Scanning pictures

Computers in Communication
Boston University College of Communication
Copyright © 1996 by Professor Jim Lengel

The easiest tools to use for this are the Apple Color OneScanner with Ofoto software. The key to success is in the software. You set the software for the kind of image you need. For most projects, you need an image that will display on your Apple color monitor. (That's a 72-dot-per-inch resolution, in 16-bit color. Many people make the mistake of setting too high a resolution, and too deep a color, which creates enormous files that are difficult to work with.) At the upper-left of the Ofoto software, set the pop-up selector to Apple Color Display. This will set the resolution automatically for you. Then choose the type of image you have in the scanner, just below: color photo, grayscale photo, or line art. Your original should be on the scanner, as straight as you can place it.

If you want to capture the entire document, just press the autoscan button and the software will go to work, scanning only the "live" area of the document, adjusting brightness and contrast, cropping it, and straightening it if necessary. Then all you have to do is save it.

If you want to capture just a part of the document, such as one picture from a page of many items, then do not use autoscan. Instead, press the prescan button. The scanner will make a cursory pass, showing the entire document on the screen. Take the mouse and drag the selection marquee over the exact part you want to scan. Now press the scan button, and let the software do its work.

· Adjusting the image.
Whether you've scanned automatically or manually, you can adjust the image with Ofoto. The menubar has selections for straightening, sharpening, and cropping the image. You will also use often the brightness and contrast controls, located under Tone in the Image menu. Ofoto has many other image-enhancement tools, which you may experiment with if you need to.

· Saving the image.
In most cases, you should save your image as a compressed file. When you choose Save from the File menu, you will have some compression options. For most images, it is best to use the Apple Photo JPEG compression, medium quality. Most half-page color images will compress down to less than 50K using this method. Don't forget to save your image in a place where you can find it later. A good method is to set up a new folder on your desktop, into which you save all the items you are capturing -- text, images, sounds -- for this multimedia project.