If the scan has dark margins:

djvused -e 'print-pure-txt' spanier.djvu > spanier.txt # extract text directly Then pdflatex a quick PDF with the text – but you’ll lose original page images. | Feature | Command / Verification | |------------------------------|------------------------------------------| | Text searchable? | Open in PDF reader, Ctrl+F “Hurewicz” | | Math symbols selectable? | Try copying “πₙ(X,x₀)” – expect garbage (OCR limit) | | File size reasonable | < 100 MB for 500 pages @ 150 DPI | | No missing pages | pdfinfo spanier_final.pdf \| grep Pages | | Handles hyperlinks (none) | Spanier has no internal hyperlinks anyway| 6. One‑Liner for the Impatient If you have djvulibre-bin and ocrmypdf installed:

Happy homotopy lifting.

Edwin Spanier’s Algebraic Topology (1966/1995 corrected reprint) remains a definitive graduate text—lucid, terse, and packed with categorical insights. But if you have the classic DJVU scan (often from the Internet Archive or old library copies), you know the pain: inconsistent contrast, no selectable text, and software that treats DJVU like a fossil.