About scanning

Microsoft Office Document Imaging combines and manages the separate tasks of scanning documents and performing optical character recognition (OCR) on scanned documents. In most cases, Office Document Imaging streamlines these tasks by controlling the scanner software and initiating the OCR process without further intervention.

Scan presets

When you scan a new document, Office Document Imaging provides several presets, offering easily selectable settings for common scanning tasks. Each preset is optimized for different scanning needs. You can customize presets, or you can create your own presets for specific purposes. Built-in presets include the following:

• Black and white   Scans in monochrome at 300 dots per inch. This preset is designed for optimum OCR results when scanning black text on white paper, or when scanning line art. Scanning is faster than with other presets, and the resulting image files are small.
• Black and white from color page   Scans in grayscale at 300 dots per inch, but saves the resulting file in monochrome format. This preset is designed to provide maximum text resolution for OCR when scanning difficult originals containing colored backgrounds or colored text.
• Grayscale   Scans in grayscale at 200 dots per inch. This preset is useful when scanning pages containing continuous-tone, black and white images (such as photographs) and text, or colored text. This preset creates somewhat larger image files.
• Color   Scans in color at 150 dots per inch. This preset is designed for scanning full-color documents. Scanning is slower, small text may not be legible enough for OCR, and the resulting image files are large.

In addition to resolution and scan type, each preset controls the following settings:

• Page size
• Default folder for saving files
• Language used for OCR
• Save multi-page documents together or as separate pages
• Automatically perform OCR after scanning
• Automatically create file names
• Automatically adjust pages scanned upside down or out of alignment

Scanner drivers

The first time you scan a new document, Office Document Imaging may check your scanner and ask you to scan a test document. This process might take a while, but it is recommended that you complete the operation so that Office Document Imaging can properly identify your computer hardware. If possible, Office Document Imaging determines the necessary settings, and if not, your scanner driver dialog box is displayed each time you scan. If you update drivers or install a new scanner, you can rerun the scanner testing procedure.

If possible, Office Document Imaging manages the scanning process for you. If you want to adjust settings yourself, you can choose to display your scanner driver dialog box each time you scan. To do so, click Scan New Document on the File menu, click the Scanner button, and then select the Show scanner driver dialog before scanning check box. If this option is not available, Office Document Imaging displays your scanner driver dialog box each time you scan.

Automatic document feeders

Automatic document feeders (ADFs) operate in different ways, depending on the type of scanner. Flatbed scanners sometimes have add-on feeder attachments, while multi-function scanners usually have integral feeders. The first time you scan, Office Document Imaging performs a test on your scanner and asks you to load pages into your ADF. If possible, Office Document Imaging detects the ADF for you.

Notes

• If you are using Microsoft Windows Millennium, using a Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) scanner driver with an ADF is not recommended. For best results, install the TWAIN scanner driver supplied by the scanner manufacturer.
• If you want to check your settings or turn off ADF support, click Scan New Document on the File menu, click the Scanner button, and then select or clear the Use automatic document feeder check box. If this option is not available, Office Document Imaging displays your scanner driver dialog box each time you scan.
• When scanning multi-page documents using an ADF, Office Document Imaging usually combines all the scanned pages into a single file on disk. If you prefer to save each page separately, click Scan New Document on the File menu. In the Microsoft Office Document Scanning dialog box, click Preset options, and then click either Create new preset or Edit selected preset. On the Page tab of the Preset Options dialog box, select the Save each page as a separate document check box.
• TWAIN-emulation drivers will not appear in the Scanner list in the Choose Scanner dialog box.