Digital BW, The Print

I've had very little luck with OCR on anything beyond unbound, laser 
printed looking stuff. I'd get the scan flatter using the tips 
mentioned by Mr. Tobie (or just take an X-acto to the pages, scan them 
flat, then recycle everything).

As far as post-processing you can also try Levels or Shadow/Highlight 
tool to clip highlights/darken text, or just Threshold for a quicker 
and cruder solution for smaller pieces. Overdoing any of these will 
make your type look crunchy, but if you're just looking to get it on 
your computer in as readable a fashion as possible, they help. (Can you 
tell I digitized our recipe clippings a while back?)

I also tend to use gif for graphics/text and save jpg for continuous 
tone like photos. But that's the web side of me talking. :-)

Doug
www.IntrinsicPictures.com


On Nov 22, 2007, at 6:22 AM, 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com wrote:

>  Can I remove shadow gradient from black text on white page [d/camera
> Posted by: "cowpercam"  cowpercam@...     cowpercam
>
>  Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:46 am (PST)
>  I find it convenient to store text pages from the occasional magazine
>  article as a B&W jpg image. [Rather than storing a bulky stack of
>  mags] Trouble is that uneven or dim "convenience" lighting or an
>  unflat page near the centre staples often causes a grey gradient on
>  part of the text. This spoils it for OCR or spoils the appearance when
>  reading it later.
>  Can Photoshop or similar do something that just leaves black print on
>  a white page? ie remove the gradient?