Quick and Cost-Effective Book Digitization: Unveiling My Efficient Method for Preservation
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- **DO NOT WATCH WARNING** If cutting up books is upsetting to you, DO NOT WATCH!
**HIGH AUDIO LEVEL WARNING ON INTRO/OUTRO**
This was the very first video I made, with limited skill and limited equipment & software. The intro (and outro) audio levels are way too high. After a few more videos in this series, I eventually fixed this problem. Unfortunately, I cannot fix this particular video now that it has been published. I hope you are able to look past this problem and get something meaningful out of the rest of the video.
digitize.mosier.ca/quick-and-...
Digitize Your Books Episode 1: Prepare Your Book For FAST Scanning
*Digitizing Books: My Cost-Effective Method for Quick Preservation*
Hello, I'm Peter from Digitize Your Books, and in this video, I'll share my efficient method for digitizing books. While it involves a destructive approach, it's perfect for books already falling apart. Join me as I guide you through this process, emphasizing quick and cost-effective preservation.
*Book Preparation: Turning the Page for Efficient Digitization*
To begin, I prepare the book by cutting off the spine using a box cutter and straight edge. This method is not suitable for heirloom books, but for those already in poor condition where information surpasses the physical book's value. The result is a stack of loose pages, ready to be fed through an automatic document feeder for seamless digitization.
*Careful Spine Cutting: Unveiling Pages for Effective Scanning*
Watch as I demonstrate the careful process of cutting the spine in half and then into sections of around 10 pages each. I recommend removing the glue for smoother document feeder navigation. For hardcover books, I advise cutting down the spine to expose the binding before proceeding with the same page separation process. The end goal remains the same: a stack of loose pages, primed for efficient digitization.
*Efficiency and Effectiveness: The 10-Minute Digitization Routine*
Overall, this method simplifies the digitization process, taking approximately 10 minutes for each book. It's a quick and cost-effective solution, especially suitable for preserving information in books already damaged or in poor condition. Let's dive into this simple yet effective technique for preserving valuable book content.
00:00 Start
00:10 WARNING: You will see books 'destroyed as they are 'transformed' & preserved
00:35 Tools required: box cutter, metal straight edge, scissors (optional), craft cutting mat or cutting board,
01:17 This method is NOT intended for valuable or sentimental books
02:00 Use box cutter to cut the book spine apart gently
04:07 Trim the glue with knife and straight edge (or use guillotine cutter; click the link to jump to that video)
05:07 Total book cutting prep in fast motion
06:35 Cutting book prep is finished
06:36 What the book looks like after cutting
07:00 How to prepare a hardcover book with the ONE WEIRD TRICK
07:28 Beware of signatures (book sections which are stitched together)
07:51 Closing stinger - Навчання та стиль
![📚 How to BIND Single Sheets 👉 How to Repair a BOOK [ NO sewing ! ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hr-9PW-LRkE/mqdefault.jpg)
***DO NOT WATCH WARNING*** If cutting up books is upsetting to you, DO NOT WATCH!
***HIGH AUDIO LEVEL WARNING ON INTRO/OUTRO***
This was the very first video I made, with limited skill and limited equipment & software. The intro (and outro) audio levels are way too high. After a few more videos in this series, I eventually fixed this problem. Unfortunately, I cannot fix this particular video now that it has been published. I hope you are able to look past this problem and get something meaningful out of the rest of the video.
Scan and digitize your books and your entire library.
In this video I demonstrate an easy way to remove the binding from a book so that it can be *QUICKLY* fed through an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). This will save much time during the scanning process.
No special tools are required, only a sharp knife (i.e. box cutter), a straight-edge, scissors, and a cutting surface.
The books are damaged, as the binding is removed, but you will end up with a digital copy that is more permanent and easier to read.
00:00 Start
00:10 WARNING: You will see books 'destroyed as they are 'transformed' & preserved
00:35 Tools required: box cutter, metal straight edge, scissors (optional), craft cutting mat or cutting board,
01:17 This method is NOT intended for valuable or sentimental books
02:00 Use box cutter to cut the book spine apart gently
04:07 Trim the glue with knife and straight edge (or use guillotine cutter; click the link to jump to that video)
05:07 Total book cutting prep in fast motion
06:35 Cutting book prep is finished
06:36 What the book looks like after cutting
07:00 How to prepare a hardcover book with the ONE WEIRD TRICK
07:28 Beware of signatures (book sections which are stitched together)
07:51 Closing stinger
This is a great video, super helpful. Just commenting here to remind you to pin this comment so people can find it easier! 😁
What scanner is that @ 1:12 ?
@@scorpius319 I don't know. That pic was found with a google search for pics of "book scanning". Cheers!
This is what I need! Trying to do copies of worksheets from textbooks for my kids. This seems like the best way to strip the text book.
"that's experience talking" LOL Good instructions, thank you.
I cringed a bit there haha
I'm so glad I found your video! I'm going to use this method to transfer my bullet journal to a disc-bound system, and I needed a way to preserve the pages! Thanks!
Same here! Wondering if I need a plastified front cover for the disc bound system or could I just insert the pages.
I had hopes in seeing a suggestion of a place to go get the binding chopped in one go such as a printing place with a guillotine but this will do... I have several music books that really, don't work well at all for gigs so I'm planning to digitize them all and put in my tablet.
After "the facto" I can always take them to Kinkos and have them spiral bound ;-)
Good tips, thank you.
Thank you! worked very well for me!
I used a rotary blade to cut off the whole binding. I used your ruler method you showed but ran the rotary blade along the ruler instead. You cut the depth of the rotary blade, then cut the binding away, rinse and repeat until you are through. It worked so well, but I wouldn't have tried it without your guidance. Thanks!
Great tip! Glad to hear you are getting good results. If I had a rotary blade I'd probably do the same. Cheers!
I did it exacly like it was shown. Only exception was that I used my Dahle 550 rotary trimmer to cut off the glue. It worked like a charm, the pages went through my scanner without any hassle. The result was a fully digitized PDF. A very nice tutorial!
Indeed ! Out of about 700 pages, I got two snags because the cuts were not perfect; but still managed to get them all scanned !
Aw this was so helpful thanks ❤️
Thank you 🙏 Exactly what I needed 😊
You’re welcome 😊
so helpful! thank you! 2 things i'll note for fellow digitizers out there after trying my first book:
- x-acto knife is good for fine detail, but I found a traditional box cutter to be way better.
-start with a new blade. you'll thank yourself later.
Agreed, I should have snapped off to a new edge prior to starting the video. Oh well, rookie mistake by me. Thanks for the tip! Cheers.
Very great idea. You solve my long standing problem. For digitalze books.
In older method i used smartphone. In which clearity and pixel issue always remain headche.
Now i can scan book pages clearly by scanner.
Good to hear you are having good results. Cheers!
It worked well for me on a thick, glue bound book. I tried the hair dryer method first and it didn't work at all. This method was great! Thanks for the video!
You are welcome! Glad it helped.
Thanks for this video. I used to take my thick music books to my local stationary store to have have the glue binding guillotined off and replace with spiral bound so they open properly on the music rack. Yesterday I was told that “we can no longer do that because it was damaging our guillotine”. Will give this a try!
I hope it works out for you. Cheers!
For glue-bound bindings you can use a clothing iron on a low setting. Open the book near the middle and put it pages-down on an ironing board. Put a light cloth along the spine of the book, and then iron it with a decent amount of pressure. Eventually the glue will melt and the pages can be easily removed, you may need to repeat the process a few times to get all the pages out.
The advantage of doing it this way is, you don't destroy the book cover spine and you don't get ragged page edges. It might even be possible to re-bind if you're up for attempting it.
Thanks for the tip! Another viewer recommended the same thing after my other video on using a hair dryer. I plan to make a video using the iron method, and another one using the also-suggested "oven" method. Thanks again for commenting. Cheers!
@@DigitizeYourBooks One other thing if you try the iron, put a rag or something under the book, otherwise you run the risk of getting glue on your ironing board. :D
Thank you for this...very helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much. I think I will do it right know👍😎.
You can do it!
Thanks for this good idea. It is really helpful
I changed the last step of the process of bit myself, instead of tearing the pages off or cutting the glue with the cutter, I use the guillotine paper cutter, which works really well for every 20 pages (10 pieces of paper). So 10 cuts for a 200 page book, seems worthwhile to save the money of buying those big paper cutter that can cut hundreds of pages all at once.
Guillotine paper cutter is a great suggestion. If I had one, I would use it. Although I would consider that a piece of equipment that not everyone will have in their home, and in this video I am trying to stick to a method that only uses items that anyone will handy. Thanks for commenting. Cheers!
Elton, I finally took your suggestion and got a guillotine paper cutter, and made a video about it. Thanks for the idea. Cheers! ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html
Cool thanks!
No problem!
You can do it non-destructively by carefully removing the cover and textblock. Then rebacking the cover.
I have an 8 pound book, I am 39 , back in school and have lumbar issues. LAying down and holding said book is impossible. I want to chop up the chapters, so I can lay down and hold. I hope I can do this right
I hope my videos helped you! Cheers!
Quoting a perl courtesy Larry Wall? AWESOME!
- Rosie-Anne
Thank you
You're welcome
This could work for me. I have a bound music book that is too hard to play out of because the book doesn’t stay open. I have had music book bound and turned into spiral bounds at places like Staples. But this book is thick and someone said that Staples wouldn’t do it. I don’t need every page since I don’t care for every song Id rather make a smaller book of my favorites. This method could work perfectly, thanks.
Best wishes for success wrangling that big book!
Great video. I’ll confirm that Staples rumor. I just called my local store to see if they still “spiral bind” books. They do, but you have to bring them prepared like this.
Is there any way to save the spine of the cover to rebind it? I am talking about a paperback book that is bound with glue.
I am not familiar with book rebinding techniques, so I can not give you a very helpful answer, other than to say that I am not aware of how to do that. It may be possible to CIRLOX bind your book after you scan it. If the book is valuable or sentimental, I do not recommend using this destructive scan method. My method is intended to help permanently remove the clutter of physical wood-pulp books by turning them into digital books. Cheers!
@@DigitizeYourBooks You could put each page in a plastic page protector and then store them all in a loose sleeve notebook. I bought a repair manual for my motorcycle. I know that the pages would get damaged if I use the book while working on my motorcycle. So I plan on putting each page in a plastic protector. I will also scan each page so I have a backup copy of the book. It will give me something to do on a rainy day.
👌👌👌
nice
I bought a $27 paper cutter. After you get the book down to units of 10 pages each, a paper cutter gives you an easy, straight cut.
I made a video showing that method here: ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html
Maybe it's obvious, but step 0 is see if there is already an ebook version for sale! It may take a little time (not all ebooks are sold on Amazon), but after removing drm (check laws in your country/state) you'll have a professional ebook for life. I only digitize books that are not available electronically anywhere.
Agreed! But with a two caveats:
(1) Not all books are available in ebook format; some never will be.
(2) Sometimes the quality of ebooks, even when purchased from a reputable source, is very poor. In that case, the results you get by creating your own PDF from the printed book will be better. Some ebooks seem to be very rushed and the quality reflects this. I purchased an ebook version of a book I already owned in print, but the illustrations were awful -- and by that I mean completely unusable with totally incomprehensible charts and graphs.
I am not saying that this is always the case. However I am saying to beware of ebook quality if you are replacing a book and intend to keep only the ebook version.
Cheers!
We use a electric hydraulic paper cutter at my company. We can cut 1/16” off of the spine of a 3 inch thick book in under 15 seconds.
Cool! 😎 I wish I had access to one of those. 😯 Since I don't have such access, using a box-cutter became my preferred alternative. I suspect most people don't have access to an industrial trimmer, and so have to resort to DIY methods like the methods shown in my videos. Cheers!
How about unbinding hard cover books?
See 7:00 in this video where hardcover books are mentioned.
@@DigitizeYourBooks detailed steps?
@@apuspeak8764 I work on a hardcover book in another video (starts at 2:15) ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html
Similar method in this video has some neat tips: ua-cam.com/video/csWyEtw068o/v-deo.html
You could just take to the stationary store print centre and have them chop off the spine with their guillotine (basically an industrial paper cutter). Most copy centres have them. You may lose some of the margin though.
Yes! You certainly could. Although that would be outside the original intention of this channel, which was zero cost, DIY/At Home book digitizing. Also, if you have several dozen books to scan (which I did) the cost would likely start to add up (here I assume the copy centre charges for this service).
In fact, since starting this channel, I have learned of a service, to which you can send your books, and they will handle the entire digitize process from start to finish, including chopping the spine off in the manner you described. As always, everyone will have to balance the time cost of DIY against the money cost of using an external service for some or all of the process. Thanks for the input! Cheers!
No, you certainly can't! I used to work in one of those copy centers with a *really nice* hydraulic guillotine, and there is no way to get the covers off that doesn't cause the spine to twist lengthwise. I was pretty good with the thing, and I managed to get it minimized pretty well, but even when I got good at it (I used to do this to all my college textbooks), I could not reliably save the inner most quarter to half inch of the pages. Of course, I was trying to spiral bind them rather than scan them, so perhaps the crooked edges aren't as big of a deal here as they were for my application.
Basically, the problem is that the guillotine will try to compress the book as it cuts down, and the glue in the spine compresses much less than the paper in the book. The end result is the spine is under immense internal pressure, causes the top pages to twist one way or another (usually away from the fence), while simultaneously pulling the center pages toward the spine. When done, the pages toward the front and back are trimmed slightly less than the pages in the middle, in addition to the overall twist on the front pages.
What you can do is use the guillotine to slice the glue off straight as shown in the video above rather than using the box knife, but it needs to be in equally small bite-sized chunks for any kind of decent results.
@@osterpenpen9379 I use to work in a print shop and have done it successfully with my uni texts. You have to be extremely precise with it though (pages flush, spine straight etc.) and I never bound it after.
@@osterpenpen9379 Thanks for the feedback! I am not very familiar with those heavy duty cutters. Here is a video which shows some serious twisting with the cut-off at the start of the video. Then at the end of the video the 2nd cut-off looks a bit better. ua-cam.com/video/0klmkRYYZ4s/v-deo.html
As I tried to explain to Vince, whether an HD Cutter at a copy shop is a feasible option was never part of my focus for this channel, as it would require getting, or getting access to, a specialized piece of equipment. Regardless, it is good that we are having this discussion so that all ideas, and potential problems, are revealed for the viewers. Cheers!
P.S. Alex mentioned getting the covers off, but in this video, it shows first removing the cover prior to cutting. ua-cam.com/video/0klmkRYYZ4s/v-deo.html
I wonder if first removing the cover would make a big difference in the results?
Kinkos / FedEx did it for me for 3 bucks
Not in Canada
So hard cover books it's better to cut on the inside of the hardcover between it and the first blank page rather than cutting on the outside of the book in my Opinion
Agreed! My method for hardcover books changed over time and what you describe is good! Thanks for commenting.
@@DigitizeYourBooks
A cheap paper guillotine would have made the process much faster I think.
I don't mind cheap and/or old paperbacks being destroyed, but it hurts me to think of good quality hardbacks being destroyed.
Great video btw. I look forward to watching them (and adding my random thoughts along the way.)
This method is not appropriate for rare, valuable, or sentimental books. I found that a quick visit to www_abebooks_com demonstrated that many of my "good quality hardbacks" were worth only a buck or two. That knowledge gave me comfort to press ahead with digitizing most of my library. I have a few valuable or sentimental books that have not been destructively digitized, but they are the exception. Thanks for commenting.
Vaul, Dog Warrior, I apologize for not mentioning/thanking you in the new video about using a Guillotine cutter (ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html ). When I was recording, I only had the more recent suggestion from another viewer handy.. Thanks for the suggestion! Cheers!
anybody else have an anxiety attach watching him cut the book apart? lol I am about to embark on cutting my Psychology text book apart to make it a loose leaf book. Wish me luck!
Suggestion: start first with a low value book you don't care about. Or even an old magazine. Once you've gone through the process you will be more comfortable and should have a bit less anxiety. You will also start to feel the personal empowerment that comes with unbound and digitized books. Thanks for commenting. Cheers!
@@DigitizeYourBooks I spent 3 hours taking apart my 735 page Psychology book last night. I managed not to have a heart attack. 🤣 No, I really was fine once I got started. I'm going to scan it to PDF and then put it in a 3 ring binder. Thanks for the great tutorial!
Thanks for the update! Be sure to watch some of the other videos on my channel for tips later in the scanning process. Cheers!
If you do this on a regular basis, I would suggest someone invest in a guillotine paper cutter. You can find one on amazon for under 30 bucks.
Agreed. However my goal was to use tools and material commonly at hand for most people. But a guillotine would be a great additional tool. Thank you for commenting.
ShastaHawk, I finally got a guillotine paper cutter, and made a video about it (ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html ). I apologize for not mentioning/thanking you in the new video, I only had the more recent suggestion from another viewer handy when I was recording. Thanks for the suggestion! Cheers!
I just cut the entire spine all at once and take like 3 minutes only.
Excellent!
What do you use to cut the spine?
@@RandyGrace I think (but am not certain) that Charles is saying he simply used a box-cutter-knife, and repeatedly cut, over and over, going through a few pages more each time, from the front cover to the back.
@@PeterMosier okay, thanks.
Use a paper cutter for the glue removal
Like the ones with a huge blade
@@anthonythelopez Guillotine paper cutter is a great suggestion. If I had one, I would use it. Although I would consider that a piece of equipment that not everyone will have in their home, and in this video I am trying to stick to a method that only uses items that anyone will have handy. Thanks for commenting. Cheers!
Anthony, I finally got a guillotine paper cutter, and made a video about it (ua-cam.com/video/kJhySJ_SVV8/v-deo.html ). I apologize for not mentioning/thanking you in the new video, I only had the more recent suggesting from another viewer handy when I was recording. Thanks for the suggestion! Cheers!
Table saw will do it in 3 seconds.
True, and that was explicitly mentioned in this video. Also mentioned: many people don’t have those tools, hence the need for a more universally available solution. Cheers!
Why are people still so anal about books being destroyed there is literally thousands of tonnes of books shredded Evey hour where do you think all the cardboard and toilet paper comes from As long as it gets recycled who cares what happens to them before?
Thank you! I agree with you. I also do not understand how or why so many people have this fetishization of one particular mode of information conveyance -- wood pulp & pigments (aka paper & ink). Like you said, book stores "remainder" and then shreded plenty of books every day.
At least I am showing how I make the information contained in books more portable and, in my opinion, more accessible. Yes, books are nice, and I love owning large coffee-table books; but there is plenty of information that is much better off as an ebook.
Cheers!
go to 2:10 for demonstration
I refuse!
Vandalism!
Transformation! 😁
To prepare the world for devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! 😜
Was good till the awful music
I agree the level was too high on the Intro and Outro "stingers". This was my first video ever, and I have fixed (reduced) the level on subsequent videos. The rock-and-roll backing music was simply freely available and I felt it had a good driving beat -- perhaps you disagree, and that's OK. Thank you for the feedback. Cheers!
Your intro volumes is horrible
Thank you for the constructive feedback. This was the very first video I made, with limited skill and limited equipment & software. I agree, the intro (and outro) audio levels are way too high. After a few more videos in this series, I eventually fixed this problem. Unfortunately, I cannot fix this particular video now that it has been published. I hope you were able to look past this problem and get something meaningful out of the rest of the video. Cheers.
I didn't think it was that bad, honestly.
Thumbs down because of the weird & annoying intro sound. It sounds like a💣💣💣💣💣💣💣
Yah, I already apologized for that twice: once in the description and again in the pinned comment. But thanks for bringing it up again!
@@DigitizeYourBooks Unpopular opinion, but the intro isn't loud enough