With people using the most modern communication devices, it might be surprising to learn that many never had the opportunity to learn how to scan. Here is a practical beginners guide with some explanations and tips to get started.
New users should begin by familiarizing themselves with their equipment. This might be a purpose bought scanning device that only scans but more popular these days are the units that combine printing, copying and scanning altogether. Sometimes called multifunctional or MFD devices, they are common in both modern offices and private homes. Not mentioned here is the less used hand held scanner variety.
Most scanners come with tutorials, that are preloaded on the equipment software installation disks supplied, or can be easily located by searching the internet. It has been said that modern computer users do not like reading manuals, but it should be stressed that the hour or so that it takes to do this, will be very worthwhile.
Next learn how to address different job types. This involves deciding what file format and resolution to use and the eventual destination of the scanned picture. For documents the most practical format to use is PDF. This stands for portable document file and they do exactly that. They can be emailed as attachments, saved on a memory stick, printed or stored away on a hard disk.
Generally a document can be easily read and printed from quite a low resolution, say around 150 DPI. Doing a lot of documents, at more than this tends to utilize excessive disc drive space and move slowly over LAN networks. The resolution of scans dictates the density, in terms of dots per square inch, of an image being rendered when printing. Those containing text and images may benefit from raising the DPI to 300.
Scanning is also a great way to digitize photographs. For this purpose it is better to select a jpeg file format. Created by a company called the Joint Photographic Experts Group, the abbreviated name is obvious. Basically the process comprises the compression of a compound image into a file type that is easy to manipulate. A resolution between 300 increasing to 600dpi may be required to achieve optimum results.
Be careful not to overly emphasize the role of adjusting resolution. It is not possible to improve poor quality photos simply by increasing these settings. Another issue is that larger sized photo images require additional processing power from the host computer and those with smaller processors may be slow in doing this.
Giving each image scan an individual name is important and the last bit of advice in this introduction. Saving each image or document with its own unique name will make them easily identifiable. Not doing this may result in the system, especially multifunctional devices, allocating their own random file names. This can be very frustrating because each file needs to opened to determine its contents.
This information should allow the new user to perform the basic scanning functions. Clearly there is more to the subject such as using other formatting types and methods. Taking the trouble to learn how to scan properly will improve confidence and provide more satisfaction in dealing with information technology issues.
New users should begin by familiarizing themselves with their equipment. This might be a purpose bought scanning device that only scans but more popular these days are the units that combine printing, copying and scanning altogether. Sometimes called multifunctional or MFD devices, they are common in both modern offices and private homes. Not mentioned here is the less used hand held scanner variety.
Most scanners come with tutorials, that are preloaded on the equipment software installation disks supplied, or can be easily located by searching the internet. It has been said that modern computer users do not like reading manuals, but it should be stressed that the hour or so that it takes to do this, will be very worthwhile.
Next learn how to address different job types. This involves deciding what file format and resolution to use and the eventual destination of the scanned picture. For documents the most practical format to use is PDF. This stands for portable document file and they do exactly that. They can be emailed as attachments, saved on a memory stick, printed or stored away on a hard disk.
Generally a document can be easily read and printed from quite a low resolution, say around 150 DPI. Doing a lot of documents, at more than this tends to utilize excessive disc drive space and move slowly over LAN networks. The resolution of scans dictates the density, in terms of dots per square inch, of an image being rendered when printing. Those containing text and images may benefit from raising the DPI to 300.
Scanning is also a great way to digitize photographs. For this purpose it is better to select a jpeg file format. Created by a company called the Joint Photographic Experts Group, the abbreviated name is obvious. Basically the process comprises the compression of a compound image into a file type that is easy to manipulate. A resolution between 300 increasing to 600dpi may be required to achieve optimum results.
Be careful not to overly emphasize the role of adjusting resolution. It is not possible to improve poor quality photos simply by increasing these settings. Another issue is that larger sized photo images require additional processing power from the host computer and those with smaller processors may be slow in doing this.
Giving each image scan an individual name is important and the last bit of advice in this introduction. Saving each image or document with its own unique name will make them easily identifiable. Not doing this may result in the system, especially multifunctional devices, allocating their own random file names. This can be very frustrating because each file needs to opened to determine its contents.
This information should allow the new user to perform the basic scanning functions. Clearly there is more to the subject such as using other formatting types and methods. Taking the trouble to learn how to scan properly will improve confidence and provide more satisfaction in dealing with information technology issues.
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