I need to legibly scan/digitize whole newspapers. The sheets are roughly 34 x 24 inches (86 x 60 cm). The scanner on my printer is way too small. I’ve tried several (Android) phone apps, but they only operate on single photos, making small text illegible.

It feels like there should be an app for this. A document scanner that stitches images together like a panoramic photo. But I haven’t found anything quite suitable.

I would greatly prefer a free (or cheap) solution. This is hopefully a one-time thing. I don’t want to buy a flatbed scanner or send the documents away to some company.

I’d appreciate your thoughts.

  • CederGrass759@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    If you have a decent phone, I’d simply use its camera and a PDF scanning software. On my iPhone, I use the free Adobe Scan to create OCR:d (searchable) scans of newpapers. The quality is surprisingly good.

    Only problem is with winkles/creases — if you’re serious about this, I guess you could try to put a glass or plexiglass ”window” on top of the newspaper to keep it flat?

    • K1rkl4nd@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I’ve scanned thousands of video game manuals- I have the pane of glass out of an 8"x10" picture frame for flattening pages. Works wonders.