Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

The scoop on scanners

A scanner is a rather handy peripheral for your computer. They are available for less than the price of a printer these days. If you want to send a fax, for instance, using your computer, you can do so after you have scanned the item you want to send. You need to have fax software in your computer and it may have been pre-installed. Additionally, pictures taken with a standard camera can be sent via e-mail or placed in a web site using a scanner. If you plan to reprint photos with your scanner, you may want to buy a scanner with a high resolution of 1200dpi. If you will be using it to email or place photos on a web site you can use one with 600 dpi or less resolution. These are the least expensive.

Why else would you need a scanner? If you want to decorate a Tee Shirt (see the Mouseclix article dated 05/03/01), you can use a photo that you have taken or a graphic and print it on an iron-on sheet. You can reduce paperwork by scanning it into your computer and storing it in your hard drive. There are many programs available for helping you store, and then find, scanned documents, PaperPort being a well-known one. You can post an article that was in the newspaper about you onto your web site so that the entire world can read it. Alternatively, you can attach it to an email. Save receipts or a warranty in your hard drive, scan a deteriorating photo so you have a copy before the photo deteriorates further.

My early use of a scanner was to copy old photos of my family such that I could put them up on the web. (This resulted in lots of e-mail from my large extended family about who those people were, or weren’t, in those photos.)

Scanning software often comes with OCR. Optical Code Reading is a method by which you can scan already printed text and then have the capacity to edit it. The higher the resolution, the less errors the OCR software will make in reading the scanned document.

There are 3 types of scanner. Sheet fed, flat bed and hand held. The flat bed is most popular, as it is least expensive. The sheet fed gives higher quality reproduction but cannot handle a book. Briefly, the scanner works as follows: The scanner has a light source that illuminates the page that is face down on the glass of a flat bed. Naturally, the black parts of the image reflect less than the white places. A scan head moves beneath the page capturing the reflected light and sending it via mirrors to a lens, which focuses the light onto light sensitive diodes. These translate the light into an electrical current. An analog to digital converter stores the readings as pixels. There can be as many as 1200 pixels per inch. The digital information is sent to the software where the data can be used with a graphics program or with an OCR program.

Before buying one, check to see if you have USB connections on your computer and then buy a USB scanner. If you have an older computer, you will need to buy a parallel scanner. If you have only one parallel port on your computer and already have a printer connected, you will need to change connections. To avoid doing this manually, you will need a switch (either electronic or mechanical). You should probably consult with a knowledgeable person to make a determination of how you will handle this.

Check your instructions carefully about how your new scanner should be installed. This is particularly true of USB connections when it is often required that you install the software before hooking up the scanner. When you are ready to scan, locate your scanner software via your Desktop or in Programs. Click on File and then New Scan. After you become familiar with the scanner software, you can change the resolution settings. Some software allows you to scan and fax immediately afterward if you are connected to your phone line.

Most programs will offer the selection of a Preview Scan. This is done quickly at a low resolution for you to decide on the area of the copy you want to scan. Sometimes this will involve some “lamp warm-up” time. The scanner will then begin a quick scan so you can see it.

After the preview scan, drag the dashed boundary to fix the area to be scanned. Check to see if it is set for a color scan (if you are doing color photos) or gray scale if you are e.g., faxing a letter. Now you can call for a Scan or Full Scan and the scanner will redo the scan at a higher resolution. After the scan, you can print directly to plain paper to see if you want to make changes. When this part is complete, you can make more adjustments to the color or shading or contrast and then save the file to your hard drive so that you can attach it to e-mail or any other operation such as printing.

Your scanner needs little care. Keeping the glass clean and scratch free will assure a long life for it. For more information about scanning, contact the website of the manufacturer or look in Help, Scanners (just above the start button after you click on it.)

Have fun with your scanner!

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and can be reached at mouseclix2@yahoo.com. Previous articles may be viewed at http://mouseclix.tripod.com. Hobie will answer questions via e-mail either directly or by referring you to Internet Sites that can be helpful.