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Clean a scanned handwritten document

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DanleBoss Posted messages 5 Status Member -  
DanleBoss Posted messages 5 Status Member -
Hello everyone

I am interested in genealogy. I need to consult scanned handwritten archives. I encounter some problems reading, especially when the ink color is light, or when the paper is thin and both sides appear together in the scan.
Is there a software (preferably free) that could enhance the contrast or eliminate the back side of a scan?
I don't know if I've been clear? Thank you in advance for your responses.
Best regards.
Daniel

1 answer

  1.
    contrariness Posted messages 17904 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243
     
    To increase the contrast of a light ink, one would need to adjust the color of the light illuminating the document during the scan, which seems very difficult to achieve with desktop scanners...

    However, we obtain very good results in eliminating the transparency of a text on the back by placing an opaque black film (or paper) behind it. The black shadow of the film (or paper) significantly reduces the reflection of the ghost text.
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    1. DanleBoss Posted messages 5 Status Member
       
      I thought I had not been clear in my explanations. The documents are already scanned, and not by me, but by the departmental archives. I only have access to an image, not the original document. Therefore, I cannot adjust either the color or the opacity of the document.
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    2. contrariness Posted messages 17904 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243
       
      Indeed, it is through analysis that the possibilities for intervention are most effective.

      Afterwards, image editing with retouching software is always possible, but the work will require a lot of time and patience.
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    3. DanleBoss Posted messages 5 Status Member
       
      Thank you contrariness!
      Can you give me some examples of editing software?
      Thanks.
      Daniel
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    4. Anonymous user > DanleBoss Posted messages 5 Status Member
       
      Hello
      Basically, you can do this with any software (Photofiltre or Gimp for free) by playing with light, contrast, and especially gamma
      But for making text transparent, I don’t know any method ............
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    5. contrariness Posted messages 17904 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243
       
      With image editing software (Gimp, Photoshop, etc.), for example.

      Personally, when I recover printed terms and conditions that are very faint on the back of documents to process them with OCR, I increase the contrasts and use a function in Photoshop (select/color range) to eliminate a good part of the background.

      In your case, I think you'll need to work in small areas to avoid mistakes. Restoring a page may take you many hours of work!!
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