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From: Brent on 15 Feb 2010 01:12
On Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:57:04 -0500, aemeijers wrote:

> Of course, until you figure it out, you could always just take the
> document down to Kinko's or someplace, and have them scan it to a thumb
> drive or disc for you.

Actually I ended up taking a photograph of the document and then printing
that photograph to PDF with the cutePDF freeware printer driver.

But the results are substandard - and scanning directly from the HP 3200m
LaserJet to an OCR-capable PDF file on disk is really the way to go.
From: Brent on 15 Feb 2010 01:31
On Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:03:28 -0500, norminn(a)earthlink.net wrote:

> The site isn't down. If you don't like the thread, don't read it.

Hi Norminn,

Thanks for your help. I think I've found the answer (finally).

It turns out from Airman Basic <airman_basic(a)hotmail.com> on 2/14/2010 at
2:38:36 PM (and others), that the HP driver site isn't down (as you noted).

If the solution were that simple, I'd just go to the local library and
download the required TWAIN drivers for the HP LJ3200m LaserJet scanner and
be done with it.

However, the ominous message from Warren Block <wblock(a)wonkity.com> on
2/14/2010 at 8:48:06 PM showed a more sinister problem.

HP apparently doesn't supply the TWAIN drivers needed for the HP LJ 3200m
scanner on their freeware web page.

The only known solutions for the HP LJ 3200m are the following:
a) Find the original CDROM that came with the HP LJ 3200m in 2001
b) Order from HP the WinXP replacement CDROM TWAIN drivers (at some cost)
c) Find where someone has kindly made the CDROM available for download

I'm currently working on option (c) above and I think I will be able to
report success in an hour or so (the HP TWAIN driver CDROM is reputedly 500
MBytes).
From: Brent on 15 Feb 2010 01:34
On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:12:34 +0000 (UTC), Brent wrote:

> Actually I ended up taking a photograph of the document
> Then printing that photograph to PDF
> But the results are substandard

I should mention that the reason the results sucked were mostly that some
strange effect cropped in the picture so that NONE of the four sides were
parallel with each other!

I'm not sure why, but, somehow the camera introduced a bending of the
edges!

Somehow, the 8.5x11 sheet of paper, when photographed, had the sides bent
at a slight angle such that cropping could only be done by cutting into the
margins.

Even then, the edges of the text didn't coincide evenly with the edges of
the cropped edge of the paper.
From: J. Clarke on 15 Feb 2010 10:05
Brent wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:12:34 +0000 (UTC), Brent wrote:
>
>> Actually I ended up taking a photograph of the document
>> Then printing that photograph to PDF
>> But the results are substandard
>
> I should mention that the reason the results sucked were mostly that
> some strange effect cropped in the picture so that NONE of the four
> sides were parallel with each other!
>
> I'm not sure why, but, somehow the camera introduced a bending of the
> edges!

Google "barrel distortion" and "pincushion distortion".

> Somehow, the 8.5x11 sheet of paper, when photographed, had the sides
> bent at a slight angle such that cropping could only be done by
> cutting into the margins.
>
> Even then, the edges of the text didn't coincide evenly with the
> edges of the cropped edge of the paper.

Three options.

First, if your lens can fill the frame with the document through its entire
zoom range, try different focal lengths and see if it has a low-distortion
sweet spot--if it does then remember to use that for document copying.

If it doesn't have a sweet spot that's good enough, then you need to do
distortion correction.

To do distortion correction, first check whatever image editor you are using
and see if it has a built in capability--if so try that. If it's not good
enough then you need a third-party product. PTLens works and is cheap, DxO
has more features and is not so cheap. Both have free trials.

Or you can if you are using a DSLR or Micro 4/3 camera get a purpose made
macro lens.


From: NameHere on 15 Feb 2010 11:19
On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:05:19 -0500, "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet(a)cox.net>
wrote:

>Brent wrote:
>> On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:12:34 +0000 (UTC), Brent wrote:
>>
>>> Actually I ended up taking a photograph of the document
>>> Then printing that photograph to PDF
>>> But the results are substandard
>>
>> I should mention that the reason the results sucked were mostly that
>> some strange effect cropped in the picture so that NONE of the four
>> sides were parallel with each other!
>>
>> I'm not sure why, but, somehow the camera introduced a bending of the
>> edges!
>
>Google "barrel distortion" and "pincushion distortion".
>
>> Somehow, the 8.5x11 sheet of paper, when photographed, had the sides
>> bent at a slight angle such that cropping could only be done by
>> cutting into the margins.
>>
>> Even then, the edges of the text didn't coincide evenly with the
>> edges of the cropped edge of the paper.
>
>Three options.
>
>First, if your lens can fill the frame with the document through its entire
>zoom range, try different focal lengths and see if it has a low-distortion
>sweet spot--if it does then remember to use that for document copying.
>
>If it doesn't have a sweet spot that's good enough, then you need to do
>distortion correction.
>
>To do distortion correction, first check whatever image editor you are using
>and see if it has a built in capability--if so try that. If it's not good
>enough then you need a third-party product. PTLens works and is cheap, DxO
>has more features and is not so cheap. Both have free trials.
>
>Or you can if you are using a DSLR or Micro 4/3 camera get a purpose made
>macro lens.
>

Or use any of the super-zoom P&S cameras which have extremely low geometric
distortions. A good example being the Canon Powershot S2, S3, and S5 IS P&S
cameras. All using the same lens design. Perfect for document copying
projects.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/page5.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons5is/page5.asp

"Barrel distortion - 1.0% at Wide angle, Equiv. focal length: 36 mm

Pincushion distortion - 0.1% at Telephoto, Equiv. focal length: 432 mm

The S5 IS exhibits remarkably low distortion given the huge focal length
range - 1.1% barrel distortion at the wide end, and no measurable
distortion at all at the full 432mm telephoto end. There is also only
barely measurable - and hardly noticeable - vignetting."

This is something that few if any DSLR lenses can accomplish. There are
other super-zoom P&S cameras from other companies with similar exceptional
performance. Hunt them out. In the above example, the barrel distortion is
mostly at the wide-end and nearly all of the full focal-length zoom range
is devoid of geometric distortion.

No need for overpriced DxO bloatware to try to correct all the problems
with overpriced and special-use DSLR novelty glass.

(When are you DSLR Trolls going to realize that your hopeful imaginings are
never going to win against reality.)

If you absolutely must frustrate yourself with badly corrected and
overpriced DSLR optics, you can get a little break from the money you've
wasted so far by using a free "Lens Correction" plugin from this link

<http://www.photo-plugins.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=68&Itemid=43>
Usable with virtually any editor that supports plugins, including all the
freeware ones.

Granted, there are better plugins out there, and most editors these days
include lens-geometry correction filters already built-in. But if you are
without, the above will probably suffice. Use the zoom buttons and then
move the image so a border of your image is up against the viewing frame,
then make that edge aligned straight with the viewing pane's straight-edge.



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