On Fri, 19 Feb 2016, Richard Cini wrote: This is an excellent reason to build one of these: http://www.diybookscanner.org/ :) g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes. http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!

Yes, but, . . . I've participated in building a few similar devices. Instead of the two sides MEETING in a V, there should be an open area right at the spine to accomodate the greater thickness of the spine itself. Having the two side panels able to slide up and down, with pegs, a few inches would accomodate that and permit a varying amount of spine clearance. Lighting. Ideally, lighting for copy work should be at a 45 degree (1/4PI) angle. That way specular reflection (glare) from glass cover (still needed occasionally!) or even just glossy paper, is not going towards the camera. If the trough faces north/south, then that can be done with light(s) north and south of the unit. Using two lights makes it much easier to get acceptably even illumination. Some people prefer various forms of diffuse light, or coaxial lighting ("ring" light). Having the camera at a fixed position relative to the work holder is great IFF you are doing consistent size. Different sizes could be dealt with through variable focal length ("zoom") lenses, but that is not always the ideal solution. I like to use FLAT-FIELD lenses, which are generally fixed focal length (sometimes called "primary lenses"). Enlarger lenses are an extremely cheap source for those. Being able to move the camera/work distance closer/farther requires a movable mount to change distance, but keep the camera centered relative to the work. North/south motion can be easily handled by moving the book along the trough, preferably with a fence, or simple bench-dog stops. The other motion generally requires the camera mount to be a pole at a 45 degree (1/4PI radians) angle relative to the work. Since the work is at a 45 degree angle from vertical, that means that the pole can be VERTICAL, with the camera mount aimed at a 45 degree angle. The post should be offset slightly from the north/south center, with the movable camera mounts holding the cameras at 45 degree angle (preferably with the focal node close to that central plane). Positioning of the book would require placing it so that it is centered north/south (calibration marks, as well as fence or bench-dogs, are very helpful!) and moving the camera up and down and focussing for distance. NOTE: use of other than 90 degree (1/2 PI radians) for the book holder would require further changes! -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com

If that's the way that you WANT to do it. It's mostly plywood, framing, and some pipe work. We did one with slotted angle iron, one with unistrut, and a few with scrap 2x4s. You can take a shortcut and use some old enlargers or photographic copy stands for the camera brackets, and posts for them to slide on. For one quick and dirty one, we used plumbing pipe and a pair of clamp-pods. (common photographic clamps with 1/4"x20tpi mounting thread) A "slide-rail" positioner is helpful to be able to make minor front-back adjustments of camera position, particularly since a relatively long focal length lens is going to require increasing the camera to work distance. For this use, you'll want them coming down from a superstructure ABOVE, rather than rising from the base. The big part is a trough made of two pieces of plywood resting on a V shaped frame. (You'll remember that I recommended NOT having them meet at the bottom.) Draw some lines on it at the midpoint, and at "calibrated" distances out from the midpoint, plus some holes at most common positions for bench-dogs or fence attachment. There will still be occasional times when you will want to press glass on the work to flatten it. Most people consider most "modern" lenses to produce reults that they can tolerate. You may need to use a shorter focal length than you might be comfortable with. With a "standard" camera mount, it is easy to switch cameras around until you find what you like. Throw together a quick and dirty one, and decide for yourself what changes you need.

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016, geneb wrote: well, if you had brought beer, . . .

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016, Adrian Stoness wrote: Why does someone just take a photo with their camera? Because they might not need exceptionally high quality, and not planning to do enough pages to justify building a rig for high quality and production volume. Or, they're in a hurry, and are copying stuff that they are not authorized to do. Why does someone NOT just take a photo with their camera? They might need better quality. just having a good stable vibration=free mount makes a difference. When you want high quality images, such as of a full page of text, a very tiny bit of movement during exposure is enough to mess up the quality. And, there is the issue of volume. I once created a 10,000 page documentary appendix for a report that EPA commissioned us to do about state regulatory activities in the great lakes states. I needed portability (not concealment level!), so I used a tripod with inverted center post and a Leica IIIa with a focoslide. Just the knurled film wind was enough to give me nasty blisters on my fingers. If you are doing a lot, then you want a setup that minimizes what you need to do for each one. When working with books, flattening them enough to scan them damages the binding. A rig such as this permits photographic copying with the book open 90 degrees, instead of 180. You might not care, but if you don't own the book, then you have a resposibility to not damage it. It wouldn't matter for most of my books, but I have just a few where if you break the spine, then I will break your spine. Some enhancements are to improve the image quality; some are to minimize the damage and wear of the source materials; and some are to make it quicker and easier to get more done. How many pages are you going to do? What materials are you working from? What quality do you need? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com