What do you use to get a nice clean PDF scan of your score? Is there something out there that I am not aware of....preferably free.
I would just like to scan a score I already have and be able to mark a nice looking PDF.
TIA
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by Also on 4/8/2024, 9:49 am, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"
For personal use: I use Genius Scan. It's free to a point. I use the paid version because I'm always scanning.
I import to forScore.
If I have only a few loose pages that are not bound in any way, I will use the forScore app to scan also.
For complete pieces with scores: I use the school's copy machine. Once I figured out the size settings, it makes the cleanest and clearest scans.
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by SM on 4/8/2024, 9:33 am, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"
I have used ScannerPro by Readdle (https://readdle.com/scannerpro). It does an excellent job of correcting for off angle scanning with your phone. You can set it to save to your iCloud, Google Drive or many other options. I scan and blow up all of my scores and this has worked flawlessly. Best of all, IT IS FREE!
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by 2 cents on 4/3/2024, 11:07 am, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"
Our school copier/scanners are great so usually I use that, but Music Scanner is also a great app for scanning music!
It's not free, but I stumbled upon it a few years ago in an article I was reading about useful apps. It was free for a limited time when that article came out as a promo. I have used it so much, especially since it can save as an xml file.
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by PDF on 4/3/2024, 8:10 am, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"
You can scan them into your notes on your phone and it makes it a PDF at the right size.
I have also used the cam scanner app on my phone.
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by Me on 4/3/2024, 7:36 am, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"
School copier. Most of my music is on 9x12 paper so I have to go through a couple steps. 1) Select original size, custom size, 12in by 9in 2) Select paper (letter size) and either auto reduce or 93% scale depending on the copier. I also have copies come out face down so they're in order. 3) Place original music sideways (landscape) on the scanner. 4) Copy each page. On our current copier I have to load paper from the bypass tray in order for this to work, otherwise it prints it sideways on the top half of the paper. 5) Select copier function to scan an email to myself, name the file, select pdf, 600dpi, grayscale. Push start and I have a pristine pdf in my inbox in seconds that is generally around 1mb or less.
I do this instead of using scanner apps because it's always perfectly flat and the file size is MUCH smaller. I mark it up in ForScore, or if I want to HEAVILY annotate something specific like a single page I'll open it in Goodnotes 5.
I'm a real nerd about this. I want my scans to be as clean and perfect as possible. I hate looking at sheet music that's a fuzzy copy of a copy, or scanned at a weird angle so things are stretched out, or has a big shadow across it from scanning with a phone. I probably should seek medication for my OCD.
If the score is available on ePrint, I just buy it, even if I have to buy with personal money. That's the best quality you're going to get.
Here's my procedure: -Set original size on the copier to match the size of the music. Most published music is 9x12. Sometimes 8.5x11 standard letter size. Marching band stuff and a lot of jazz band scores are usually 5x7. -Put the settings at the highest resolution possible on the copier, black and white. -Once you have your settings where you want them, see if you can save as a preset on the copier for later use. -Scan each page of the score to a thumb drive. -Open the score on my computer and turn the pages of the PDF to vertical. Acrobat can do this, your school laptop probably has a license.
If you want to print a copy (in a copyright compliant way, of course) then you set your printer to auto-fit the output to the available paper, and it will calculate the percentage for you. This conveniently shrinks the 9x12 so you can put it in a standard binder. It also expands the 5x7 marching scores to make them easier to read.
If you're a real nerd, you can use a software called PDF Split and Merge that handles all kinds of things with PDFs. With any score that's more than a few pages (pretty much any grade 4 or above), I always scan so that the outside corner is on the corner of the glass, putting the binding toward the center. This lets the lid of the copier close farther so you don't get shadows on the scan. But then you have to turn the odd pages one way, the even pages another way, to make them all vertical. PDF Split and Merge can do that pretty quickly.
I know, I'm a nerd.
Re: Clean PDF Score
Posted by Try on 4/2/2024, 9:59 pm, in reply to "Clean PDF Score"