Okay, I have JAWS 16 and 17, Windows 7, Kurzweil version 2013, Adobe DC. Now, the software I had when I first started trying these books out are probably the same, except it was Adobe version 11 and, probably, JAWS 16.
Sorry for mitting that info, and thanks for pointing that out. I'll try opening the file with Adobe DC and Jaws 17 and see how it handles the bilingual aspect and the formatting. Wouldn't that be something if that worked? Gudrun Gudrun -----Original Message----- From: Adrian Spratt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 1:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: textbook scanning for teaching purposes Gudrun, I'm sure you're going to get lots of suggestions, but my first question is what software are you using? It's my sense that between JAWS 17 and Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, formatting has improved dramatically. Yesterday a 200-page PDF file created in 2002 that I found online came out incredibly well, and I didn't need to do any converting. I just waited for Adobe to finish processing the file, which took a few minutes, and then the entire thing appeared in reasonably good shape. In a recent post, Ted mentioned that Office 2013 has a setting that enables users to import PDF files directly into MS Word. I have Office 2010, so I can only report his experience. I use OmniPage Ultra, which has a similar setting, but I haven't had occasion to use it lately. In any event, you might want to tell the list the various programs and version numbers you're working with. -----Original Message----- From: Gudrun Brunot [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 4:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: textbook scanning for teaching purposes Hi list: After reading all the posts about improving teaching and/or sensitivity (very informative), I felt inclined to, I hope, start another thread. Over a year ago, I was contacted by an agency with the offer to take on a Canadian online student of Swedish. The agency doesn't provide teaching material. The teacher is supposed to buy his/her own, or use online resources. Now began a time of trial and error for me: most books were in .pdf format, of course, meaning hours of opening each one in different ways to see how they behave--not so well, in most cases. How many of you have tried to scan such textbooks or open the pdf file? The layout is not consistent, some things are in newspaper columns, some in tables, there are graphics. If it's a large book, what's the best parameters to select that might result in something readable? A typical page of one of these books may have a dialogue in Swedish, with corresponding sentences in English, expressions or vocabulary in little boxes, neatly (at least, visually so) arranged in columns or sidebars. The book I decided on was one that has the dialogue, word list, and points to practice as audio files as well. Only, there are more explanations in the written text than in the audio, so if I want to be able to refer to them for my student, I listen and type and get that part from the audio, then I must complement the lesson by scouring the written text. So, I select text bits, cut and paste them into a notepad or Word document, denuded of formatting. The dialogue pages with expressions and vocabulary, forget it. I purchased the Express Scribe software from NCH, and that makes it possible for me to use my pedal, listen, and type the dialogue into a Word document. I did find one book that was in MS Word format, but it was written in 1997 and had certain things in columns, other materials in different formats, so it wasn't any easier, and I felt the one I chose was better for the student. What I'm wondering is: am I missing some tricks that could make it possible for me to open the pdf file without the scrambled text? I have Adobe PDF Transformer, Kurzweil, and I've tried everything, text-based layout, original layout.... It's one thing to get scrambled pages when you're studying, (yes, I know, bad enough!) When you're teaching, that sort of hash browns spell professional suicide. You absolutely need to know where the student is at all times and be able to coach him and refer to what's written at that particular spot. How long is this book? About 500 pages... So, any ideas as to getting through the process of trying out different teaching material without gluing yourself to the office chair for, say, a week? The silver lining for me here is that my student is absolutely a gem. Gudrun gudrunbrunot.com Listen to samples and read about my services: translation, interpreting, sound design, and listen to clips from my CD, J-Walking. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to [email protected] Archives located at: http://www.groups.io/g/jfw/threads Alternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.html If you have any concerns about the list, posts received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at [email protected]. -=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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