• • Scanning
  • • Introduction
    • Starting
    • Scanning
    • Saving

Introduction

To scan documents for use on web pages, slide presentations, or word processing documents, follow the instructions below.

These instructions were written for use in the Suffield Multimedia Lab. They are designed to work with the Canon LED Scanners and their default software (ScanGear).

Starting Up

Photoshop Icon

First, launch Adobe Photoshop, which is installed on all machines in the Multimedia Lab. It has the icon shown.

After photoshop launches, you should start the scanning software. To do this, pull down the File menu. From there, select the Import submenu, and select the ScanGear CS 7.0.1X option.

Advanced Mode Button

The scanning software will open in a new window. If the software is in "Simple Mode", you should change to "Advanced Mode" by clicking the button with that name (as shown).

Scanning

Place what you'd like to scan on the scanner. Your original should go face down on the scanner, with the top corner closest to you. Press at least one edge of the original against the raised edge of the scanner to make it flush. This will ensure that your scan is as straight as possible.

Once your original is placed correctly, click the Preview button.

The scanner will scan a preview of your original and display it for you. At this point, your screen should look like the one shown in the ScanGear Main Screen screenshot we have provided (obviously, your picture will be different).

ScanGear will draw a dashed line around the part of the image it thinks you want to scan. You should adjust this crop box so that it only includes what you want.

To resize the box, move your mouse cursor over an edge (or corner) of the box. Then click and drag to resize the box. If you accidentally erase the box, you may draw a new one by clicking and dragging.

If you'd like to make finer adjustments to your cropping box, you can click the Zoom button. The scanner will re-scan just the area you're interested in and zoom in so you can make more detailed changes.

When you have cropped your image, it's time to make a few final adjustments. First, we need to change the Output Resolution to 72dpi. We do this because the standard for computer screens is 72 dots per inch. You can use a higher resolution if you know what you're doing (e.g., printing or doing layout), but if you're unsure you should stick with 72.

Next, you need to change the Print Size Settings so that the scanned image is the size you want.

You may change the Units menu to use units that are best for your medium. For web pages or slides, consider using pixels as the units. For papers, use inches.

Now you should change the dimensions in the Print Size Settings box to what you'd like. You may change one dimension and hit the Tab key and the software will automatically calculate the other dimension for you.

As a reminder, pictures for web pages should be less than 600 pixels wide, and pictures for a computer screen (e.g., slides) should be smaller than 1024 pixels.

At this point, you're ready to scan your picture! Click the Scan button, and wait for the scanner to finish. When it does, you can close the window with the scanning software.

Saving the Image

You should now have your image on the screen in a Photoshop window. In Photoshop, you can apply filters, change the brightness and contrast, and perform several other transformations. Usually no changes are required, however, and you may proceed to saving your image.

To save your image, pull down the File menu and select the Save for Web... option.

Photoshop will bring up a large window with all sorts of options. Don't panic, we'll walk you through it.

There are two basic formats that we save pictures in. For line art (charts, graphs, maps, drawings), we use a format called PNG-8. For photographs and other images, we use JPEG. If in doubt, use JPEG.

To save in JPEG format, select the Settings menu and choose JPEG Medium. This is usually a good choice for web pages.

To save in PNG-8 format, select the Settings menu and choose PNG-8.

Once you've selected a format, you should click the small triangle near the top right of the settings box. From that menu, select Repopulate Views. This will update the preview of your page with the new settings.

JPEG format lets you modify the quality that the image is saved with. The higher the quality, the better looking the image. However, the higher quality also makes the picture larger, so it will take longer to download and display on your screen. Choose the lowest quality that still looks good.

With PNG format, we can choose the number of colors our image will have. Start with a small number (say, 16), and work your way up until the image looks its best.

Once the preview of your image looks just the way you want it, click on Save. Give your image a name (keep the suffix that Photoshop assigns) and save it.

Once you've saved your image for the web, you no longer need the original scan. You can close it and tell Photoshop not to save it (since you already saved a copy).