When you first add a scanner or a digital camera to your PC setup, Windows 98 automatically installs a new control panel called Scanners and Cameras. Even though different imaging input devices use different I/O buses - SCSI, Firewire, parallel, serial, USB or even infra-red - the new control panel is a central point where they can be managed and their actions customised.

Each scanner or digital camera is listed in the main Devices tab of the control panel. Selecting one and clicking on the Properties button allows you to customise a number of system attributes dedicated to that device. You are shown its current status (online or offline) and which port it expects to be attached to. This can be helpful on those occasions when you think everything is connected correctly but you cannot get your image capture or downloading software to see the device. If the device is attached but appears to be acting erratically, you can check that it is working properly by clicking the Test Scanner or Camera button.

Certain scanners and digital cameras are supplied with software drivers which allow them to be operated from within graphics applications. Others may support Windows 98's SendTo utility so that you can scan or download an image using the device's software and then have the image opened automatically within a graphics application. In the latter case, the Scanners and Cameras control panel can be used to link such programs to particular devices. In the control panel's Events tab, you simply select the programs you want to link to each device.

These 'events' can be logged for future reference. Click on the Logging settings tab, click the arrow in Logging module to select the type of logging you want, and click any combination of the check boxes in Log settings for what events you want recorded. If the Events tab is not displayed, then this feature is not available for the selected scanner or digital camera.

The Scanners and Cameras control panel also provides a single point where you can apply colour management features to each image capture device on your system. Select a device, click on the Properties button, then click on the Color Management tab. Here you can choose which hardware profile to use with the selected device, even without it being attached at the time. The specific profile for each imaging device must be obtained from hardware manufacturers.