7 ms·

I started a quick transcription here -- not enough time to complete more than half the first column, but some scans and very rough OCR are here if anyone is int

I started a quick transcription here -- not enough time to complete more than half the first column, but some scans and very rough OCR are here if anyone is interested in contributing: https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill Top and bottom halves of the page in the repo here: https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/scan-1.png https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/scan-1.png https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/scan-2.png https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/scan-2.png EDIT: If you have access to a multi-modal LLM, the rough transcription + the column scan and the instruction to "OCR this text, keep linebreaks" gives a _very good_ result. EDIT 2: Rough draft, needs some proofreading and corrections: https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/story.md https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/story.md

simonw 2y ago
I tried extracting the content using Google Gemini 1.5 Pro 002 using https://aistudio.google.com/ https://aistudio.google.com/ - the first page (scan-2) worked fantastically well, the second page not so much. Here's what I got so far: https://gist.github.com/simonw/ba87f507ef5c11d3335959c055533bee https://gist.github.com/simonw/ba87f507ef5c11d3335959c055533...
- mmastrac 2y ago
  I cropped the columns out into six files -- it might have an easier time with these: https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/col-1-a.png https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/col-1-a.pn...
  - qmr 2y ago
    [dead]
  - reaperducer 2y ago
    …and my wife's Halloween present has been printed. Tip: Load the pngs into Preview, hit "Auto Levels," and crank up "Sharpness" on each one. Looks pretty good!
quuxplusone 2y ago
Seems like you don't need an LLM, you just need a human who (1) likes reading Stoker and (2) touch-types. :) I'd volunteer, if I didn't think I'd be duplicating effort at this point. (I've transcribed various things over the years, including Sonia Greene's Alcestis [1] and Holtzman & Kershenblatt's "Castlequest" source code [2], so I know it doesn't take much except quick fingers and sufficient motivation. :)) [1] https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2022/10/22/alcestis/ https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2022/10/22/alcestis/ [2] https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2021/03/09/castlequest/ https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2021/03/09/castlequest/ EDIT: ...and as I was writing that, you seem to have finished your transcription. :)
- mmastrac 2y ago
  I finished a very rough, tesseract + LLM transcription, but it absolutely needs editing passes. I've done transcription in the past myself (did two books for standard ebooks with some from-scratch transcription and lots of editing) and I know the pain. I've always found it easier to fix up OCR than type the whole thing by hand because I've found my error rate of eyeball transcription to be higher. If you want to tackle the proofing passes, I'm happy to add you to the repo :)
  - wahnfrieden 2y ago
    Use LiveText API. Much much better accuracy than Tesseract. You can rent access to it.
    - CoastalCoder 2y ago
      Anyone know why the parent comment would be downvoted? I know nothing about OCR, so maybe it's obvious to others.
      - dylan604 2y ago
        It reads as a drive by advertisement. Also, people like full local vs renting as a default.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
1317 2y ago
probably you would want to get the project gutenberg people onto it
- mNovak 2y ago
  I went ahead and made a post over at the PG proofreaders site (pgdp.net) to make them aware.
cxr 2y ago
Too late. You have already been scooped by, of course, tumblr: <https://woodsfae.tumblr.com/post/764918993659330560/gibbet-hill https://woodsfae.tumblr.com/post/764918993659330560/gibbet-h...>
- oliyoung 2y ago
  A battle of a Tumblr user named Woodsfae versus advanced LLM transcribing new goth literature? That's like bringing a knife to a gun fight my friend, never underestimate the power of a committed Tumblr user
  - CoastalCoder 2y ago
    It's like bringing a Goth to a Vamp fight. (Southpark homage)
- drivers99 2y ago
  In the scan, where it says "and shortly came to the edge of the Punchbowl and easted my eyes on its beauty" OP changed "easted" to "cast" and the tumbler one says "easted[sic]" ([sic] is theirs). I wonder if it's supposed to be "feasted".
westcort 2y ago
Only typo I found was the word "ggshells" which I assume should be "eggshells"; great work!

simonw 2y ago

I tried extracting the content using Google Gemini 1.5 Pro 002 using https://aistudio.google.com/ https://aistudio.google.com/ - the first page (scan-2) worked fantastically well, the second page not so much. Here's what I got so far: https://gist.github.com/simonw/ba87f507ef5c11d3335959c055533bee https://gist.github.com/simonw/ba87f507ef5c11d3335959c055533...

mmastrac 2y ago
I cropped the columns out into six files -- it might have an easier time with these: https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/col-1-a.png https://github.com/mmastrac/gibbet-hill/blob/main/col-1-a.pn...
- qmr 2y ago
  [dead]
- reaperducer 2y ago
  …and my wife's Halloween present has been printed. Tip: Load the pngs into Preview, hit "Auto Levels," and crank up "Sharpness" on each one. Looks pretty good!

quuxplusone 2y ago

Seems like you don't need an LLM, you just need a human who (1) likes reading Stoker and (2) touch-types. :) I'd volunteer, if I didn't think I'd be duplicating effort at this point. (I've transcribed various things over the years, including Sonia Greene's Alcestis [1] and Holtzman & Kershenblatt's "Castlequest" source code [2], so I know it doesn't take much except quick fingers and sufficient motivation. :)) [1] https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2022/10/22/alcestis/ https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2022/10/22/alcestis/ [2] https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2021/03/09/castlequest/ https://quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2021/03/09/castlequest/ EDIT: ...and as I was writing that, you seem to have finished your transcription. :)

mmastrac 2y ago
I finished a very rough, tesseract + LLM transcription, but it absolutely needs editing passes. I've done transcription in the past myself (did two books for standard ebooks with some from-scratch transcription and lots of editing) and I know the pain. I've always found it easier to fix up OCR than type the whole thing by hand because I've found my error rate of eyeball transcription to be higher. If you want to tackle the proofing passes, I'm happy to add you to the repo :)
- wahnfrieden 2y ago
  Use LiveText API. Much much better accuracy than Tesseract. You can rent access to it.
  - CoastalCoder 2y ago
    Anyone know why the parent comment would be downvoted? I know nothing about OCR, so maybe it's obvious to others.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      It reads as a drive by advertisement. Also, people like full local vs renting as a default.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

1317 2y ago

probably you would want to get the project gutenberg people onto it

mNovak 2y ago
I went ahead and made a post over at the PG proofreaders site (pgdp.net) to make them aware.

cxr 2y ago

Too late. You have already been scooped by, of course, tumblr: <https://woodsfae.tumblr.com/post/764918993659330560/gibbet-hill https://woodsfae.tumblr.com/post/764918993659330560/gibbet-h...>

oliyoung 2y ago
A battle of a Tumblr user named Woodsfae versus advanced LLM transcribing new goth literature? That's like bringing a knife to a gun fight my friend, never underestimate the power of a committed Tumblr user
- CoastalCoder 2y ago
  It's like bringing a Goth to a Vamp fight. (Southpark homage)
drivers99 2y ago
In the scan, where it says "and shortly came to the edge of the Punchbowl and easted my eyes on its beauty" OP changed "easted" to "cast" and the tumbler one says "easted[sic]" ([sic] is theirs). I wonder if it's supposed to be "feasted".

westcort 2y ago

Only typo I found was the word "ggshells" which I assume should be "eggshells"; great work!