[Trainer-Talk] Need tips for camera-style scanning

[Deborah Armstrong]

In my job, I demonstrate equipment to college students with reading disabilities.

More and more students have phones and tablets and I've been recommending KNFB Reader for those who have funding to purchase it, and OCR software like Prizmo for many others. Many of my students have some vision and also can use OCR software that isn't that speech-friendly.

When I demo using a camera as opposed to a scanner, I use our department's Freedom Scientific Pearl. Then I use my own iPHONE with the giraffe reader stand (which is a lot like the Scan Stand only a bit more durable.

This works great for handouts, but I'm a clutz when I try to scan a paperback book, or any material that doesn't lie flat with a camera. For personal use, I always remove the binding from cheap paperbacks and run them through a scanner. But for my students, I want to show them how to scan a few pages in library books without destroying the book.

What's the best way to get the pages to lie flat for camera-style scanning?

--Debee