My first attempt at using a new scanner, the CZUR Aura Pro, has been completed. I choose to scan the 1970 Wayne Middle School Echo yearbook, as I promised some classmates I would do it, and it is a relatively small yearbook. This was the first Echo yearbook from the Wayne Middle School, which consisted of the classes of 1974, 1975, and 1976, in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at the time.

It can be found and downloaded here.

Scanner Saga

I was somewhat disappointed in the image quality of the scanner and the software. Though the CZUR Aura Pro is one of their “mid-price range” units, the software has some bugs, and the image quality is way behind my 15 year old Canon flat-bed scanner. It is probably OK for just text, and it is much quicker to scan books, but when trying to reproduce photos within a book, it is falls amazingly short. I am still working on trying to come up with a process that will allow me to scan more yearbooks that are acceptable quality, but still having some issues with having even exposure across a page. This scanner has built-in LED lights, but at least with glossy pages, one light produces glare, and the others don’t get enough light to the bottom of pages. I may need to use additional lighting to make it work. Many yearbooks in the 1960s and 1970s did not use glossy paper. They might reproduce more effectively.