Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

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jbaiter
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by jbaiter »

Thank you for the feedback spomwii, I think I have an idea where your two issues come from and will investigate when I get home from work!

Just for your information, I created two issues on GitHub where you can track the progress:
https://github.com/jbaiter/spreads/issues/21
https://github.com/jbaiter/spreads/issues/22

It would be great if you (and everyone else) could post the issues you find directly to there, as I will have all of them in one place and can manage them a lot better from there. If you're not comfortable registering on GitHub, you can of course still post them here!
spreads: Command-line workflow assistant
spomwii
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by spomwii »

Thank you very much for looking into this. I will check the progress on GutHub and will post errors there in the future.

Can you tell me what CHDK version you are using on your cameras?
Do you have any special settings on your cameras or does CHDK override all settings?
Is your cameras stable when you scan? When I hit the capture button now, my cameras sometimes capture simultaneous and sometimes it takes 2-5 seconds after the first cam has captured until the second camera captures. I also get a lot of script timed out messages, but it is working. When using Markdvb`s script it seemed like my cameras where more stable but the script where not able to capture simultaneously.
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jbaiter
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by jbaiter »

I'm currently using CHDK 1.1.0 r2976, I think that's from July.
I haven't applied any settings on the camera itself, everything that gets configured is from the spreads configuration file (i.e. ISO, shutter speed, zoom level).
My cameras are fairly stable, though occasionally, especially with larger scans (>200pg), I run into similar errors, though not very frequently (i.e. one error for every ~20 shots after the first 100 pages).
I'll push a commit tonight that will add a command-line flag to disable parallel shooting, maybe that reduces those errors.
spreads: Command-line workflow assistant
spomwii
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by spomwii »

Ok, thanks. My camera was working just like yours before so I wonder what has happend. I will try to switch the SD cards in the camera to see if it helps.
spamsickle
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by spamsickle »

cday wrote:Extracting text from PDF files:

If only the OCR text is required -- and not the word positions on the page as would be required for a searchable image of the page -- it can be exported by simply selecting the text, copying to the clipboard, and pasting into a text editor or word processor... Ctrl + A then Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V .

That way text files containing the OCR output from multiple PDF versions could easily be generated as a basis for further processing.

Edit:

If the above process could be implemented successfully, the resulting output could then conceivably be used to correct misidentified words in a master PDF searchable image 'text + word positions' file, given that PDF files are text files that can be edited.
Thanks for that tip.

I just discovered that the Git installation includes several utilities, among which are pdfinfo and pdftotext. pdftotext extracts the text (but not the positions) from PDF documents. It has a -layout option, which does a creditable job of preserving the original layout of the text.
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scann
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by scann »

So, I abandoned the installation of the GUI on Linux Mint for now, but I'm having trouble to shoot the camera (I've bought a A2200 just to try how this works). When I plug the camera to the computer and try tu run Spreads, the camera turns off. Do you know what might be causing the problem? I don't have the git version, I installed it using pip install.

Thanks!
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jbaiter
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by jbaiter »

scann wrote: When I plug the camera to the computer and try tu run Spreads, the camera turns off. Do you know what might be causing the problem? I don't have the git version, I installed it using pip install.
Thanks!
The camera shutting off usually means that CHDK has crashed. Can you provide some more information, i.e. run the program with "--verbose", what errors do you see, what's your firmware version?
spomwii has resolved some of his camera-related issues by using an older version of the firmware that I uploaded here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/381 ... hdk.tar.gz

As an aside for all users/testers, please run spreads in verbose mode (spread --verbose <command>) before reporting any issues. This way I can help you debug the problem more effectively ;)
spreads: Command-line workflow assistant
BenjaminSonntag
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by BenjaminSonntag »

I tried to use Spreads on Debian GNU/Linux Wheezy, successfully installed everything (python dependencies, scantailor etc.)

BUT I have 2 Canon SX200 IS camera, and they are totally crappy when driven by PTPcam or PyPtp. crashing all the time, no proper support for zoom management etc.
Before spreads, I first tried with ptpcam on a Raspberry Pi, and thought it was the PI's crappy usb that made ptp crashing so often.
So I tried on a real computer with different usb cables, usb ports, (even a pci usb card), added a class into chdkcamera.py for this model, just to discover that there seems to be no way to use ptp reliably on this camera model:

- had to remove the set_zoom and get_zoom_steps calls, that crashes all the time on one of the camera, and half the time on the other (yes... ;'( )
- finally achieved to go to "press b to shoot" and was able to shoot one or two time before it crashes again, everytime crashing the camera when setting the tv96.

I will stop using SX200 and consider that this model is good only for manually triggered shooting http://www.bookscanner.fr/creation-d-un ... frein.html (in french, but pictures are self explanatories ;) )
I will try tomorrow with a Canon A4050 (for which there is an CHDK, using the same one as for the A4000), and will tell you.
Hi, I'm new here, but reading the forum since long, and I built a diybookscanner in Paris, France ( http://www.bookscanner.fr/ )
rkomar
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by rkomar »

I have no problems running the A4000 using chdkptp (except that setting the focus is a challenge). So, you should have a better experience with the A4050.
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jbaiter
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Re: Introducing spreads: command-line workflow tool

Post by jbaiter »

It's been a few months, but I've finally found some time to work on spreads again these last few weeks and I'm proud to present a new 0.4 version.

GitHub
Documentation: HTML | PDF
Issue Tracker

What's changed:
  • Use chdkptp utility for controlling cameras with CHDK firmware
  • Fix instability when shooting with CHDK cameras
  • Possibility to discard the last shot and retake it
  • Shoot images in RAW/DNG file format (experimental)
  • Remove download step, images will be directly streamed to the project directory
  • Remove combine plugin, images will be combined in capture step
  • Device driver and plugins, as well as their order of execution can be set interactively via the configure subcommand, which has to be run before the first usage.
  • Lots of internal API changes
What's up ahead
  • New plugin hook to trigger a capture, to support e.g. timer-based triggering, triggering via custom electronics, etc. pp.
  • A web-based interface that is suitable for smartphones and tablets
  • A Windows port: Thanks to chdkptp, I should be able to get spreads running on Windows. I can't make any promises yet, but I'll try to find time to work on a port.
What you can do
  • Make it break! Test it with your setup, file any problems you encounter on the issue tracker
  • Tell me about your workflow and how we could accommodate it in the software
  • You have a camera/device that is suitable for book-scanning and can be triggered from software? Get in touch with me!
Should you have any problems with installing/configuring/using the program, you can reach me here on the board via PM.
I also hang around on IRC: irc.freenode.net, #diybookscanner
spreads: Command-line workflow assistant
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