[NJTechDiv] OpenBook

[Brian Shell]

I'm looking to OCR multiple pages such as chapters of books, handouts, 
etc.  Once I have them as text, I'll have the option to use speech or 
load them onto my braille display.  I use the context menu > convenient 
OCR on PDFs all the time, but I forgot about the OCR layer option to 
scan.  That only works for single page, correct?  I've never used Seeing 
AI so thanks for mentioning.  I'll look into it.

Brian

On 6/21/2025 10:30 PM, Andy via NJTechDiv wrote:
> For efficiently reading physical mail, it depends on several things: 
> how much mail you have, and if you intend to save the OCRed text for 
> future use. I've found Seeing AI's document reader to work well. 
> Enable Document Detection, scan the document, and save it if needed.
>
>
>
>> On Jun 21, 2025, at 10:07 PM, PLipovsky via NJTechDiv 
>> <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> What about reading mail?
>> Best,
>> Patricia A Lipovsky
>> (386) 255-0288, Home
>> (386) 212-6627, Cell
>> plipovsky at cfl.rr.com <mailto:plipovsky at cfl.rr.com>
>> *From:*NJTechDiv <njtechdiv-bounces at nfbnet.org>*On Behalf Of*Andy via 
>> NJTechDiv
>> *Sent:*Saturday, June 21, 2025 8:46 PM
>> *To:*New Jersey Technology Division List <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org>
>> *Cc:*Andy <guitarwizandy at optonline.net>
>> *Subject:*Re: [NJTechDiv] OpenBook
>> It depends on what you're trying to do. Most people seem to be using 
>> JAWS's OCR features. In general, JAWS's OCR features have just about 
>> replaced OpenBook.
>> I think the initial rationale behind incorporating OCR into JAWS was 
>> to give users seamless access to inaccessible PDF documents, 
>> inaccessible dialogs, etc. From there, it evolved into a pretty 
>> stable and workable solution. You can OCR documents, scan documents 
>> and Word files and PDFs, etc. For bulk scanning and reading for 
>> physical documents, people seem to be using the PEARL camera. I have 
>> no experience with PEARL.
>> At one point maybe a year ago, Freedom Scientific was selling 
>> OpenBook licenses for somewhere around $50. When I asked them about 
>> abandonment, no one gave me a clear answer. I strongly suspect it has 
>> indeed been abandoned. There is a similar product on the market, 
>> Kurzweil 1000. I'm not sure of the status of Kurzweil.
>> What are you trying to do, though? I'm finding that Be My Eyes and 
>> Seeing AI are sufficient for OCRing physical documents.
>>
>>
>>> On Jun 21, 2025, at 8:04 PM, Brian Shell via NJTechDiv 
>>> <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> Does anyone know if OpenBook has been abandoned?  The last version I 
>>> can find on FS website looks to be from 2018.  If OpenBook is no 
>>> longer cool, tell me what is so I can get with the times!
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Brian
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>
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