Phil,

I pinch pennies so tight they squeak.  I swore I never would pay $100 for an 
iPhone app, and I didn't.  I got the KNFB Reader for $80 and love it.

Like the one that came out in the PDA and then subsequently on the Nokia 
phones, alignment is very critical.  I was amazed though at how well it 
works, even when I took a picture in near darkness.  It brings up the 
results in about two seconds.

A couple suggestions if you aren't used to using it:

1.  It helps to have good lighting.
2.  Use the tilt option, it helps you keep the phone from skewing the print 
vertically or horizontally but not radially; but accidentally tilting makes 
a marked difference on results.  That was the hardest thing to train new 
users on when I sold the Nokia ones.
3.  It is designed for reading printed material; any time it can read a 
screen or a display, that is a bonus.
4.  If you are going to do a ton of scanning with it, consider buying a 
Scanstand, ScanJig, or build your own box that you can put the iPhone on top 
of so you don't have alignment issues.  A good way to go might be something 
with Plexiglass that would not block light.

Steve, K8SP


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Phil Scovell
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 8:23 PM
Subject: KNFB iPhone Reader


Well, I dove in headfirst this afternoon and downloaded the KNFB OCR app for
blind users.  It definitely takes practice positioning the camera to get a
good picture before reading much is possible.