The software you will be using for scanning books will have great impact on the total time it takes to scan the book, edit the file, and the quality of the image. In this article we”ll discuss the different book scanning software and the features you should look for.
What is a Book Scanning Software?
A book scanning software is an operating system used for digitizing books. The software is involved in every part of the scanning, from taking the picture, processing it, adjusting it, and saving it on the computer.
When You Buy a Book Scanner, Does It Come With a Software?
Book and document scanners almost always come with scanning software already built in, and you can start using them straight out of the box. Usually the software will be on a CD and also available for download through the brand’s website. For more info, read our article about how book scanners work.
In some cases, you can get a different software from the one that came with the scanner, download it to your computer, and connect it to your book scanner.
Different types of book scanners have different software. For example a software that is suitable for an handheld scanner will not necessarily be suitable fort an automatic book scanner.
What Features Should I Look For in a Book Scanning Software?
The most important features to look for in book scanning software is scanning speed and an easy-to-use user interface. Read more about the different features in our article about the specifications of book scanners.
Let’s go through some of the features you should pay attention to:
OCR
OCR is a feature in the software that scans the text and recognizes the letters and symbols. This feature allows for the scanned document to be searchable and readable by computers. Most book scanners available on the market already have OCR integrated in their software. But not all software are the same and some OCRs can recognize more languages than others.
If you’re scanning a language that is not very common you should make sure the software you’re getting can recognize it.
If you’re scanning an old or rare book with an ancient font then the OCR might also be having trouble recognizing the letters.
Page turning detection
Book scanning software that have this feature can basically detect once a page has been flipped and then to automatically command the camera to snap a picture. This feature will save you a great deal of time as all you have to do is flip the pages of the book.
Automatic image adjustments
Software With automatic image quality adjustments will do a lot of the editing and adjusting for you. Including: automatically zoom, focus, crop, flip, flatten, and correct the curve of the page. This saves a tone of time not-editing the images after all the pages are scanned.
Software interface
An easy-to-use, intuitive user interface is priceless when you scan entire books. A smooth interface will save you time and stress. Try reading reviews about the software and see if people enjoyed using it.
Operating system
Note that not all software are suitable for Apple products. So if you’re using a Mac make sure the software is suitable.
Which Book Scanning Software is the Most Easy to Use?
We like Czur’s scanning software, because not only is it easy to use, it also has all of the features we mentioned above.
What Apps are Used for Scanning Books With Your Phone?
Scanning books with your phone is a great option because it’s cheap and available to almost everyone. Plus a lot of apps make it really easy to scan entire books.
Read our article about book scanning apps to see what apps you can use on your Android or IOS mobile phones.
What else should you consider before buying a book scanner?
Other than the software, there are a few other aspects to consider before getting a book scanner like which features and specifications do you really need.
First, you should know there are a few methods for scanning books without a book scanner. For example you can use a book scanning service or try and visit your local library to see if they have a book scanner.
Secondly, learn the copyrights laws regarding book scanning where you live. You don’t want to get caught violating the law and distributing protected materials.
Happy book scanning!