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afabbricante
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 38

Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:03 AM

Mayday! I have a 220 page, technical draft that was done on a typewriter. I'd like to feed these sheets through a machine; scan them (not one at a time, but automaticaly) to my PC to make text changes. What's out here that can do this?
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CSM Engineer
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#1

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:37 AM

One of my clients has a Toshiba print center that will scan documents through the auto-feed and convert to a PDF file. From there, the PDF can be converted to a MS Word file that can be edited. Success depends greatly on the quality of the initial document. Kinkos or similar copy centers may be able to do this for you if you do not have private access to a machine. There may be a more direct approach, but this is one I've used (for much shorter documents, however) in the past. Good luck!

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afabbricante
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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:44 AM

Thanks. Will follow up.
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Ace Boeringa
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#3

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:51 AM

Many print, scan, copy, fax multi function office machines can do it. I use a Brother DCP 7020 with control center 2.0 software. It was reasonably priced and has been very reliable for two years.
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afabbricante
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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 12:03 PM

Thanks will check it out also.
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Butcher
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Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Engineering Fields - Aerospace Engineering - New Member Hobbies - Model Rocketry - New Member United States - Member - New Member

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#5

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:05 PM

kinkos, or some similar place should be able to do that
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afabbricante
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#13
In reply to #5

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:33 AM

Thanks. So, I'm starting to find out
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sail4evr
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#6

Re: Mayday!

02/25/2008 11:38 PM

Remember after the scan and running the software that will convert the scanned words to text you will still have to proof it. Some software does a better job than others depending on the quality of the original.
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afabbricante
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#14
In reply to #6

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:34 AM

Thanks. I'll that out, too.
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Qqberci
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#7

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 1:53 AM

You can scan the documents and give it to an OCR program like the FineReader. That will convert it to text and during the conversion doubtfully recognized characters will be offered for correction.

http://finereader.abbyy.com/

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Anonymous Poster
#8

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 3:06 AM

A Xerox copy machine has the capability to copy the pages and make a PDF, can even mail it to you if connected. Then changing the PDF into something editable is easy, just google PDF editor and you will find several free trials or freeware. Hope this helps.
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afabbricante
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#15
In reply to #8

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:37 AM

Thanks. I'm learning a lot from all you guys
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Abdel Halim Galala
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Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member Egypt - Member - Member since 02/18/2007

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#9

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 4:16 AM

1. Scan all the pages (by any scanner).

2. Make PDF file (using Adobe Acrobat software at your pc).

3. From menu of Adobe Acrobat : click Document then click Recognize Text Using OCR.

That is all, then you can make a lot of copies, and please don't forget to give me a copy............. hahaha ............... Just kidding

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afabbricante
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#16
In reply to #9

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:38 AM

H'mmmmm! I'll check into that
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PetroPower
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#10

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 5:36 AM

You can have my wife read it into a voice recognition software system that has MHz recognition. When she is upset with me, her voice pitch and frequency is something like a 50 mm diameter turbocharger near stall. Her speed is high enough to do this 220 pages in 3.8 minutes. Of course, you'd need to check it for the words "As* H**e" which may condense it down to 4 pages.

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Abdel Halim Galala
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#11
In reply to #10

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 6:11 AM

Hello PetroPower , where have you been?

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afabbricante
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#17
In reply to #10

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:40 AM

Funny guy! My wife talks like a man. Count your blessings.
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Anonymous Poster
#12

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:15 AM

Hewlett Packard makes a scanner that will scan multiple pages into your computer. Be sure to scan as text documents then you can change anything you need.
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afabbricante
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#18
In reply to #12

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 8:43 AM

Thanks again. Now I've got to find one around, somewhere
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Keywalker
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#19

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 2:24 PM

If this is a one time thing and you don't want to buy a bunch of hardware or software, just go to Kinko's or some other copying center. Office Max also has a copy center. One more suggestion... call first.

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afabbricante
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#20
In reply to #19

Re: Mayday!

02/26/2008 3:12 PM

Sounds, sound. Thanks
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Edbear
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#21

Re: Mayday!

03/01/2008 6:01 PM

A simple way using an ordinary Fax is

to go to www.efax.com. Set up an account,

and then you get back an efax file by e-mail.
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afabbricante
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#22
In reply to #21

Re: Mayday!

03/02/2008 11:36 AM

I lke that!. Thanks
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Keywalker
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#23
In reply to #22

Re: Mayday!

03/02/2008 8:13 PM

I don't understand how this would help. If you have the ability to scan in the document to send it to efax then you already have a scanned document. Does efax send you a file with the ascii characters in it or do they send you the same scanned in document in graphic format? I don't think they run it through an OCR (optical character recognition) program for you do they?

Regards,

Keywalker

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Keywalker
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#24
In reply to #23

Re: Mayday!

03/02/2008 8:17 PM

I guess what I am thinking is, if you just want a scanned in document, fax it to your computer on another phone line. I doubt that you could find a fax machine that would hold all 220 sheets though and this could become time consuming if you have to feed small stacks at a time. All of the fax machines that I have had any dealings with have been very slow.

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afabbricante
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#25
In reply to #24

Re: Mayday!

03/03/2008 11:20 AM

The jury is still out. However, I may just hire a High School kid, lookin' to make a few bucks and put the stuff in Word. That service is available from our H.S. The'll even shovel snow, wash cars, etc. Do I care how well they do it? Not really, since I've got to go over each page, anyway!

Thanks (everyone) for all of the input and taking the time.
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Users who posted comments:

Abdel Halim Galala (2); Ace Boeringa (1); afabbricante (11); Anonymous Poster (2); Butcher (1); CSM Engineer (1); Edbear (1); Keywalker (3); PetroPower (1); Qqberci (1); sail4evr (1)

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