HP ScanJet 5300C

Scanners allow you to transfer graphics from a print to a digital format. A scanner will also allow you to put text into a word processor with having to rekey the text.

Graphics

Scanning

• Put the graphic you want to scan face down with the top facing the back of the scanner.
• Select Image file in the Scan to box and Scan in color if the graphic is color.
• Click the Scan button
• Wait
• If you put a check in the Select parts of page or View page first box checked, a screen will appear with blue lines around each section. To select the parts of the graphic you wish to keep, click on the section(s) and the line(s) will turn black. If you left the box unchecked, the entire graphic will be scanned as a single image.
• You can resize the image to be scanned by clicking on the black line on any of the four sides and dragging.

• You can crop a small section of a graphic by clicking on the Crop icon and dragging to select the area you want scanned.

• To enlarge the area, click the Zoom icon and click on the graphic. Click again and the image will enlarge again.

• Click the Regular icon to return to the original size.

• You can reduce the physical dimensions of an image by going to Settings Þ Page Size
• You can reduce the size of an image by going to Settings Þ Resolution and selecting Set Custom Resolution. The higher the DPI (dots per inch), the better the picture quality and file size. Click OK.
• You can also reduce the size of an image by going to Settings Þ Preferences and selecting Color Photograph (Normal). Click OK.
• Click the Accept icon to finish the scanning process

Selecting a File Format and Saving a File

There are several different file formats for graphics. Images are rendered using pixels, with the more pixels per image, the higher quality the graphic.

Bitmap Graphic Formats – if stretched, the image will get grainy.

• GIF – often used on the Internet. Good for line drawings or images with few colors
• BMP – used by Windows for things such as desktops
• PCX – used by many graphics programs
• TIFF – versatile format but creates huge files

Vector Graphic Formats – created mathematically so images will stretch better without distortion

• JPEG or JPG – often used on the Internet. Good for color images
• WMF – format used to swap graphics between Windows programs

• The default format for the scanner is BMP.
• Enter a name for the graphic in the File name box
• Click Save.

• To change the type, click the Save as type drop down box and select the file type.

• If you wish to save a complex image as a GIF file, add a name for your graphic in the File name box. Click Save. You will get a message about Color Photo Best. Click Yes. Select System Palette or Web Palette, depending on whether you are creating a file for use with your computer or the Internet. Click OK.

• If you wish to save a complex image as a JPG file, add a name for your graphic in the File name box. Click Save. You will get a window to adjust the photo quality. If you are using the image on the Internet, adjust the file size to a smaller image. Larger files are good if you will be printing photographs. Medium sized files are good if you will be embedding them in presentation programs. Click OK.

Text

To scan in text, the computer uses OCR (optical character reader) software.

· If the page has complex formatting, select Microsoft Word in the Scan to drop down box. Each image and text block (or line of text) will be put into a text block and the look of the page will be maintained.

· If you wish to edit and reformat the page, select Text File in the Scan to drop down box. All formatting except carriage returns will be stripped in TXT format.

· If you wish to retain some of the formatting of the page, select WordPad in the Scan to drop down box. More of the original formatting will be retained.

· Another option is to select Image and Text File in the Scan to drop down box. Most of the original formatting will be retained in RTF format.

RLS

10/15/2000