Imaging the Printed Word

• VIDEO CAPTURE is an option. Indeed, it was the only option until scanners came along.
  • As with transparencies, a copystand arrangement can be used. The light source is above the printed material because it is reflected light that is needed.
    • The advantage of video capture is its ease of use and low expense.

    • The disadvantage of video capture is that the lighting must be uniform if "hot spots" and glare are to be avoided.

• HAND SCANNERS are a compact, convenient and low-cost option.
  • Because these require a steady hand to scan in a straight line, rulers or guides are available to help with the process. Even so, it does take some practice to learn to scan at a uniform rate.

  • Because the scan width is approximately 4 inches, hand scanners are best for smaller images or short text.
    • Most scanners have software that can "piece together" adjacent scanned columns.

    • The Sharp JX-100 scanner is essentially a hand scanner

      in a box with a transparent window.

      • Because the scanner is encased and controlled electronically, scans are always straight and the scan rate is always uniform.

      • Its maximum resolution is 200 DPI.

      • For color, three passes (scans) are required.

      • Although it is slow, image quality is good.

      • ADPro offered a driver for the JX-100.

      • I am not sure if the JX-100 is still available commercially.

• FLATBED SCANNERS such as the Epson ES-800C, are the top of the line in terms of quality, convenience, and cost.
  • Software drivers are available for ADPro and are an integral part of ImageFx 2.1.

  • A special cable required for connection to the parallel port is supplied by Elastic Reality.

  • Intimate control of color, brightness, sharpness, scan area, and other parameters is achieved via software.

  • This scanner is capable of 2400 DPI resolution.
    • Because full color scans of large images can require 60 MB of memory, or more, you may wish to consider a program which can use free space on your hard drive for memory.
      • GigaMem (Innovatronics) is such a (commercial) program. Shareware options exist.

      • Virtual memory programs require a Motorola chip with a functioning memory management unit (MMU).

      • Although such memory is notoriously slow, you may have no other option short of purchasing additional RAM.

  • Scanners and software marketed by Migraph provide acceptable results as well.
    • A software driver for ADPro is included.

    • Optical character recognition software (OCR) is also available from Migraph.

Revised -- December, 2002

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