How to save lots of papers, photographs, and analog music digitally

Do you, like me, have paper paperwork which have lengthy since been scanned and processed, records or music cassettes that you just wish to hearken to in your cell phone, and photograph prints which can be deliberate for a digital photograph guide?

Then you’ll respect the two-step directions on this article, with which you’ll be able to convert analog media to digital after which course of them additional.

Scan paperwork and have textual content acknowledged

Important insurance coverage papers, contracts, invoices, or just the page-long letter out of your favourite aunt — there are lots of paper paperwork that you just wish to scan with a view to protect them.

If it’s even a textual content that you just wish to search and edit, you’ll be able to run OCR software program over it after scanning, which acknowledges the textual content in an effort to search it and, if mandatory, edit it with a typical phrase processor.

Step 1: Scan paperwork

To digitize a paper doc, you want a scanner and the corresponding software program. The scanner can both be a mixture printer with a scan operate or a standalone gadget that may solely scan.

If you’ll want to scan quite a lot of paperwork, you too can go for a devoted doc scanner from , for instance. Depending on the mannequin, these units price from round $350, are designed for top throughput, and are additionally able to duplex scanning.

If, however, you don’t have the area for a mixture printer and solely must scan particular person pages of textual content often, a cell scanner such because the Brother DS-640 for round $100 is appropriate.

However, a scanner alone doesn’t make a scan. You additionally at all times want scanning software program or the scanner driver. This is normally equipped with the gadget and presents kind of settings with which you’ll be able to affect the scan consequence, together with the decision, the output listing, and choices for duplex scanning, if a tool helps this.

If the driving force choices are usually not enough, you too can use third-party software program. We suggest the open supply program , or Naps 2 for brief.

The instrument works with the units of all main producers and presents an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) operate as a particular function — i.e. it will possibly acknowledge scanned textual content. But extra on this in step 2.

To use Naps 2, first create a profile on your scanner or mixture printer. To do that, click on on Profiles > New > Select gadget after which on the product title, then click on twice on “OK” and “Done.”

Scan the specified doc and double-click on the preview. You now have the choice of rotating the scan, cropping it, adjusting the brightness, distinction, hue, and colour saturation utilizing the slider, changing it to black and white, and sharpening it.

Once the corrections are full, save the scan as a PDF or picture, whereby BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIF, EMF, and Exif can be found for choice and you too can make additional settings.

Step 2: Recognize textual content

As already talked about, Naps 2 presents you the choice of operating textual content recognition on the scanned doc after every scan. In the “Optical textual content recognition” menu merchandise, choose the language of the doc, the OCR mode (Fast, Best, or Legacy), whether or not the acknowledged textual content is searchable, and whether or not the OCR needs to be activated robotically after every scan.

German and English are already pre-installed for the doc language, different languages might be added freed from cost through a obtain hyperlink.

Attention: Naps 2 can’t output and save the scanned textual content as a textual content file! If you wish to edit the textual content, save the scanned doc as a PDF, open it in a PDF viewer, after which copy the textual content right into a phrase processor utilizing “Select all” and “Paste.”

Alternatively, you too can use PDF24 Creator and name up the built-in textual content recognition through the “Open PDF24 OCR” button.

Select the specified PDF through “Add information” and begin the OCR with “Start.” Once full, click on on the three horizontal traces subsequent to the PDF and on “Show acknowledged textual content.” A TXT file opens with the acknowledged textual content, which you’ll be able to adapt and save as required.

Digitize and optimize photographs

If you continue to have paper prints of photographs sorted in albums or mendacity round free, you’ll be able to {photograph} them very simply, but in addition laboriously along with your smartphone.

If you solely wish to digitize slides or negatives, one can find what you’re searching for in Kodak’s Slide-N-Scan vary. The units can be found with or with no show and assist movie codecs of 135, 110, and 126 millimeters.

Of course, photographs may also be scanned utilizing the scan operate of a standard mixture gadget. There are additionally scanning applications with built-in picture processing which can be notably appropriate for scanning paper prints.

Step 1: Scan photographs

is the proper software program for scanning and modifying photographs.

After set up, click on on the three horizontal traces after which underneath File > Scan/Import > Scan photograph. Select your scanner or the mixture gadget, specify the output format — right here you’ll be able to select between PNG, JPG, PDF, and Multipage PDF — and the folder through which the photographs are to be saved. Click on “Scan” to start out scanning.

Step 2: Optimize photos

If you wish to edit your scanned photos with Photo Commander 16, one can find numerous choices within the “Edit” menu, a few of which you too can entry through the navigation bar:

• With the “Quick Fix Tools” you’ll be able to optimize distinction, colours, and white stability, take away picture noise in three levels and straighten a picture.
• A smooth focus, red-eye remover, clone stamp, and eraser are additionally obtainable.
• Under “Edit objects” you’ll be able to add textual content and shapes, whereas “Modify” adjusts the picture dimension and the canvas.
• Last however not least, you have got the choice of influencing the colour depth, making use of blurring, and modifying a picture with regard to the colour channels.

By the way in which: You can customise the looks of this system underneath “Configuration” and “All settings.” For instance, unchecking “Modern app menu” underneath “General” makes the interface a lot clearer and simpler to make use of.

Digitize records and handle music

Music fanatics nonetheless rave in regards to the atmospheric crackling of a report in comparison with the sterile sound of a CD. If you wish to benefit from the crackling sound in your cell gadget, you must convert your records to digital.

Step 1: Digitize vinyl records

There are numerous methods to attach a report participant to your PC. If the gadget has a USB port, merely join it to the pc as ordinary utilizing a USB cable.

However, if the report participant has a unique audio output, akin to line-out through cinch, jack, or comparable, the PC ought to have an appropriate line-in connection.

You will even want the suitable audio cable (akin to RCA to RCA, RCA to jack, or jack to jack) to attach the 2 units collectively. Make positive you utilize the proper connector kind, i.e. TS for mono or TRS for stereo alerts.

If your PC doesn’t have a line-in socket, you too can use the microphone enter, or — particularly beneficial for notebooks that should not have audio inputs — you will get a USB adapter with microphone and headphone connection, which is out there from Amazon from $9. They normally additionally present higher sound high quality than the built-in onboard sound chips on the motherboard.

In addition to the {hardware} connection, additionally, you will want recording software program to digitize your records. The freeware is appropriate for this.

You should first configure it after set up: Under Edit > Settings > Devices within the “Playback” and “Recording” sections, choose the sound card or the connection in your PC because the “Device.” Alternatively, you can also make the choice through the drop-down menus in the principle window.

You may also specify underneath Edit > Settings > Devices in “Recording” underneath “Channels” whether or not you wish to make the recording in mono or stereo.

If mandatory, make additional settings underneath “Quality” and “Directories” if you wish to change the default storage folders for saving, opening, importing, and exporting.

If all the things is configured appropriately, begin playback of the report, and concurrently begin digitization by urgent the crimson button.

Attention: If the sound observe in Audacity is reduce off on the high and backside, you could regulate the amount in this system.

To save the file, choose the specified format through File > Export, whereby the required library for MP3 is already put in. You can obtain extra libraries freed from cost through the menu merchandise of the identical title.

By the way in which: Music cassettes may also be digitized in the identical means. You want a cassette participant with audio or headphone output and the suitable cable to the PC. Audacity then serves as recording software program once more.

Step 2: Organize and play tracks

If you have got your records in MP3 format in your laborious drive, you now must switch the information to your cell gadget. You can do that with , for instance.

The program is primarily designed to report music, podcasts, and free movies from the web. However, it may also be used to handle and switch music.

After set up, click on on the sheet music image in the principle view. You will land within the “My music” space, the place you’ll be able to name up the “PC” storage location utilizing the arrow to the suitable of the lettering. Click on the entry, then on the three dots and “Options.” In the “Additional folders to show” part, click on on “Add, music information,” and navigate to the folders with the digitized records. Confirm with “Select folder” and “OK.”

The folders together with the audio tracks now seem in the principle view of Audials One 2024 SE and might be edited utilizing the pencil icon.

To switch your music to your cell gadget, you have to the free Audials Play Android app. Log in with the identical Audials account to which you have got registered Audials One 2024 SE.

Then faucet on “Music” and change to the tab that bears the title of your PC. You will discover your music there and might obtain it utilizing the three dots and “Copy to cellphone.”

This article was translated from German to English and initially appeared on pcwelt.de.