Using a scanner - the basics
Using a scanner is actually very easy. The information below assumes that you (or someone you know) has a scanner and they've set the scanner up and installed all of the drivers properly for your computer and your operating system. There are a couple of different types of scanning including image scanning and text scanning (OCR - Optical Character Recognition is when you scan text and have the computer try to determine what the document says so that you can edit the contents of the document). The information below is information regarding the scanning of a picture.
There is no dedicated software for a scanner or 'scanning software'. Most photo and image software comes with the ability to use a scanner. In most imaging software it's known as acquiring an image. The first step in using a scanner is for you to run your imaging software, in the illustrations below I am using PhotoStudio5 from ArcSoft. Once you've opened the software you'll need to look for a menu option (or an icon) for you to 'acquire' your image as indicated in illustration 1 below.
In most programs (including Photo Studio) you will get a series of dialog boxes to help you through the steps of scanning your picture. There are typically 2 different scanning modes 'simple' and 'advanced'. The illustration below allows you to select what you are scanning (a film negative or a photo or a page from a magazine) and the software creates all of the other settings for you.
If you select (by clicking with your mouse) the option on the bottom, 'Advanced Mode', you will be presented with a much more detailed scanning interface. This interface is designed for users that are very familiar with imaging and color. You can change how detailed an image you are capturing -- as measured in dpi, you have the ability to select a specific area in the image for you to scan, you can do color correction, etc. with this interface. Detailed scanning will be outlined in a future feature. The illustration below shows the Advanced scanning mode interface.
Pressing the 'Scan' icon on either of the interfaces will send a message to the scanner to begin acquiring the image as you've set it up. The image below is the the final product from the Advanced Mode scan that I set up using the interface above. The original scan was a 600 dpi, the final image was resized to fit the page.
The image above is a study in the capture of motion, which will be covered in a photography technique feature. Please refer to the Feature Menu for more information.
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