Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

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wendel
Posts: 6
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by wendel »

So I finished my first scanner build and have been using it for a couple of weekends now. So I wanted to give back to everyone on some things I learned.
As you can see, this is mostly a "New Standard" scanner build. The #1 design objective was that I needed it to break down easily and not take up too much space. I know my time at the Dining Room table is limited ;)
The full scanner.
The full scanner.
104_7331.JPG (403.85 KiB) Viewed 9203 times
So along the way I came up with five changes:

1. If in doubt, I used a bolt instead of a screw. This includes the connection from the column sliders to the platen.

2. Inspired by the folding air platen, I made the platen hinged in the middle. The cross bars at the top are held in place by 4 screws with wing nuts. The screws are perpendicular to the platen support. When tightened, it forms a good solid triangle. When taken out, the platen folds up nicely.
The platten is hinged in the middle.  The top bar in front and back are held in place by screws with wing nuts.  Take them out and it folds flat.  You can see one of the wing nuts on the underside, near the top right corner.
The platten is hinged in the middle. The top bar in front and back are held in place by screws with wing nuts. Take them out and it folds flat. You can see one of the wing nuts on the underside, near the top right corner.
104_7346.JPG (416.87 KiB) Viewed 9203 times
3. The cradle was made to fold up. So both the left and the right side are adjustable. Then on the connection between the 45 degree supports and the cradle top, the supports are attached with hinges from the bottom instead of screwed in from the top.
The cradle.  Both the left and the right are adjustable.  And you can't see it, but the 45 degree support is hinged to the cradle base.  So the two supports fold flat when you remove the screw.
The cradle. Both the left and the right are adjustable. And you can't see it, but the 45 degree support is hinged to the cradle base. So the two supports fold flat when you remove the screw.
104_7336.JPG (378.08 KiB) Viewed 9203 times
4. I added a counter weight, similar to others. I used simple 2 inch PVC pipe. I wasn't sure exactly how much weight I needed, so I capped the bottom of the pipe, but I added a screw "access port" on the top. I filled the pipe with spare nails and extra BBs I had. The pipe with the weight is guided by a 3 inch pipe attached to the column. I extended the board connecting the platen to the rails so that the counter weight could be attached to it with a cord.
The counter weight.  It is just a 2 inch PVC pipe capped at the bottom, with a screw on top.   I just filled it with scrap nails and extra BBs I had.  I used a 3 inch PVC pipe as the guide.
The counter weight. It is just a 2 inch PVC pipe capped at the bottom, with a screw on top. I just filled it with scrap nails and extra BBs I had. I used a 3 inch PVC pipe as the guide.
104_7349.JPG (383.91 KiB) Viewed 9203 times
5. Inspired by a comment on the forum about using black paper behind pages to help with page splitting in Scan Taylor, I came up with what I'm calling a "Platen Card". It is a piece of black poster board (88 cents at the local store) cut to fit on top of the two platen surfaces. It has the following uses:
  • Use the blank back side to slip between the book cover and the first/last page of the book. This cuts down on getting images of the book cover, which can case problems later in post processing. I've also found it works well on very thick books if you place it within a hundred pages or so of the pages being scanned (you cut out a lot of the feathered pages that get caught in the picture.)
  • On the other side of the card, I pasted a picture of a ruler (which I verified after I printed it out.) I found mine at http://vendian.org/mncharity/dir3/paper_rulers/ but there are others out on the web. So now that I have a ruler always handy, I take a DPI calibration shot as the first set of pictures of a scan.
  • Since the cards are cut to the size of the top of the platen, when the scanner is not in use, I just lay them on top. They act as a cover that prevents scratches to the top of the platen as well as dust from accumulating.
The "Platten Card" laying on top of the platten to protect the top surface from scratches and dust.
The "Platten Card" laying on top of the platten to protect the top surface from scratches and dust.
104_7350.JPG (177.14 KiB) Viewed 9203 times
5. I split the camera support arm. The primary arm attached to the base has holes every 1.5 inches or so near the top. The secondary arm that holds the camera has a big slit in it at the bottom that is wide enough for screws. Taken together, I can adjust the heights of the cameras depending upon the width of the book. The cameras are still centered left to right. The arm just allows height adjustments. I also attached a piece that keeps the camera bracket at a 45 degree angle.

Also, on lessons learned (most of them you will say "duh", but I will state them anyway):
  • When you buy cameras from ebay, take the time to do a full reset on them so you know your starting point.
  • Take the time to figure out how to adjust for indoor lighting.
  • Make sure both cameras are at the same zoom level
  • The bulbs get real hot
I also modified/enhanced the image combining script. This takes images in a "Left" and "Right" folder and combines them into another folder. Some of the changes include:
  • Asking where you want the project and creating the directory if it does not exist
  • Asking for a starting page number (in case you break up a big scanning project)
  • Asks if you want to convert to greyscale
  • Asks for DPI for left and right if you want to add to the images.
This requires imagemagick. I've only tested on Windows 7.

Code: Select all

@ECHO OFF
ECHO.

:PROJECT_QUERY
set PROJECT=Book
set /P PROJECT=Enter Project/Book directory name [default=%PROJECT%]:

:START_COUNT_QUERY
set START_COUNT=0
set /P START_COUNT=Starting page number for combined pages [default=0]:
set /A TestVal=%START_COUNT%*1
if NOT "%START_COUNT%"=="%TestVal%" (
    goto :START_COUNT_QUERY
)


:COLOR_QUERY
set COLOR_INPUT=g
set /P COLOR_INPUT=Color (c or C) or Greyscale (g or G) [default=%COLOR_INPUT%]:
if /I "%COLOR_INPUT%"=="c" (
    set COLOR=
) else (
    if /I "%COLOR_INPUT%"=="g" (
        set COLOR=-colorspace Gray
    ) else (
        goto :COLOR_QUERY
    )
)

:DPI_ODD_QUERY
set DPI_INPUT=0
set /P DPI_INPUT=Dots per Inch for Odd  (Left Camera) pages [default=0 which keeps it the same]:
set /A TestVal=%DPI_INPUT%*1
if /I "%DPI_INPUT%"=="0" (
    set DPI_ODD=
) else (
    if "%DPI_INPUT%"=="%TestVal%" (
        set DPI_ODD=-units PixelsPerInch -density %DPI_INPUT%
rem        set DPI_ODD=-units PixelsPerInch -resample %DPI_INPUT%x%DPI_INPUT%
    ) else (
        goto :DPI_ODD_QUERY
    )
)

:DPI_EVEN_QUERY
set DPI_INPUT=0
set /P DPI_INPUT=Dots per Inch for Even (Right Camera) pages [default=0 which keeps it the same]:
set /A TestVal=%DPI_INPUT%*1
if /I "%DPI_INPUT%"=="0" (
    set DPI_EVEN=
) else (
    if "%DPI_INPUT%"=="%TestVal%" (
        set DPI_EVEN=-units PixelsPerInch -density %DPI_INPUT%
rem        set DPI_EVEN=-units PixelsPerInch -resample %DPI_INPUT%x%DPI_INPUT%
    ) else (
        goto :DPI_EVEN_QUERY
    )
)


rem echo PROJECT=%PROJECT%
rem echo COLOR=%COLOR%
rem echo DPI_ODD=%DPI_ODD%
rem echo DPI_EVEN=%DPI_EVEN%
rem goto :EOF

Rem Setup the directories
set THIS_DIR=%~dp0

Rem Now Create the Project Directory if it does not exist
echo Making sure the Project/Book directory exists
set NEW_DIR=%THIS_DIR%..\%PROJECT%
IF NOT EXIST "%NEW_DIR%" MD "%NEW_DIR%"

Rem Set the Right and Left directories.  Either Left and Right or L and R
set RIGHT=Right
set LEFT=Left
IF NOT EXIST "%THIS_DIR%%LEFT%"  set LEFT=L
IF NOT EXIST "%THIS_DIR%%RIGHT%" set RIGHT=R

Rem Process the Right camera / Even pages
echo Processing the Right camera / Even pages ...
set count=%START_COUNT%
FOR %%A IN ("%THIS_DIR%%RIGHT%\*.jpg") DO CALL :NUMBER "%%A" even

Rem Process the Left camera / Odd pages
echo Processing the Left camera / Odd pages ...
set /A count=%START_COUNT%+1
FOR %%A IN ("%THIS_DIR%%LEFT%\*.jpg")  DO CALL :NUMBER "%%A" odd

echo Complete
goto :EOF

:NUMBER
set NUM=000%count%
set NUM=%NUM:~-4%
echo Processing page %NUM%
copy %1 "%NEW_DIR%\%NUM%.JPG" >NUL
if "%2"=="odd" (
    convert "%NEW_DIR%\%NUM%.JPG" %DPI_EVEN% %COLOR% -rotate 90 "%NEW_DIR%\%NUM%.JPG"
) else (
    convert "%NEW_DIR%\%NUM%.JPG" %DPI_ODD% %COLOR% -rotate 270 "%NEW_DIR%\%NUM%.JPG"
)
set /a count+=2
goto :EOF
Last edited by Anonymous on 07 Nov 2010, 18:52, edited 1 time in total.
spamsickle
Posts: 596
Joined: 06 Jun 2009, 23:57

Re: Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by spamsickle »

I wasn't aware that ImageMagick could add DPI information to photos, but that's a good idea.

I've saved all my original photos, including those I took months before I knew about Scan Tailor and before I realized that it might be noticeable if my right-hand pages were a different size than my left-hand pages. Since learning that stuff, I've often thought it would be nice if I could import my left-hand pictures into Scan Tailor, give them one DPI, then import my right-hand pictures, giving them a different DPI. I've found that Scan Tailor will let you do that for individual images, but so far I haven't discovered how to do it for batches. I'd always figured that this would be one of the "enhancements" I'd add when I started modifying ST source.

With your observation, though, that seems completely unnecessary. I can presumably just add DPI information to L and R batches with ImageMagick, and then import them all together. ST will take DPI information for each image from the EXIF data, and they'll all go out the same size. Thanks!

I've built my latest platen with a "hinged" design too, though each hinge is currently an angle brace. One of these days, I'll change that and see how it folds up.
User avatar
daniel_reetz
Posts: 2812
Joined: 03 Jun 2009, 13:56
E-book readers owned: Used to have a PRS-500
Number of books owned: 600
Country: United States
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Re: Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by daniel_reetz »

Hot damn, that is a beautiful New Standard. I'm very impressed by your wooden folding platen -- it's really nice. And thank you, thank you for documenting it so completely and sharing your script here!
univurshul
Posts: 496
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Re: Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by univurshul »

really clean work.
User avatar
Moonboy242
Posts: 56
Joined: 22 Aug 2010, 18:09
E-book readers owned: iPad, Netbook
Number of books owned: 1000

Re: Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by Moonboy242 »

Sweet platen! I'm going to have to get back in the garage and try that. I'm also digging those camera arms... Do they work with a wide range of book sizes?

Very cool build dude.

Congrats on the first build.... YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIMILATED. :twisted:
iPad: Over it. Android FTW.
wendel
Posts: 6
Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:53

Re: Wendel's "New Standard" variation (and 1st Build)

Post by wendel »

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Moonboy242 wrote:... those camera arms... Do they work with a wide range of book sizes?
Yes, they cover pretty much books up to the full width of the cradle. I did some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations that said I needed to be able to adjust about 3.5 inches to cover books from 6 inches wide to 11 inches wide. I made the slot about 7 inches long to give me options to go smaller and a little larger (plus I wanted some slop since the cradle was adjustable too.) I put multiple holes in the arm base to allow me to always have good separation of the bolts to help clamp it in place.

The wood support for the camera bracket to keep it at the correct angle was just a quick and dirty hack. I was sooo close to finishing... I just wanted to give it all a try. :D

Here are some pictures which show it a little better.
The camera arm from the front.
The camera arm from the front.
104_0003.JPG (226.35 KiB) Viewed 9047 times
104_0001.JPG
The camera arm from the back
(359.98 KiB) Downloaded 6869 times
For those looking closely, you will see I padded one of the arms to get the camera centered. I could have done that at the base connection, but I was trying to leave myself space on the inside of the base to mount some of the electronics.
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