Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 22:36:48 +0200
From: Hartmut Krech <kr538@zfn.uni-bremen.de>
Subject: Re: 12.0116 scanning as graphics
Ann Byrne is totally right in suggesting optical scanning
instead of optical character recognition for unusual
type fonts like Sanskrit and Tamil, and one might also
speak of the difficulty of distinguishing between the
letters "s" and "f" in French and old German fonts.
But isn't such a solution tantamount to evading the question ?
Electronic text offers many advantages to the formats of text
that we have got used to during more than two millennia.
Whoever had to cope with the capriciousness of electronic
text that seems to change or even disappear behind your back,,
will agree that graphics (and hardcopy print-outs) will
continue to accompany us, as long as security locks and
electronic alarms continue to be useless (beware of paranoia!).
To begin with, I haven't seen appropriate software that will
allow you to comfortably read text graphics: several lines or
paragraphs of contextual content should be displayed at a useful
size. We know that still photography should be watched at a
distance no closer than about twice the length of the diagonal of the
picture. Does that apply to electronically displayed pictures as well ?
Next, there should be comfortable solutions for scrolling the
text and switching to a text editor with the additional option
of marking the text graphics, etc., etc.
Kind regards
Dr. Hartmut Krech
Bremen, Germany
Ann Byrne schrieb:
>
> Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 12:10:19 EDT
> From: EditorAnn@aol.com
> >
> To save your books quickly and easily, I'd suggest scanning the pages in as
> graphics rather than using OCR programs. Unless the capacity to alter the
> text in some way is apt to be needed, using OCR programs requires that one
> proofread the product, and correct whatever was not correctly READ by the
> program. I have done both techniques. Scanning text as a graphic is, though
> just as tedious, faster. Ann Byrne (editorann@AOL.com)
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