Yes adaptive technology is wonderful! I should have gotten into scanning sooner:) I posted the question on the Kurzweil list and they said there is not a way to use the optimize with an ADF. It seems there would be though:) Kaitlyn Level III Practitioner Reconnective healing and the Reconnection Level 1 Reiki healing Kaitlyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Life is an inside job and light and love is everything:) -----Original Message----- From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cheryl Fogle Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 6:16 PM To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Scannin g I found two ways to get around the need to hold the book down. Sometimes I place the book flat on the scanner and close the lid which keeps pressure constant and helps when I'm using the optimize feature on kurzweil that takes multiple scans to analyze settings. At other times, I set a stack of books or something on my desk right near the scanner that's about the same height and rest the page on the stack of books so it's flat and the same height as the page I'm scanning. Still I've had to hold down many books on a flatbed scanner. At work I have an autodocument feeder but it jams the paper and I can't use it to optimize scanning. Isn't adaptive technology fun *smile* Cheryl Fogle MA Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology, University of New Mexico ----- Original Message ----- From: Jake Brownell <mailto:jabrown@xxxxxxxxx> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 2:45 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Scannin g Patti, The BookShare offices and a few lucky volunteers like Kaitlyn use ADFs, auto document feeders to scan books. the downside to that is that you have to remove the binding of a book to use them. Yes those of us who use general traditional flatbed scanners have to hold the book flat against the scanner class and turn the pages in between scans. I have only had a few hard backs where it wasn't necessary to constantly apply pressure. The book has to have a loose binding and pages that aren't too tightly bound together. Hopefully I'll find more that don't require a constant hand on them, but I doubt it. In any case you have to be ready to turn pages, so holding it down isn't that bad. Although some paperbacks can be quite annoying, that is, trying to hold them flat enough so words close to the binding scan well. HTH, Jake ----- Original Message ----- From: Patti Johnson <mailto:razz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 3:33 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Scannin g I was asking the gentleman at FS today if he scanned books and he said no. He said what he knew about that was that most paperbacks have cheap paper for pages, and the fact you have to hold the binding down to get a good scan, so he had never tried scanning a book but said he thought he might try it. How many of you hold the binding down while scanning? Seems to me if you are going to do that then you have to sit at the computer/scanner the whole time the book is scanning, whether you do it in segments but still, that sounds like a lot of effort, and wondered if that is what you all do. I also wonder if hardback books are easier, if you have to hold that binding down as often on a hardback book. The gentleman at FS said that was one of the things he really had liked about the reading edge, that all that effort wasn't necessary because of how you had the book positioned on the scanner, and the fact you could put it in a farther back position, however he said it. Anyway, just curious, Patti Me and my guide dog; He does a good job, He keeps me safe So life is just great For me and my guide dog. ________________________________ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.13/47 - Release Date: 7/12/2005