Peripherals - Scanner compatibility with Kurzweil and Openbook products

Peripherals - Scanner compatibility with Kurzweil and Openbook products

Problem

A Kurzweil 1000 or Openbook is faced with selecting compatible scanner hardware for use with their software.


Applies to

  • Freedom Scientific Openbook
  • Kurzweil 1000 (blindness low vision software)
  • Kurzweil 3000 (dyslexia/literacy support software)

Resolution

Please find below information to help with choosing suitable scanner hardware for Openbook or Kurzweil 1000/3000 products.
  1. Many scanners come equipped with two software control interfaces for scanner of which only one will work. The ideal candidate model should have TWAIN interface in addition to WIA as the latter is not compatible with Kurzweil or Openbook software.   
  1. With above said, the presence of a TWAIN interface is no guarantee of compatibility.  For Kurzweil there is some scope to adjust how the K1000/3000 interacts with the TWAIN driver.  Openbook however does not have the same facility.

Therefore in either case choose the scanner interface matching the scanner model or that contains TWAIN in the name.  Typically anything with WIA at the beginning of the name will not work.  However some experimentation and test may be required to ensure the correct selection is made and save the settings.

Compatible scanner hardware

Over quite a number of years the following has mostly been found to hold true in regards to likely matches with either software title discussed above.  Pleases see information  grouped by type of device below:

Single function flatbed scanners

  1. Canon LIDE range flatbed scanners, these are compact, relatively cheap and dependable.
  2. Epson Perfection range flatbed scanners eg V39.  These a little larger and more expensive but will work also.
  3. Plustek OpticBook 3800 flatbed scanners.  These are larger still and feature a book edge for scanning large tightly bound books.  They are not particularly cheap though.

AIO multi-function printers

In general compatibility between Kurzweil or Openbook products has been much less predictable over the years.  With some historical and anecdotal experience the following hold true for multi-function candidate devices.

  1. Canon consumer PIXMA range AIO multi-function printers
  2. Epson ET-4500 series AIO printer - works with k1000

Support Articles

The following support Knowledgebase links may be referred to be may be outdated.
K1000:
  1. http://support.cambiumtech.com/index.php?p g=kb.page&id=1773

K3000:

  1. http://support.cambiumtech.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=1220


Scanning tips

Assuming the flatbed scanner works the following scanning tips may be useful:
  1. Whenever possible, locate reading material in a supported electronic format eg. PDF which may obviate the need for lengthy scanning process.
  2. If it is judged the PDF needs to be scanned itself both Kurzweil or Openbook have an option to OCR the document provided printing is allowed in the document.
  3. If one must use hard copy, use the highest quality source material possible.  Poor photocopies or marked documents will slow down a good scan due to corrections that will be required.
  4. Where possible avoid scanning newsprint as it is often poorer quality and won't scan so well.
    Always close the lid of the scanner completely where possible, or if using a document feeder, insure proper alignment.
  5. When the work to be scanned is very lengthy it is a good idea to test the quality of scanned material for a few pages before investing time with a particular job and test any changes as proof of concept of scanning routine. 
  6. For lengthy documents save frequently to avoid losing work scanned.Scan material in logical segments (chapters) versus an entire book to avoid extremely large files, this will increase compatibility.
  7. If black and white scan is poor try adjusting the brightness either up or down to see if the result improves.
  8. Try scanning in colour r to determine which provides the best results.
    Ensure that the correct recognition language is set in Kurzweil or Openbook. 
  9. When scanning in K3000 is complete, it's recommended to use the Zone Editor to make necessary corrections, for example the reading order may need adjustment in some cases.
  10. Be sure to back up your original scanned materials before making edits to another location in order to help prevent data loss, especially for a larger scan.

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