably choose nothing better at the moment in terms of transporting from one place to another to do reprographic work than a PVC copy stand. Other things are too bulky and heavy. A person with experimental PVC knowledge can grab connectors and other things to build up the stand. The only part I don't think a person can manipulate is the shaft. I'm sure one could cut it down, and perhaps use connectors. It would take some time and practice to get right.

Some people have suggested some other $400 portable copystand with digicam. However, that thing is only about 3MP. It’s nice and portable. I lost the the link, but it is a relatively new device. The problem is the MP rating. I would not use 3MP; I’m sure others wouldn’t either.

PVC Copy Stand
Pros- Light, doesn’t break easy, easy to build
Cons- Shakes easily, takes time to master as a tool, all parts must be glued.
Sad thing is all parts must be glued. There is a special part, yet I forgot where on the Internet I found it. It is a specialty part. It would be used at the point between the shaft and the parts extending out from the T connector.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1157/untitled8fs1.th.png (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=untitled8fs1.png)

With this attachment, a person could lay a brick on the part that PVC base tube that extends backwards from the connector. By doing that, the brick and tube take on the weight of the camera. Thus, the stand does not fall under the weight of the camera. The specialty part is on the Internet, I don’t know where.

The greatest con is the camera shake.
I spoke to some people and they told me to make the same thing out of copper. Something I plan on doing is to build a replica out of copper.

I assume to use copper would mean the specialty part would not be needed. Copper is kind of heavy.

With the sturdiness created by the copper, the camera shake would be reduced, thus obtaining a sharper image.

Many people recommend buying a copy stand with lights. Matter of fact, light plays into using a copy stand… a lot of factors play in… light, camera shake, glare, etc.. but I’m going to focus on components and parts of a copy stand for now.

Many copy stands come with lights. These are the more expensive copy stands. I’m cheap, therefore I didn’t buy a light for my copy stand. I could probably MacGyver something up using wiring, PVC, batteries, etc., but I didn’t.

If you would like to buy a copy stand, it is suggested you buy four lights. Some people can be happy with two, I suggest four.

Here is why:

2 lights cover part of the book to a degree. Sometimes it can cover the whole book, while at other times, light from two lights may be more intense and fade out on parts of the book.

[Kamisama]

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/8633/lights6ke.th.png (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights6ke.png)

That’s the best I’m goona do it folks. I’ve typed this whole damn thing up twice, lost it once. This one’s in MS Word. You can buy lights for a copy stand, or you can go outside, I’ll cover that in the next section.

Besides the lights being a factor, the elevation of a bought copy stand can be a problem. To solve this problem, find an equal base of elevation. You see, when you have a DIY copy stand without a board you can lay a book flat on the table. The DIY PVC copy stand base can be extended, tweaked, etc. With a bought copy stand, most come with a board, few don’t. Those that don’t--do not seem to have enough space to layout both pages of a book.

Testrite CS-7 Mini Copy Stand
Link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=53768&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
=Dimensions=
15.75 x 18.75" baseboard; 26" vertical post

I have a book with pages closed that is 11.5 x 9.5 in”
Opened up, that book is 19” wide.
|18.75-19| = .25
I need .25 inches more.

Either way, that base is not large enough for my book to open completely. Another important factor to remember is that the camera lens points directly down at the middle of book, this is important for cropping pictures. If you don’t know what cropping is, I suggest you find out. I’m not going to teach digital manipulation.

If a person does two pages at once, you could probably cut down photographing a book into 2 hours. Cropping plus manual cropping into 1 hour. Then doing all the other file resizing and turn it into (.pdf) in 3-4 hours; I’ve got an average of 5 hours.

That B and H copy stand would not be proper for this project.

Others are more proper--many seem unnecessary.

== Testrite CS-1 Copy Stand==

- http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=53758&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

This one has a nice board base. The shaft and base seem sturdy, however, I’m not sure if the components are better than copper.

(Plastic base and a metal shaft) vs. (pure copper copy stand).
I have not tested the testire, but I thought about buying it.

Baseboard Size=14 x 19"
Book= 11 x 9.5
Looking at the picture, it is deceiving. I believe the base of the copy stand is shorter in width than the length going towards the shaft. Thus, elevation on both sides to hold a large book would be needed. It seems somewhat sturdy, but this is where a DIY copy stand dominates over a bought one.

DIY is just cheaper, and can be customized when you learn what you are doing.
I spent about $12 U.S. on the PVC copy stand. I shouldn’t have gone to home depot for PVC materials, they make someone buy in bulk. If you can, go to some mom and pop shop, or some store that’s been around for ages that offers PVC. They will be more willing to cut up the PVC for you. Home Depot here will only sell the whole 10 foot pipe. I asked for a shorter piece, they said I had to pay for the whole thing. I thought, “Well I might screw up.” I did once, but a lot of left over PVC (not enough for a second make) made me feel I wasted money. It would have been better to go to a local community hardware and plumbing store.

In my eyes DIY is better. I don’t know what Mega has. Care to show and tell Mega?

The greatest parts of DIY is that on is able to layout a whole book without having parts off the edge of a board.

In my DIY copy stand, there is no board. The book is on a table and the copy stand is on the table. The lens can be pointed directly towards the center of the book to get a snapshot of both pages at once.

In a bought copy stand as shown, the positioning of a book can be a bit more complex. Sometimes the copy stand itself will interfere with the positioning of the book. At times, you may not be able to center the camera lens directly in the center of the book. Will some adjustments these may be overcome.

A good sturdy copy stand is best for getting rid of camera shake.
Something I also read about using a copy stand is this…

If you are photographing an image printed on thin paper where the print from the opposite side of the page is showing thru, put a piece of black paper behind the page to "absorb" the print shadows.

IV. Lighting

Lighting was a bitch. I will straight out say that lighting is a mother fucker and I don’t want to spend days ever again trying to figure out why the hell there is glare on my book. I tried all different areas around my basement. I even dared to grab a piece of Styrofoam, put a large piece on my sink, and then lay my book and copy stand over it, because I thought I would get a greater intensity of light to cover the whole page, thus getting rid of glare.

You see I had a few problems with lighting. My basement had the best lighting in the house for “white” light. I use fluorescent lights in the basement: Two tubes in one of those long white metallic holders without the lights being covered by a plastic shield.

I overtime thought intensity of light was the problem. I didn’t know how to solve it. I used a large, dirty see-through tarp to dull the light. It dulled the light, but glare still existed. I looked at the light bulbs. I moved my hand from the glare and use “eyesight trigonometry” to figure out where the glare was coming from. It was coming from the angle of the tube, which angled towards the book. I then used a bed sheet to cover the light in hopes that the glare from this angled light would cease.

That didn’t do much at all. It dulled the light once more, but the glare still existed. I could not figure what the hell was going on.

Glare occurs greatest when indoor overhead lights are used. I can’t seem to source that, but I read it. Mega used some halogen lights, I wanted to buy some, but spending $100 USD, was not in my budget plan. I did not really want to go over $400.

It doesn’t matter that I used a sheet to hug the metallic light fixture. What does matter though, is the idea of a soft box.

I noticed early on that if my body cast a shadow over the book, the image shot was without glare. After this I knocked up the EV settings: each time going a bit higher. The gray somewhat became more white. However, there were negative side-effects with raising the EV. The EV eventually created a white washout on the text. Thus blotches of bright white covered the text making it unreadable. There was no way I could win using a bodily shadow and manipulation of EV indoors.

Shadow seemed to have taken out the glare. Shadow does take out the glare, but it makes the page gray. I connected the white bedsheet with clips to areas around the book to cast a shadow while dulling the light. This often created better effects, however the page digital image when uploaded, looked very gray because lighting was sacrificed for reducing glare. I tried EV in these situations as before, yet the washout still happened.
Doing indoor lighting just did not work.

Turn off overhead ceiling lighting (eliminates glare).
http://web.utk.edu/~isc/services/copy_stand.html

Simply put, if you don’t have some good 45 degree lights, don’t bother using indoor lighting. People are said to turn off overhead lights and using a copy stand lighting system: these are for best results.

If a page does not have glare using overhead lights, you might be able to do the process just fine. Lucky you!

Often with regular 60 watt white light bulbs (the average type people buy to screw in a lamp) will create a yellow page look. However, the lighting conditions with that type of light seem a lot better than fluorescent overhead lighting. The casting of a shadow in the yellowish light seems to have better results.

However, I didn’t want a yellowish page and I didn’t want a glare on my page.
So I decided once more to read tons of more material on the web. I asked photographers, obtained more information. A person told a person who told me.. more information.

- Taking Photos of Reflective Objects (http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/reflect.htm)
- Copy stand photography made simple (http://www.arthistory-archaeology.umd.edu/VRC/Copystand/CopyStand.html)

The idea of polarization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization) is the key concept when it comes to lighting. This is something I overlooked for the longest time. Yet, when I fully understood this concept, everything became clear.

There is a bunch of physics mumbo-jumbo. The most important thing to remember is that when the correct polarization is used, glare is diminished.

The sun gives bright light on a clear day. On a clear day with no clouds, there is no polarization.

On a cloudy day, there is polarization. Clouds create a polarizing effect on the sun. Therefore, on a cloudy day, there will be little to no glare on a page.

Clouds are like the body casting a shadow I noticed. Clouds cast a shadow over a lot of things.

This is why I’ve learned that indoor lighting is useless if you’re being frugal. Outdoor lighting is the best on a cloudy day with plenty of light. The better thing about using the sun is the full spectrum of colors. The sun gives off white light--other lights are artificial.

The page results were much better than expected. After doing so many experiments in different lighting environments, I can now figure out what is bright and what is dark. I bet I could make a masterpiece of art using Chiaroscuro.

Here’s the other nice part about using outdoor light in cloudy weather. I was able to knock up the EV setting a few notches. The pages were so much better.

Indoor:

I held the sheet onto the lights with those little purse-type clip things.

http://img450.imageshack.us/img450/276/dscf25841wj.th.jpg (http://img450.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf25841wj.jpg)

I decided to use 2 x 4s to level everything out.
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1065/dscf30373lz.th.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf30373lz.jpg)
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4843/dscf30390lt.th.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf30390lt.jpg)

-- This is where I used the glass to flatten the page, but that did me no good at all.
-- Therefore I used a wood assembly of 2x4 technology. The farthest left plank helped me keep things aligned. Alignment is important.

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6492/dscf30424yz.th.jpg (http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf30424yz.jpg)

This is good
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2949/0057yy.th.jpg (http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0057yy.jpg)

= As I knocked up the EV, things became worse. =

This is bad
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/433/4612hq.th.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=4612hq.jpg)
(the lower-left corner. Text under The Goal of Sustainable Development)

[Kamisama]

This is worse
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3235/adscf34929uv.th.jpg (http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adscf34929uv.jpg)




Outdoor:


"Nope." That didn't work.
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/417/dscf38835gp.th.jpg (http://img487.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf38835gp.jpg)


Then I tried it without the glass--I uploaded a few pictures to my laptop.
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2607/dscf38862pe.th.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf38862pe.jpg)

I messed with the exposure value (EV) outside and things became better.

"The sun is like a natural softbox. 95% efficiency for 5% the cost."

Don’t go through the same hassles of lighting as I did. Use outdoor light. Set up a plastic sheet all over if it is snowing. I wouldn’t suggest doing this in the rain—the book would get wet.

V. Programs

Multiple programs were downloaded and put on a burnable data DVD.
To bypass having to register, some people reformat “wipe” their computer and reinstall windows.
When people load programs, things are put into registry and a date is set for expiration of the program, and yada yada.
Wiping the computer clears registry and much more.

It's only illegal if you crack it. lmfao har har. I think ever since I was trying to figure out that google book bypass they upped security.

I suggest before wiping the computer and reinstalling programs for reuse, you make a backup of everything on your computer.
Backups are always good even if you aren’t doing this.

- namewiz (http://www.softbytelabs.com/Frames.html?f1=Banner.html&f2=NameWiz/index.html)

- Eyebatch (batch post-image processing)
- Photoelf (fine-tuning)
- Image Export (PDF Edition) (http://www.rinasoft.com/iepdf.htm) (Make PDF files)

I fucking love eyebatch.

Photoelf is good for fine-tuning and cropping pages.

Image Export is so fucking simple, only an idiot would not be able to figure it out.

[Kamisama]

Oh, and I also forgot to add.

Since blur at times can be a problem, I found something I could do to prevent having to take pictures of all pages once more.

I found that about 1 of 16 pages would be bad at times. I wouldn't know which page, the statistics of it all is far from me.
I did learn how to deal with this, though.

What I did was I took snapshots of the same page twice.
When I went through the images, I deleted the bad and kept the good.
You could just use a timer.. but that takes way too long.
Even then, you never know if it will or will not blur.

Also, I suggest if a person clumsily knocks his or her book and/or copy stand out of position, then he or she immediately uploads all files to a folder on the computer.

I like to make individual folders.

Take 1
take 2
take 3.

Whenever I mess-up or knock something out of place I'll upload what I have to a seperate folder. I crop all images in that folder. I DO NOT do a batchcrop on ALL IMAGES IN ALL FOLDERS at the same time. Just IMAGES IN ONE FOLDER; that way I keep things seperated.

Another thing I forgot to add in was about the PVC copy stand I made. I cut up various lengths up tube that extend from the mount. I found that gave me a better ability to change the copy stand for the various positioning requirements of a book. DIY copy stands seem a lot better than ones bought to me.

Also, for my camera, I have this autofocus feature. If you don't have one, I suggest you learn a lot more about autofocus and get a camera that has it.

From what I read of others when doing this outside, it is best to have your back to the light. Although this casts a shadow over the book, I recommend you do this only if your copystand casts a shadow over the book first.

Simply put, if you notice there is a shadow from the copy stand on your book, the current position of the sun at that time of day is causing a shadow to cast on your book. You can either find some other place outside to work, or stand with your back to the sun.

Together, if a person uses a DIY copystand, a knife for cutting PVC, and a broken lcd 5-6MP digicam, all things should cost less than $100. Plug in the expansion digital storage card and things go up.. but I'm sure you could ebay that also..

If the digital camera has a hook-up for tv connection, than the LCD screen won't be needed very much. Using a 13 inch TV for viewing things on the camera is a lot better than an LCD screen; This gives a picture picture and a more real result. Also, if you don't have an A/V part on your TV, look into RF modulators.

I believe that publishers purposely use a certain type of paper for putting out books these days so people like me will have a hell of a time figuring how to get rid of glare.
The difference was that I was doing a lot of color copying. I didn't do just black and white. I haven't figured out the megabyte resize.

Also, Mega if you read this last line. If you would be willing to, how were you able to speed up the whole process of taking snapshots of the book so quickly? I assume I'm doing something wrong if you can do a book in about an hour and it takes me 3-4 hours.

I assume it is the camera's processing and memory retaining speed. That may be why a more expensive camera is worth getting?
My slow speed may be effected by taking one page at a time and not two at once. In other words, by not taking a picture of page 100 and 101 at once and then cropping the same picture, exporting evens to a "even" folder, then doing another crop on the original and sending odds to an "odd" folder.

Time certainly would be cut by doing that. I assume if I did two pages at once instead of two, yeah I would probably spend about an hour compiling. I'm sure the anti-reflective glass would be of great importance for making both pages stay flat. On my first outside page with the glass, I used the flash. I'm sure if I didn't use the flash there wouldn't have been a large square of washout. Of course, the camera and copy stand mount tube showed. This is where a special type of glass would come in most likely.

Thing to consider: I did not OCR any of my books. I found that some OCR just can not figure out biology words. After mastering this process, though, I intend to try doing the OCR process again to see if I can OCR things. Sometimes when the text looked dull on the pages, I would use eyebatch to sharpen the pages.

I should have incorporated all these other random thoughts into the document.. But I remember another thing I came across. Someone cynically cited how using outdoor light might become a seasonal activity. I read from some people that doing this can be done inside, using light from the sun. This being said, a person sets up the copy stand near a window. The light comes in through the window and if the room's overhead lights are off, the only light source coming in will be from the sun outside. I haven't tried this; it may work on a cloudy day, maybe not. It may work on a clear day better, maybe not.

I used a miter saw for most of my cutting. You could use a kitchen knife with teeth if you want to be very, very frugal. Most people tell others to use a hacksaw. I used the miter saw for ease; zipped right through the pvc tubing. I would suggest you don't grind/sand down any of the parts unless you are going to glue them in. It only cost about $12 USD to make the PVC copy stand, don't know if I mentioned that. The drilling was not necessary when I figured out that cool hack to the design. Using the cut-up endcap as a spacer allowed the mount to have a very snug fit over the pvc copy stand. Notice the drilled holes were never finished; they were also in disarray.

The greatest summary would have to be like this:

Lighting = $0 USD
Camera = (Bought:$230 ; eBay:$60)
Copy stand = (Bought/eBay:$50+ ; DIY:$12)
RF Modulator = (Bought:$25 ; eBay $15)
Memory Card (Bought:$30+ ; eBay:$27)
______________________________
$114 USD (eBayed)

if RF modulator not needed: $99 USD
Without RF mod. and memory addition: $72

* T.V. price not included. Come on, most people have a television!

I spent over $300 USD buying everything new. A person doesn't even need a camera with a flash when he or she uses the sun. If I could go back in time and give myself this document, I would have saved about $200 US dollars. That buys a lot of asian buffet. That certainly cuts the costs Megalomania paid: About $1000? I also did not cover the topic of a softbox. I did not go into the research of it, and it may be of value to some. Softboxes are for doing indoor work. If you live alaska, or some other region where it is dark 6 months out of the year, you're going to have more trouble than I. Good luck!

After people read all of this, they have megalomania's guide with a lot of other input from people at roguesci. My struggle with this was primarily trial and error. I didn't understand a lot of things, nor did I want to spend a lot of money. However, I hope that after people have read this, they'll know a lot more.

I'll leave you with this last note... (http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4725/allyourbase3pa.jpg)

[megalomania]

That is very, very quality and practical information there, Kamisama. I have been revising my tutorial over the last few months, and it is good to see you have made some of the same observations I have.

I use a very low angle for my lights to avoid the glare problem as I too have encountered it. I pretty much have them angled sideways. I also keep a pen and paper handy for when I move the camera. I take note of the particular image’s filename whenever I make a change so that when I do my post editing I can stop at that image. That’s the same as putting the files in separate folders.

I believe that no matter how careful you are, simply turning the pages will slightly move the book. When batch processing this makes it harder for everything to conform, and that makes editing take longer. Of course, that all depends on how close you want to crop your margins. If you have a nice wide margin, you can crop with lower precision. I don’t batch crop more than 40-50 images at a time because I need to check, just to be sure, that everything is lined up. That’s because of that margin crawl I talk about. That, and the fact the pages get farther and farther away with each turn of the page, thus affecting document size. What is good cropping for page 1 is not necessarily good for page 83, etc.

I actually did buy a remote control for my camera. Not only do I completely avoid camera shake, but it frees up my other hand to hold down the book when needed. My remote only needs one finger to press the button.

I have a Testrite CS-3 copy stand with the 23/44 copy lights. See it in action at http://www.bkaphoto.com/detail.asp?section=Copying%20Equipment&cat=Copy%20Stands&product=TECS3 I did not pay nearly as much as the price on that website, that is just as good a picture as I could find, but it still set me back some money. The CS-3 has a very sturdy wooden base with alignment marks on it, and a steel shaft with an adjustable camera holder. The lights are just ordinary floods pointing at a very low angle, or rather high angle if you are counting in degrees.

Most cameras do not come with an AC adapter, and rare is the one that does. Almost all cameras have an aftermarket adapter that will be cheaper than the one sold by the manufacturer. B&H Photo is a highly respected photography supplier with decent prices, not always the best prices mind you. The photography field is plagued with more than its fair share of scammers who advertise equipment at really cheap prices, but fail to deliver unless you buy super overpriced accessories. Classic bait and switch. Finding a fair and respected photography equipment dealer is hard. Before buying, check out the company on resellerratings.com. If you don’t see them listed, don’t buy as they are probably a fly by night. Those scammers change their names every few months once their reputations are burned out. I bought my camera from Dell (yes, the computer vendor), the lens and external flash from B&H, and the stand from ebay.

A more expensive camera lacks any kind of shutter lag and recycle time. My speed is limited only by the time it takes me to turn the pages. I have never tried it yet, but the documentation says my camera can take 8 shots in one second on burst mode.

I had typed this up last week, but my computer crashed and I thought I already submitted the post. My computer crashes every several minutes nowadays due to some obscure heat issue. Good thing for Word's document recovery feature...

[Kamisama]

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[Kamisama]

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[Kamisama]

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