Hardcopy to digital sheet music?

 
I’m using Sonar PE.

As we all know the “notation” feature in Cakewalk has its limitations and there are better software programs on the market that are designed specifically for notation. 
 
That being said, does anyone know if there is a software program that allows you to scan a hardcopy piece of sheet music and then import the digital file into the notation software program that will then allow you save it as a midi file? 
 
If there is a program that does this, do you have to also have to purchase a “special” scanner that can save it in the correct format so that it can be imported into the notation software program? 
 
(Kind of like scanning a hardcopy text document and then importing it into MS Word.) 
 
It sounds like a great idea! Does such a thing exist?  
 
Pete
 

 
Wow, thanks!
 
It appears you just scan the hardcopy as a PDF file and then import it into the programs, which is exactly what I was looking for.
 
Thanks again,
 
Pete

 
Well, I just downloaded and tried using Audioveris.
 
I scanned a hardcopy of a Mozart composition and converted it to a pdf file. I then imported it into Audioveris.
 
I couldn't figure out how to convert it to a midi file from there. I could save it as a MusicXL file but it would not give "midi" as an option when saving or exporting the file. The options in the drop-down list for "Midi" on the toolbar were also grayed out.
 
I suppose one can't expect miracles with these programs anyway. There's always a lot of errors even when scanning a text document and then trying to import it into MS Word, so it only makes sense that a program that converts something as intricate as sheet music will follow the same path.
 
But at least now I understand a bit better than before. I had a good time investigating it anyway.
 
Thanks,
Pete