Self-Archiving in Digital Commons

The following, general information focuses on utilization of EPSON® hardware and software that is available in the Circulation Media Lab and Collaborative Media Lab at Fogler Library. For assistance using specific hardware and software, please consult with Circulation or Collaborative Media Lab staff at the Help Desk.

Scanner Setup for Print Photos

1. Mode = Professional Mode
2. Document Type = Reflective
3. Document Source = Document Table
4. Auto Exposure Type = Photo
5. Scanning Quality = Best
6. Image Type = 24=bit color (for color & B/W)
7. Unsharp Mask = ✓
8. Descreening = ✓

File Format & Resolution

• bmp = 400 dpi, for 8"x10" images and larger;
             570 dpi, for images 5"x7";
             800 dpi, for images smaller than 5"x7".
• jpg =   300 dpi, regardless of image size.*
• pdf =   400 dpi, regardless of image size.

Scanner Setup for Documents 

1. Mode = Professional Mode
2. Document Type = Reflective
3. Document Source = Document Table
4. Auto Exposure Type = Document
5. Scanning Quality = Best
6. Image Type = 24=bit color (for color text) 
   OR Image Type = 16=bit grayscale (for B/W text) 
7. Unsharp Mask = ✓
8. Descreening = ✓

File Format & Resolution

• pdf = 300 dpi, minimum; 600 dpi*, best for OCR

*Recommended formats for upload to DigitalCommons@UMaine.

In order to be in Section 508 Compliance and make documents accessible for all users, scanned text documents must undergo the process of optical character recognition (OCR) to convert imaged text into ASCII characters that can be interpreted by screen-reading software. Adobe® Acrobat® Pro software, available on a number of public access computer stations at Fogler Library, has a text recognition function that can OCR. 

Steps for Text Recognition in Adobe® Acrobat® Pro.

After opening your PDF document in Adobe® Acrobat® Pro^†:

1. Click on "Tools."
2. Click on "Text Recognition."
3. Click "In This File."

The program will process the document, displaying page by page progress.

^†The default primary OCR language set up for most software in Fogler Library is English (US). If your PDF document is written in a language other than English (US), before following the three steps above, click the "Edit" button below the settings box and select the appropriate primary OCR language. Leave the PDF output style setting as "Searchable Image" and "Downsample" size at 600 dpi. Then Click OK.

Editing OCRed Documents

While Adobe® Acrobat® Pro provides OCR processing, the program is not always 100-percent accurate. It is recommended users proof-read the OCR output before saving the final document. 

1. Under "Text Recognition," click "Find First Suspect."  
2. Review the "suspect" text for OCR errors.  
3. Correct OCR errors by clicking on the highlighted object in the page text and type in the correct text.
4. If the OCR "suspect" is correct, click the "Accept and Find button" to move to the next suspect.
5. If the OCR "suspect" is not a text character but is a glyph or image, click the "Not Text" button.
6. When you have completed the process of reviewing the suspect characters, do a "Save as" and provide the completed document under a new name in order to preserve the original document.

For complete instructions to create accessible PDF documents, please visit Adobe Training Resources.