CZUR Aura Pro Portable Book Scanner, A3 Document Scanner

As someone whose professional work is unrelated, I have developed a deep personal interest in studying the Okinawan language (Uchinaaguchi) because my ancestors are from there. Many of the most valuable materials for this field, especially those related to "Ryuka" poetry, are quite old. Some of these books were published 60 to 70 years ago and have never been reprinted. They are extremely difficult to find, even in Japan, and often very expensive. Over the years, I have managed to collect more than 100 of these rare books and had them shipped to the US with me. A large number of these books are quite extensive, often 500 pages or even exceeding 1000 pages. When studying an archaic language in poetic form, without abundant external resources, it is necessary to constantly reference and search through these materials. However because many of these books are so fragile, I sometimes hesitate to flip through the pages out of concern for damaging them. I have long been aware that book scanners exist, since I have used PDF books before, but I never looked into how they were created. I own a traditional Brother printer/scanner, and once I attempted to scan a 200 page book using it. The process took more than an hour and was physically exhausting. I had to flip each page, place it face down on the glass, and wait 7-8 seconds for each scan. With hardcover books, the weight and awkward positioning made the process even more inconvenient. After that experience, I could not imagine scanning the rest of my collection. That was when I came across CZUR. I decided to purchase the CZUR Aura Pro. It is not the most advanced model I believe, but since my primary goal is to digitize books with good clarity and OCR functionality, I believed it would be sufficient. A few days ago, the device arrived, and I immediately began scanning. For a 500 page book, the entire process took only about 20 minutes. The experience was effortless. The foot pedal is especially useful as it allows me to scan continuously without waiting for each page to process on the computer. Each scan takes only 1-2 seconds. Most of the time is actually spent adjusting the book position since the center line shifts depending on thickness and page turning. The OCR function is also quite good although it has some limitations. Many of the books I work with contain a mix of modern Japanese and Okinawan language, written in kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Because Okinawan differs semantically from Japanese and often includes uncommon or small kana, the OCR cannot always recognize everything accurately. This is understandable given how niche the language is, and I do not expect significant technological investment in this area. Even so, the results are still very useful. I still read the physical books for extended study because it is easier on my eyes, but when I need to quickly search for something, the scanned images are extremely convenient and save a great deal of time. Overall, I highly recommend this scanner. I have recommended it to other Okinawan language enthusiasts, and we are considering building a shared digital library of these rare materials.

I bought this scanner to help with my genealogy research. I often go to libraries/archives and use my phone to take pictures, so I wanted a scanner that was portable and would be allowed at those places (i.e. wouldn't damage old books/documents by pressing them onto a flatbed). I had been using my phone, but I don't like the disadvantages (it doesn't always take the best photo, and I hate the auto file naming, so you have to later figure out what you've got) so I was ready for something new. I'll review the scanner itself separately from the software. The Scanner (5 stars) The scanner does a high-quality job on scans of most documents and books. It's super easy to set up - just plug in the cords and go. It does need to be plugged into a wall outlet. I had no problem laying out the mat and having it stay flat which another reviewer complained about. I simply rolled the mat in the opposite direction, then laid it out on the table. The scanner is light-weight, so will be easy to transport to archives and libraries. The foot pedal is helpful for pressing "scan" when holding a book open. It has a felt-like bottom, so it doesn't slide on wooden floors. It's not a required piece of the scanner - you can use the scanner without the foot pedal. When scanning glossy pages (like those in page protectors) or photos, the side lights are a must. Without the sidelights, the top light reflects and you get a huge glare in the middle of the page. Using the sidelights mainly eliminates that glare. You do still need to check the positioning of the page, though, because a reflection of the lights themselves can be seen if you're not careful. The side lights were one of the reasons I picked this model. I like the way the camera arm folds into the center of two upright supports. It'll be perfect for looping my Kensington lock through and locking the scanner with my computer in case I need to step away from a library table for a few minutes. This was another reason I picked this model. The scanner software does a fair job of eliminating the cots from a page. However, just be aware that it doesn't work perfectly in all cases. One of the books I scanned has a flower border on many of its pages. The cots were automatically blurred out but the software obviously can't reconstruct what was under them. But it worked better than I expected on that book. The Software (4 stars) The installation was easy. If you provide your email address, you are provided a link to tutorials to help learn to use the software. For the most part though, the software is simple enough to use without needing them. The FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City provides CZUR scanners, so if you've been there, the software will feel familiar. When scanning, you have the option to choose single pages, facing pages (like a book), manual selection (i.e. choose which portion of the page you want scanned), or combine sides (used for IDs to combine both images onto one sheet of paper). I haven't used the combine sides option, but the others all work great. The software does a fair job of OCR - although, it had trouble reproducing an 1990s-era computer printout which was justified into Word. The large spaces between words seemed to give it some trouble. The same printout, when exported as a Searchable PDF allows search as you would expect, so it was the layout that was the problem, not the OCR. I was able to load in pictures of a multi-page document that I had taken on my phone and the OCR did a fantastic job given the pages weren't overly straight, and some were skewed quite a bit. There are several options that you can perform on one or multiple images - rotate, crop, rename. You can also adjust the contrast, sharpness, and modify the color settings. You can load in a folder of images (even if not scanned by the scanner) and can use the software to manipulate them and export them. I've done this on some scans made on my phone. It's also nice because you can scan now, export later. Some software drawbacks (and why I only give it 4 stars) When scanning multiple books / documents, you can choose which images you want exported - either "all" or a selection. If I'm scanning large documents or a chapter of a book, I'd rather each get their own folder. The only way I've found to do that is to shut the software down and restart. The software uses its own style of UI (i.e. different look-and-feel from Windows / Mac). For pop-up windows, you need to be aware of which button is the default. For example, when prompted to overwrite a file, "cancel" is the default, but in other cases, "continue" is the default. In all cases the continue button is the one that appears "highlighted" (it's blue). So, hitting <return> may not be what you want, using the mouse is the best way to make sure you are selecting the correct button. There doesn't seem to be a way to rearrange images in the viewer. You can do so right before you export (you need to click the "Show Sort window" box). This is a bit clunky if you have a large book - the window is of a set size, and is hard to read page numbers in it. And the software doesn't remember the order, so if you want to produce both a pdf and a word document, you have to redo the sort. On the plus side, this is mainly just a limitation for documents scanned previously. If you are in the process of scanning a book (or have just finished), you should double-check each page. For pages that were not scanned well, or accidently skipped, you can use the "Rep" to replace the image or "Ins" to insert an image. This means that you really shouldn't need to rearrange the pages right before exporting.

Overall, this scanner is really good. If you are scanning text only books in b&w the results will be amazing. if you are scanning in color then expect mediocre, but still very acceptable, results. After scanning 22 books I believe this scanner is well worth the price. This book scanner excels in a few ways: 1. Ease of use. I found no difficulty in setting up the hardware and using the software. The user face is easy to learn and reliable. 2. Amazing scans for text only books. The scans of pages with only text (in b&w mode) are top tier. They flatten well and appear as if they where originally typed in word document or pdf. 3. OCR works very well. With the OCR feature I was able to create searchable and reliable pdfs. 4. Good Image capture. While the images captured on color mode look alot more like traditional scanned items, or just like pictures in general, this product does a good job of capturing and compiling them. Even so there are some drawbacks to this product: 1. The scanner sometimes has issues with lighting large pages. This is for glossy pages while using the attachable extra light. 2. In color mode, the scanner often cannot pick up large dark pictures. Or smaller dark colored pictures. These are turned into a cut off scan or a black silhouette. Sometimes, if you have a large single tone image (i find red to be the most problematic), the flattening and page capture features will fail. 3. OCR pdfs take a long time to compile. While the benefit is great, i would still like to see faster compile times. 4. In color mode, the scanner will pick up the included yellow page holders as they are thought to be part of an image.

I had some skepticism when I first ordered this. I was copying yearbooks and scrapbooks into my computer using a flatbed scanner, as I figured that my children and grandchildren would just throw them away after I was gone. I couldn’t be sure about that but considering their lack of interest in looking at these old books, I figured that it was a strong possibility. Anyway, I was scanning each page of a yearbook into a flatbed scanner, which was tedious, and I thought to myself there must be a better way of doing this. So I went online, and saw the Czur device, and I thought, “well for $300. You can’t go too wrong”. I ordered it, and set it up, which was easy.. The documentation that comes with the device is pretty sparse, but their are plenty of online tutorials and I quickly started using it. After an half hour of experimenting, I found that I could copy extensive year books in less than five minutes. It scans them into JPG format, and then converts them into a PDF, tiff, word document, searchable PDF, and some other formats depending on your preference. You can use a foot pedal, or switch on the automatic page turning recognition for scanning, either one worked fairly well for me, but I found that I needed to use the finger cots because some of the books were quite curved and I needed the foot pedal for those. I’m old, so , as mentioned, I had to go online to look at the video tutorials on how to use the finger cot, but once I did, it was very straightforward. Scanning takes only a second or two for each page and it can preserve them as I said, in any format you want, but I use the high-quality PDF, My yearbooks have a lot of photographs as of course, do the picture scrapbooks (which are mostly photographs) with some writing on them, but the device copied them faithfully. Naturally, for the photo scrapbooks, you don’t get the same picture quality as you would with a dedicated photo scanner like the Epson FF – 680, but you don’t have to take the pictures out of the scrapbook with the Czur. Most of the time I had to use the side lamps to copy the photo Books, as most of the pages were laminated or had a plastic cover sheet which creates a glare when the overhead lamp is on., When you turn on the device, the default scanning lamp is on the arm of the scanner. Those are easily turned off by touching the button on th back where the side lights are attached and that turns them off and the side lights on which reduces glare. The quality of the pictures are very good, as I mentioned, and if you don’t want to enlarge the scans to make a poster or something, then they are quite acceptable. All in all, this is a tremendous timesaver over a flatbed scanner, and I highly recommend it for people who want to archive their old documents, yearbooks, or scrapbooks.

I initially purchased this for the purpose of converting piano scores into PDFs. For pianists, the ability to turn pages on a tablet using a pedal instead of hands can mean a lot. This product not only met my needs but also delivered exceptional results with text. I believe it's a solid investment, especially when compared to other book scanners I've tried, which often have noticeable flaws. Some features: 1. Easy setup. I despise spending an hour on setup, only to then feel like I'm studying for a test to learn how to use a product. 2. Save space. I put it on a speaker stand when I’m not using it. 3. Good software. Haven't encountered any issues with it so far. 4. The auto-flatten function is magic. This is something a flatbed scanner just can't achieve with a thick book. The deskew and OCR features are also invaluable. 5. Quick scanning capability. I can scan hundreds of pages within an hour. 6. Top-notch text scanning. Its performance exceeded my expectations. One last tip: Don't forget to adjust the lighting for optimal results.

I have a large collection of vintage magazines, many of which are crumbling and fragile. And yet, there are many stories in them I’d like to read. What to do? Scan them for preservation and readability! Flatbed scanners are hard on books and magazines, and can damage them severely. I considered which book scanner to buy for some time, looked at reviews, etc.. Eventually, I decided, for the sake of portability and quality, to go with the Aura Pro. I like it; it serves my needs well, even better than my flatbed scanner for some kinds of flat ephemera. While it is true that the higher end CZUR scanners might show better results in some cases, this one meets my needs. It’s easy to use and I can scan a pile of materials fairly quickly. The foot pedal is a great feature. I especially like how the scanner flattens pages, also how it handles batch edits and conversions to searchable PDFs. I’m planning to use the live feed feature soon and am looking forward to seeing it does as part of my toolkit for distance teaching. In summary, I’m pleased with the scanner and recommend it.

I got this one last weekend and try scan the old books. The first one was good. I liked it very much. But as I move to second book it start to double scan the pages even though the actual page is the next one. So it used save previous pictures for the current one. I contacted customer service, they say reinstall the program, so I did. As I keep moving forward, the frequency of same issue increases. Finally, I try to produce pdf file from the scanned pictures. Notification said it was published, but I can't find it. I searched the pdf files on navigation, but no trace of it. I was struggled so much, I can't take it anymore. Hard wear seems good, and picture quality are also clear, but application is horrible. I go for the one star cause that is the lowest one.

The device looks beautiful and is well packaged. The scan quality is good however I bought this for the software to make scanning multiple pages easy. Once installed on my computer it worked well the first time and hasnt worked since. Reinstalliing the drivers and software did not help at all. Since this was the main reason for me buying the scanner I am very disappointed. I have not used it as a document camera to comment on that aspect.

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