Welcome To Web Tech Geek Website!
SCANNERS!
Scanning Tips and Reviews!
More software downloads
Scanning Tips!
Scanner prices have continued to dropped dramatically
in recent years, making digital imaging technology very
affordable for more people than ever. At most any computer
electronics store you can purchase a basic scanner for
as little as $50, or a very sophisticated model for $300
or less. Most scanners work with pictures printed on paper,
but some work directly from negatives and or transparencies.
Almost all scanners typically come bundled with basic
software that lets you view a fast pre-scan, and then
make certain basic adjustments before doing the "real"
scan saving you time. Generally, this software has gotten
very easy to use over the years, but it still helps to
have someone with you that has experience with computers
when you get your first scanner.
Virtually all scanners on the market feature software
to edit images and recognize text (OCR). Some time spent
studying the software packages and their features will
help you determine if they offer the added value that
you are searching for with a scanner.
Are you looking for a basic scanner for home use and
simple projects. A 30-bit 300 dpi, parallel port model
would probably be the best choice. Perhaps you are searching
for a scanner that will serve as an office companion.
Features such as the ability to scan legal size or larger
may be an issue. You would also probably want the ability
to fax or copy. Perhaps you are a graphic designer that
needs many of the features a 36-bit scanner can offer.
When shopping for a scanner, the important figure is
the scanner's optical resolution. Another issue of course
is to understand how much resolution to use for each application.
Many people will automatically assume that they need to
always use the highest amount of resolution available
for the best quality. This is may not be true. When scanning
an image with a flaw, the added resolution will only pronounce
this flaw.
dpi ?
The resolution at which you scan a picture
determines how much detail gets captured in the digital
file, and the size at which the picture will print or
display. Resolution is commonly measured in dots per inch
(dpi). The higher the dpi, the larger the digital
file will be an important consideration if you have
limited ability to store digital files, or if you'll be
sharing them via e-mail or the Web.
Resolution and file sizes of images are directly related.
As you increase the scanner's resolution, the file size
will also increase. For e-mailing an image or placing
it on a website, it is important to not use too high of
a resolution. The average viewable resolution on a typical
monitor is 75 dpi, so it is unnecessary to scan at any
greater dpi when displaying items on screen.
For printing to ink jets or color laser printers, you
need not go beyond 300 dpi as the printer's available
line screen figure (the amount of lines per inch available
when an image is halftone) will typically never move beyond
100 lpi. The rule of thumb is to scan an image at one
and a half to two times the available line screen of your
output device. Following this rule, you can see that 300
dpi is adequate.
I personally have found that for Scanning
Photo's 180 DPI works best. The lower the resolution the
faster it will scan and the smaller the file size will
be. For Text 300 DPI seems to work well.
If you plan to use your inkjet printer to
print the picture, scanning at 300 dpi will probably suffice.
However, if you know the picture will only be viewed on
computer screens (which have very low resolution compared
to any printer), 72 dpi is appropriate.
I suggest you playing around with your scanner. Take
a real small picture and scan it at 1200 DPI and 25 Percent
or 9600 and 5 percent you can take a very small image
and enlarge it this way without losing resolution, however,
depending on the program you're using you may get some
strange results.
Which file format? Most all scanners allow you to create
digital pictures in JPEG or TIFF format. If you plan to
share your picture online, JPEG is your best bet. This
format also works well with most image-editing software
packages. JPEG images are compressed files that can save
you space on your computer hard drive.
Scanning Old Pictures Tips!
Most old pictures fade, so correcting the contrast
is one key to reversing the effects of time on your treasured
pictures. For best results, you can make your own "gray
patch" and scan it along with your image. Here's
some tip:
A. Cut small, equally sized rectangles of bright white
paper, nonreflective black paper (or velour), and flat
gray paper that looks about halfway between the black
and white.
B. Glue the rectangles in a row on a strip of paper or
thin cardboard. Trim away any excess cardboard.
C. When scanning an old picture, place your gray patch
right next to the original print, so you can scan the
two of them together into one image. This allows your
scanner's software to use the light and dark values in
the gray patch as a basis for adjusting the contrast in
your picture.
D. After you've made your scan (with adjusted contrast),
you can crop out the gray patch from the picture.
The Best low-priced
scanners that have most of the features that you need.
Umax
Astra 3400 Price $119. Street price $99. The Umax
Astra 3400 was the best-scanner and the fastest
of this group. The Astra 3400 features four case-mounted
operating buttons, which are labeled in English. Three
of the buttons are dedicated to specific functions: launching
your e-mail program, scanning to file, and powering on
& off. The fourth button is a user-programmable button
that lets you perform a single task of your choice. The
ScanSoft bundled OmniPage LE OCR software generated an
super rendition of our one-column OCR test. The three-column
test results were especially impressive in that the unit
was able to distinguish between text and graphic elements
and interpret each type correctly for placement in the
document. The Umax Astra 3400 also turned in the fastest
scanning times, averaging less than 25 seconds per scanned
image, compared with the other scanners, that average
over 1 minute.
Users who want no-fuss scanning, the Umax
Astra 3400 will automatically detects if your document
is color or monochrome and makes the adjustments to its
scan settings. It can also crops the image when your scanning
an item that's 8.5x11 inches or smaller, and it will automatically
rotates images. Presto Page Manager is included for filing
scanned documents into folders. For $99. You would be
hard-pressed to find a better budget scanner. Pros: Fast
scanning, Outstanding ease of use,Excellent OCR performance.
Rating 5 out of 5. 
MFG PART NO. SPKG13439 •
Computer type: PC • Interface: USB • Type: Flatbed scanner
• Maximum color depth (in bits): 42 • True optical resolution:
600 x 1,200-dpi
HP
ScanJet 3400Cse Price $129. Hewlett-Packard combines
both parallel and USB connections. This makes for a simple
connectivity choice for users who don't know if their
computer supports USB, as well as for owners of older
systems that probably only have a parallel-port connection.
The three operating buttons on the scanner's case are
set up to launch scanning, copying, and e-mail programs
without using your the desktop computer.
HP PrecisionScan software that came with
the ScanJet did a good job with the one-column OCR test
page, but it had trouble converted a three-column test
page. The ScanJet excelled on the color-photo scanning
tests, The unit's reproduction abilities were among the
best of all the units reviewed here, with rich hues and
subtle differences in contrast clearly displayed. The
scanner automatically distinguishes color items from black
and white, and adjusts them accordingly. The HP ScanJet
3400C is the most expensive unit included here. It may
not be the best performer for the price, but it has an
excellent design and can be used with both older and newer
systems. Pros: Dual USB & Parallel-Port, Easy to use
controls, Excellent color photo scanning.
Rating 4 out of 5. 
Maximum color depth (in bits): 42 • True
optical resolution: 600 x 1,200-dpi
Microtek
ScanMaker 3700 Price$119. Microtek ScanMaker 3700
is the only one that includes an attachment for scanning
slides and filmstrips. Slide scanning is a task that appeals
to graphics professionals and the average consumer.
Microtek has something for everyone in its
design of the ScanMaker, which includes both a simplified
preset-style interface for the scanning software, as well
as a group of advanced settings. The scanner and its software
are also designed to work with both Windows 98 and Macintosh
OS 6.8. The three buttons on the ScanMaker's case are
identified by icons, no text, which can leave you guessing
as to each button's function.
The buttons are programmable with one of
the software utilities bundled with the scanner. This
provides a great amount of flexibility. You can direct
the output of a scanning job to any program installed
on your desktop computer with the touch of a single button
-- provided, of course, that you remember which button
is which. Installing the ScanMaker 3700 is a little difficult.
The CD that comes with the unit includes 10 software packages.
Pros: Dual OS windows and Mac, Cons: Bad software install.
Rating 4 out of 5.
Maximum color depth (in bits): 42 • True
optical resolution: 600 x 1,200-dpi
Acer
640BU Price $99. Installation of the Acer scanner
required quite a bit of tooling around with drivers, and
the software installation and demanded a bit of detective
work as well. We would have expected to wrestle with this
type of installation program, All of the other scanner
entries in found ways to simplify the installation and
operation of their products.
Although the Acer 640BU had the best OCR
performance of the group, it's not the most consumer-friendly
unit we've run across. Once you've figured out how to
use the utility programs that come with the Acer 640BU,
you'll have even more control over functions like color
depth, gamma correction, and other details that may be
important to graphics professionals (but not so significant
for home users). Another slightly confusing but useful
detail is the way each of the scanner's three operating
buttons can handle two different functions; one function
launches when you press the button quickly, and the other
launches when you hold the button down for two seconds.
Oddly, some functions, such as OCR, execute in a background
process on your PC, without providing any indication that
they actually worked.
Acer was the winner for OCR accuracy. Even
our OCR test page emerged almost flawlessly from ABBYY
FineReader, the OCR program bundled with the unit. The
640BU was among the best performers in rendering our sample
color photos, with good skin tones and even color across
the spectrum. Acer 640BU has its problems, you may be
able to overlook them in view of its low price and good
performance. Pros: Super OCR, Top quality color reproduction.
Cons: Hard installation,
Rating 3 out of 5. 
Maximum color depth (in bits): 42 • True
optical resolution: 600 x 1,200-dpi
Related: More Software Reviews and
computer help pages. Reviews
Index Page!
