Scanning Devices > Page Excerpt Scanners

The scanning pen processes this information via Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and performs other subsequent tasks so you can use that information more easily. You can:

• Transfer to PC, PDA, or Smartphone. View stored information on the integrated LCD display and easily transfer data to any PC, PDA, or Smartphone via standard USB or infra-red connections.
   
• Edit. Use any Windows application to work with the text you have scanned and transferred.
   
• Listen to scanned paragraphs.

• Take notes from a book as you're reading it.
• Save captions, quotes, and citations.
• Save a passage, not a whole chapter.
• Build a bibliography.
• Archive from hardcopy to electronic storage.
• Import hardcopy data to a Windows application.
• Conduct research more efficiently: college research papers, legal work, engineering applications, scientific research.
• Save family recipes and other information that would otherwise be lost on paper.

A peripheral scanner scanner typically connects to your computer, but some types connect to any Android device. The typical peripheral scanning pen has these features:

• Drag-free cord (if corded; obviously a Bluetooth model has no cord).
• No batteries required (if corded; obviously a Bluetooth model has no cord).
• Lightweight and compact.
• Easy setup and use.
• Handsome styling (not the old bulky plastic-looking gizmos of yesteryear).
• USB connectivity (pretty standard today), or even wireless.

The typical mobile scanner has these features:

• Cord-free.
• Long-life batteries (and most models will accept rechargeable, even if externally charged).
• Lightweight and compact.
• Easy setup and use.
• Handsome styling (not the old bulky plastic-looking gizmos of yesteryear).
• USB connectivity (pretty standard today), or even wireless.

1. Move your hand at a slow and steady speed. It helps to keep your wrist straight and just swing across the page with your arm. It's the same motion you need to highlight a line of text on a page using a yellow highlighter. So there is a technique to it, but you very likely have already mastered that technique.
2. If a paper starts to curl, roll it up in the direction opposite the curl then unroll it. You can also try dragging it gently across the edge of a desktop (just don't crease it).
3. If it's an important document, "frame" it the way photographers frame an important shot. But instead of adjusting the shutter speed, adjust your scanning speed. Do the first scan at your normal speed, then do one very slowly, then do one a bit slower than normal.
4. When saving the scan to your workstation, remember that you are saving a file. This is not any different from saving a paper file in a folder, except you're saving it electronically. So save to a smartly named folder and give it a meaningful filename. For example, Finance/BankStatements/2012/Statement2012-01-28. Don't use spaces in folder or filenames.
5. Keep your scanner away from smoke and dust. These can get on the lens or photoeye.