Looking for A3 Scanner

[Big Boy]

I have a book that I need to reproduce. It is no longer in print, and not available digitally. The book is a little under A4 sized, 208 pages long and contains many black and white photographs, which are essential. I know it would be a laborious job, but I'm considering scanning it, saving as pdf files and having the output made up into a couple of books.

Firstly, is this the best way to do it, or does anybody know a better, more cost effective way of reproducing the book?

If not, I'm looking at Lazada for A3 scanners. Does anybody have one, they can recommend or can anybody just recommend one. My budget is probably up to about 4.000฿. I'll be honest, the scanners I'm seeing look horrendous, but I've never seen an A3 scanner before, so I expect the initial horror is unwarranted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Nereus]

Sadly our printing expert is no longer with us, RIP.

It may be a cheaper option to have it done at a commercial printing shop. The problem with old books is that to do it properly the book has to be completely dismantled. If your want to keep the original it may even be problem if you attempt it yourself.

At one time it was possible to buy a hand held scanner about the size of a mouse. It had rollers on it you just run it across whatever you wanted to scan. The advantage was the copy was saved straight into a computer file.

[Big Boy]

Did we have a printing expert? Not something I've ever considered previously, so wouldn't have reason to acknowledge his skills.

We had some A6 sized booklets (16 and 32 pages) made at the end of last year. We tried a few local printers, and our regular printer, 51 Design was the most competitive. They charge per page, and 208 A4 sized pages would be very cost restrictive, when we need a few copies.

this is the extent of my search so far https://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=a3+ ... 5fb8eS0rEh

[Nereus]

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/viopo ... BgQAvD_BwE

[Geko]

Did you try scanning the pages using a phone app then 'fitting to page' using printer software?

[Big Boy]

No, but willing to try. Are there any apps you can recommend please?

[laser]

1. Borrowing one would be fine.. a one-off job, right?
2. Later today I'll ask the MV guys... from memory they have a pro A3 size printer/scanner.
3. For recurring tasks something like this (and its predecessors) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shin ... scanner#/ would be ideal.

[Ginjaninja]

No, but willing to try. Are there any apps you can recommend please?

I use CamScanner for scanning expense receipts. Very laborious job which ever way you do it.....

[Big Boy]

1. Borrowing one would be fine.. a one-off job, right?
2. Later today I'll ask the MV guys... from memory they have a pro A3 size printer/scanner.
3. For recurring tasks something like this (and its predecessors) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shin ... scanner#/ would be ideal.

Looks similar to what I was looking at initially. This is the first one I've seen with 'curve flatten technology', which is interesting.

[Big Boy]

The situation as it stands is Bluesky has kindly offered to lend me a hand scanner similar to the one suggested by Nereus. I have some concern that my shovel hands will have difficulty handling the scan speed the device moves over the page.

If that solution fails (or more likely, should I fail), I will investigate a device with curve flatten technology, which sounds too good to be true.

[laser]

You can try a hand (wheeled) scanner but I reckon that won't be faster or betterquality than using any A4 flat-bed scanner.
The 'curve effect' is not significant for 200 pages, and mostly would effect the a (blank/white) margin. 300 dots/inch should be the mininimum resolution but 400 or more (600 dpi is a another default for many scanners) is recommended.

The guy at MV basement charges 1.35 THB/page, so after a minute thinking he calculated ~320 THB for it (Thai maths skills + farang premium . This would be for A4 size pages scanned into pdf (or pictures) and saved on a USB stick.
Another option is to ask for (slightly magnified) A3 scans (~104 scans, half price, me would think and then use software in a batch job to halve the double pages to make the final raw file. That raw file probably would be OCRd to reduce size and make it searchable (a different, post-processing task).

[Big Boy]

OK, I've tried Bluesky's wonderful bit of kit, and it was very good. However, there was a definite U.S.E.R. problem. I've pushed a pen at work all my life, but don't think I could even push a pen straight any more. Being kind to myself, I think I have to say the results were 'varied' . Those that worked were brilliant, but that didn't were garbage.

It now looks as though Plan C is a goer. Laser's man in Market Village sounds too good/cheap to be true. So where in Market Village please? Is it the place next to the lottery sellers in the corner?

I will report back.

[Big Boy]

The saga continues................

Went to the copy shop in MV Basement at 10:30, and the shop was doing a pretty good impression of the Marie Celeste. Equipment covered in sheets, and no bodies.

Did some shopping, had an ice-cream and tried again at 11. Yay, they were open.

Handed over the book, explained what we wanted, and it initially sounded all too difficult until I mentioned that it had been discussed a couple of days ago, and they said it could be done. They said that I should return at 6 tonight - sorted At least that was what I thought. As I left, I thought I'd confirm the price. 3฿ a page. I responded with a sucking of teeth, and explained laser had been quoted 1.35฿ a page. This was a 122% price hike.

Then the BS started. laser had misunderstood - he was quoted a price for straightforward copy, not scan. My Farang Scam alert started sounding loudly inside my head, but I didn't react - unusually, I engaged brain instead . The cost would still only be 624฿, scanning 208 pages is a mindblowing task and I wasn't personally paying. I accepted the bloated price. So hopefully, job sorted.

I'll report again after I pick it up this evening.

[Bluesky]

The saga continues................

Went to the copy shop in MV Basement at 10:30, and the shop was doing a pretty good impression of the Marie Celeste. Equipment covered in sheets, and no bodies.

Did some shopping, had an ice-cream and tried again at 11. Yay, they were open.

Handed over the book, explained what we wanted, and it initially sounded all too difficult until I mentioned that it had been discussed a couple of days ago, and they said it could be done. They said that I should return at 6 tonight - sorted At least that was what I thought. As I left, I thought I'd confirm the price. 3฿ a page. I responded with a sucking of teeth, and explained laser had been quoted 1.35฿ a page. This was a 122% price hike.

Then the BS started. laser had misunderstood - he was quoted a price for straightforward copy, not scan. My Farang Scam alert started sounding loudly inside my head, but I didn't react - unusually, I engaged brain instead . The cost would still only be 624฿, scanning 208 pages is a mindblowing task and I wasn't personally paying. I accepted the bloated price. So hopefully, job sorted.

I'll report again after I pick it up this evening.

Ahhh!! Couldn't possibly be a scam ......just a misunderstanding!!!

image.png (244 Bytes) Viewed 598 times

[Big Boy]

Of course.