Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-3413/news.txt/scanning.asc

Text File | 1989-04-05 | 24KB | 461 lines

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ~      THROUGH A SCANNER DARKLY      ~
                  ~                                    ~
                  ~     How to Choose, Use and Get     ~
                  ~   The Very Best From Your Scanner  ~
                  ~                                    ~
                  ~           by John Weller           ~
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


      Why buy a scanner?   Why pay £100+ for a device whose sole  function
is  to copy from paper onto the screen?   The answer used to be  that  you
needed  a scanner to create clip art,  but with the hundreds of  discs  of
IMG  pictures  now available,  you could just as easily  function  without
one.   The  real reason for owning a scanner is to produce  *personalised*
clip art and as a tool for creating graphics.

     Serious  scanner  users can be divided into  three  main  categories:
computer artists who need to input drawings and sketches,  DTPers who need
to  create  custom clip art,  and heavy text users who need to  read  text
from paper with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR)  programme.   These
categories obviously overlap in individual users,  and anyone involved  in
serious DTP work will use all three techniques at some time or another.

     A  fourth  category has evolved in the last  couple  of  years:  non-
specialist users who use hand scanners to create their own clip  art,  and
programmers  who  use them as another tool for creating  title  and  games
screens.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          ~ CHOOSING A SCANNER ~
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     So what's available,  and at what price?   A4 flatbed scanners are as
simple to use as a photocopier,  but their £500+ price tag means that they
will  only  be  considered by a serious minority  of  users.   A  slightly
cheaper  solution  is  the Pandaal A4  Professional,  a  210mm  wide  hand
scanner  with  a motor attached to feed sheets through it,  but  the  £500
asking  price  severely limits its market.   The  third,  and  most  cost-
effective option,  is a standard 105mm wide hand scanner,  of which  three
are available at around the £100 mark.   These are the units that I'll  be
covering in this article.

     Most  hand scanners use the same units which are presumably  produced
in  the same Taiwanese factory;  the differences between them are  in  the
interfaces used and the software supplied with them.   This can vary  from
the very good to the abysmal,  and is the most important thing to look  at
when deciding which one to buy.

     The main options are the Golden Image scanner,  the Pandaal Daatascan
Pro,  the  Zydec,  and the Datel Geniscan.   These are all supplied  as  a
scanner,  an  interface that plugs into the cartridge port,  the  software
needed to drive it,  and a separate  power supply unit.   Each is  claimed
to be capable of running in high or medium resolutions,  scanning at  100,
200,  300 or 400 Dots Per Inch (DPI),  and of saving the resulting picture
as  either  an IMG file or a Degas screen.   But how do  they  perform  in
practice?  Let's have a look:


                        ~ PANDAAL DAATASCAN PRO ~

HARDWARE:  This  is a pleasantly squat unit that fits nicely  into  either
the left or the right hand.   The interface fits firmly into the cartridge
port  and  rests on the desktop,  and the PSU is the usual  'small  brick'
that  can  be placed out of the way under the desk.   The  scanner  has  a
small  button  on the left side that must be depressed when  the  unit  is
being  run over an image,  and a four-position sliding switch that can  be
set  for  line  drawings or three 'dithered image' options  for  use  when
scanning  illustrations or photographs.   The left side has the 100 -  400
DPI settings and a rotary switch for adjusting contrast.

SOFTWARE:   Very nice indeed.   The Daatascan Pro software is based on the
'page window and working window' system where you have an overall view  of
the page that you're working on, plus a separate window where you can trim
and alter your current scan before pasting it onto the page.  Most options
are available as either icons or menu entries.

            The majority of the software's options involve setting up  the
size  of your work page and choosing the parameters of your current  scan;
there  are only a few options for trimming and manipulating  the  finished
scan.   Most scanner settings (DPI, B/W scan or dithered image) have to be
set in the software as well as on the scanner's controls.

            The  software  runs in high or  medium  resolutions,  and  the
finished  image can be saved as either an IMG file or as a high or  medium
res  Degas screen.   If the scanned image is larger then screen size  then
you  will  have  to choose which part of it you want to save  as  a  Degas
screen.

EASE  OF  USE:   Very  easy to use.   You choose the DPI  setting  on  the
scanner  unit,  set it in the software,  input the size of scan  that  you
wish to make (in inches or mm),  and then select 'scan' as an icon or menu
option.   The  screen then clears and when you depress the scanner  unit's
operating  button and run it over the image,  it appears on the screen  in
real time.   This means that you can alter the contrast as you're  working
to produce the 'crispest' scan.

PRICE:  Available from most mail-order firms for £109.99.


                          ~ ZYDEC HAND SCANNER ~

     This  is  a rebadged Daatascan Pro that comes with the  same  scanner
unit,  interface,  software and manual.  The only difference is that it is
only  available  from Evesham Micros and is priced at £10  less  than  the
'name' version.  Now you know which one to buy...

PRICE: £99.99 from Evesham Micros.


                            ~ DATEL GENISCAN ~

HARDWARE:   The scanner is more rounded than the Daatascan, but still fits
nicely  into either hand.   Settings available are 100,  200,  300 or  400
DPI,  an operating switch,  and a contrast control.  The interface is much
larger than the Pandaal one and is not deep enough to be supported by  the
desktop - potentially dangerous for the cartridge port.  The power  supply
unit appears to be very cheaply made.

SOFTWARE:    Will *not* run on an STE, and Datel have "no plans to upgrade
it".   That just about sums Datel up;  they're good at  box-shifting,  but
beware if you want any technical questions answered - you'll be refered to
their resident technician,  whose normal answer is, "I don't know anything
about the software; we buy that in".

             The programme is the most basic that I've seen,  but it  does
its  job  reasonably  well.   It runs in medium or  high  resolutions  and
scans at 100 - 400 DPI.   The 300 DPI setting is almost unusable,  as even
the  most  steady movement over the page results  in  extraneous  vertical
lines  in the scanned image.   Finished scans can be saved as  either  IMG
files or as Degas screens.   The majority of the options available are for
setting the scan itself,  and the finished scan can only be rotated in  90
degrees  steps or inverted in colour.   You'll have to load the scan  into
an art programme if you want to trim it or rotate it by a few degrees.

              There's also a particularly nasty bug in the programme  that
sometimes produces IMG files that won't load into most other  utility,  WP
or DTP programmes.   The only way that I could get around this problem was
to run every IMG file produced by it through the Daatascan Pro software  -
hardly an ideal solution...

EASE OF USE:   Very easy to use,  but with limited software options and  a
really  choice  bug.   I'd recommend this set-up *only*  to  anyone  who's
offered  it at a rock-bottom price,  and is prepared to find a way  around
the IMG bug.

PRICE:  Currently on sale at £119.99.


                      ~ GOLDEN IMAGE HAND SCANNER ~

          See Dave Henniker's review at the end of this article.



     Of the above units,  the ones that I would recommend are the Zydec at
£99.99 and the Golden Image at £109.99.   The Zydec offers a good range of
software functions,  but the Touch-up software that comes with the  Golden
Image unit is far more comprehensive and allows you to load and save in  a
much larger range of formats.   An upgrade has also been announced for the
Golden Image that will allow you to scan in true grey scales,  rather than
mimicking them with dithering.


                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                              ~ RESOLUTION ~
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     A little theory first,  and then the practice...   The most important
thing to understand is how the resolution that you scan and print at  will
affect the size of the finished image.

     Let's  consider an example:   you have an image that's 3" x  3"  that
you  want to scan.   Scanning it at 100 dots per inch (DPI) will  give  an
on-screen image of 300 x 300 pixels:  at 200 DPI, 600 x 600 pixels: at 300
DPI 900 x 900 pixels:  and at 400 DPI,  1200 x 1200 pixels.  Assuming that
you're  working with a high resolution black and white  monitor,  anything
other than the 100 DPI scan will be larger than the screen size,  as  each
dot  is  represented as a pixel.

     The  software deals with this by allowing you to scroll  through  the
scan  with the window bars.   When you come to save the picture as an  IMG
file,  you'll find that the size of it is proportional to the DPI  setting
that you choose.   To give an example,  a complex 3" x 3" image scanned at
100  DPI  will give a file sized approximately 30K;  a 200 DPI  scan  will
give 60K; a 300 DPI scan, 90K; and a 400 DPI scan, 120K.

     When you print out your scan,  or incorporate it into a document, you
can normally choose the DPI setting that it's to be printed at.   And this
is where it gets tricky...  a 3" x 3" image scanned at 100 DPI and printed
at 100 DPI will print out at 3" x 3", but any larger DPI setting will give
a proportionally *smaller* printout.   Thus, a 200 DPI setting will give a
printout of 1.5" x 1.5",  and a 400 DPI setting, .75" x .75".  Printing at
a  higher-then-scanned  resolution  will  give  a  smaller  printout,  and
printing at a lower-than-scanned resolution will give a larger printout.

     This would be fine if all WP and DTP software offered a set range  of
100 to 400 DPI for printouts,  but,  because of the different  resolutions
possible  on  a dot-matrix or a laser printer,  you're more likely  to  be
offered  printout resolutions of 75,  150 or 300 DPI.   So,  the 3"  x  3"
image scanned at 100 DPI will print at 3.75" x 3.75" with 75 DPI;  at 2" x
2" with 150 DPI; or at 1" x 1" with a 300 DPI setting.

     The sensible thing to do is to make sure that you scan and print  out
at the same DPI setting,  and never go higher than the resolution possible
on  your printer.   For dot-matrix printers this will be a maximum of  200
DPI, and for injets or laser printers, 300 DPI.


                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                         ~ USING A HAND SCANNER ~
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     The  main  drawback with hand scanners is that you have to  move  the
scanning  unit  as  steadily  as possible  over  the  paper;  any  lateral
movement  will give a skewed scan,  which is especially noticeable in  any
image with strong vertical lines.   Most people overcome this problem with
practice  but  another  way around it is to always run  the  edge  of  the
scanner  along  a ruler.   This will give a steadier scan  and  will  keep
lateral distortion to a minimum.

     You  should  think very carefully before setting the  area  that  you
want to scan.   Do you want to scan the image as tightly as possible,  and
keep  any trimming to the minimum,  or do you want to cover a larger  area
and  guarantee scanning all the image in one go?   I normally  choose  the
second option as it also produces a steadier scan.

     A  third point to consider is whether to scan as a 'line drawing'  or
a  'dithered image'.   The line drawing setting applies a filter  so  that
any  tone below the filter level will be scanned as black,  and  any  tone
above  it will be scanned as white.   This is perfect for drawings or  for
text,  but  if  you want to scan photographs or any  illustration  with  a
range of tones then you'll need the dither settings.   There's normally  a
choice of three of these,  and each one represents grey tones by different
patterns of dots or lines.   The only advice I can give you with these  is
to make several scans,  each with a different dither and contrast setting,
and then choose the one that you prefer.


                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ~ CLEANING-UP and MANIPULATING SCANS ~
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     You  now have an image that you can print from,  but a  little  extra
work will give you a far crisper result.   Scanner software generally  has
only limited editing options - enough to to edit,  trim, reverse or rotate
-  and  the best way to remove the inevitable extraneous  dots  from  your
scan  is to load it into a good drawing programme.   You can then edit  it
in any way that you want to and add fills,  lettering, or maybe even a box
around it.

>>>>  Now go to the 'Load Picture' option and load  SCANNER1.PC3 from  the
Screens  folder.   This  is a high resolution pic that won't show  at  its
best in colour.  <<<<

     The drawing programmes that I'd recommend,  in order of  price,  are:
PUBLIC  PAINTER  v1.0 (an excellent P.D programme that can load  and  save
IMG  pix,  and allows you to load any GEM font without having to create  a
new Assign.Sys file);  Atari's HYPERPAINT 2 (an art programme that can  be
run  in  all resolutions,  and can cope  with  larger-than-screensize  IMG
files,  price  £30);   TOUCH UP (see Dave Henniker's review at the end  of
this  article);  MEGAPAINT (a superb drawing and  manipulation  programme,
but  at  an  £85 price);  and RETOUCHE (the  ultimate  picture  retouching
programme - more options than you'll ever need,  but at a price to match).
Of  these programmes,  only HyperPaint 2 will allow you to work in  colour
with IMG files.


                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ~ ADVANCED and EXPERIMENTAL SCANNING ~
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     The emphasis so far has been on how to produce a crisp scan that  can
be used as quickly as possible,  but there are other techniques that  can
be used if you're interested in using your scanner for creative  purposes.
If you're  interested in producing artwork or making backgrounds for  text
to be laid  onto,  then you might want to deliberately distort your  scan.
The easiest way to do this is to move the scanner laterally as you run  it
down the page,  but  you could also re-scan the same area  repeatedly,  or
adjust  the contrast to give a particularly heavy or 'washed  out'  image.

     You could also try scanning through wrinkled  cellophane,  projecting
an  image  onto  the back of a screen and  then  scanning  the  front,  or
perhaps  fold  up the paper that an image is printed  on  to  deliberately
break it up.  (Shades of William Burrough's cut-up technique here...)

>>>>   Now  go to the 'Load Picture' option and select  SCANNER2.PC3  from
the Screens folder.   This is a high resolution pic that won't show at its
best in colour.  <<<<

     If you then load the image into a drawing programme you can add  mono
fills,  contrasting  lettering or a caption at the bottom,  or  experiment
with pasting images together in 'replace' or 'transparent'  modes.   Areas
can be retouched with the spraygun,  or further distorted with the options
available in the programme.   The possiblities are literally only  limited
by your imagination.


                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                             ~ OTHER IDEAS ~
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Everyone  will  have  their own uses for a  scanner,  but  how  about
scanning  your signature to use in letters,  or perhaps pasting it over  a
patterned background to give a 'banknote' effect?   "None Genuine  Without
This Trademark."

>>>>  Now go to the 'Load Picture' option and select SCANNER3.PC3 from the
Screens folder.  This is a high resolution pic that won't show at its best
in colour.  <<<<

     Programmers  can use a scanner to help create title or games  screens
- scan drawings in black and white and then convert them to colour.

     An  idea  that Liz and I are working on is to create  vector  graphic
heraldry for a medieval Play By Mail game that we're involved  with.   Liz
will  draw the coats of arms,  I'll scan them at 200 DPI,  clean them  up,
and  then convert them to vector graphics with either Silhouette or  Avant
Vector.   Voila!  Graphics that can be printed at any size without loss of
detail or blockiness.


                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                              ~ CONCLUSION ~
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     As  you  can see,  there are more uses for scanners than  for  simply
copying  an  image  from  paper to the screen.   They can  be  used  as  a
creative  tool for artwork and graphic design,  and as a means of  freeing
your  imagination if,  like me,  you're not particularly good at  drawing.

                           Scan on, and Enjoy!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    ~ THE GOLDEN IMAGE HAND SCANNER ~
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                   A 'hands-on' review by Dave Henniker


     I  have had this scanner since August of last year and have  used  it
fairly  regularly since then.  I ordered it from Evesham Micros.  When  it
arrived I was somewhat dismayed to find that the cartridge was a 'returned
under  guarantee' job that had a previous customer's  name  attached.  The
mains  adapter  had  an integral European two-pin  plug  rather  than  the
normal  13  Amp type,  but a shaver adapter was supplied so  it  could  be
connected to the mains.  Unfortunately,  the mains adapter was duff as the
transformer primary winding was open-circuit.

     Undaunted,  I  dug out my bench power supply and adjusted it  to  the
correct DC voltage,  switched everything off,  connected it all up and had
a go at scanning something.  It worked OK but there was a shadow down  one
side  of every scanned image.  I examined the scanner and found  that  the
clear  plastic lens had a manufacturing defect causing the LED's light  to
be defocussed.

     By  now I was feeling rather cynical about the "Dealer Of  The  Year"
award given to Evesham Micros. The package consisted of the following:

     Scanner        (Faulty Lens)

     PSU            (Two-pin plug,  wobbly in shaver adaptor, designed for
                    220 Volts and it was duff)

     Cartridge      (Previous customer's name & address taped to it)

     Software       (TouchUp and Outprint, both OK!)

     Manuals        (Hardware manual - slim and distinctly Taiwanese)
                    (Software manual - thick and chunky, very good)


     I  sent  the  whole lot back to Evesham but  kept  the  software  and
manuals.  I  had  plenty  of  time to familiarise  myself  with  these  as
Evesham's response wasn't very speedy.

     TouchUp  is much more than just a scanner-driver program.  It can  be
used  as  a  monochrome drawing program without  a  scanner  at  all.  The
drawing area can be many times larger than the screen area but is  limited
by the memory capacity in your computer.  There are far too many  features
to  go  into  here but the manual is very  comprehensive  and  guides  you
gently through all the options.

     It  requires  a minimum of 1 Meg memory and GDOS (supplied)  must  be
installed  in your auto folder.  GDOS is mainly required for  printing  as
TouchUp   doesn't  actually use GDOS fonts.  TouchUp has its  own  outline
fonts in several typefaces,  and these can be scaled up as big as you like
with no loss of quality.  Both TouchUp and its sister program Outprint can
act  as  a shell and start each other up without having to return  to  the
desktop.

     When the faulty scanner was replaced I didn't use the supplied  mains
adaptor  because  it  had a tendency to fall out of  the  shaver  adaptor.
Instead  I  used  one meant for a portable TV.  Don't  try  this  yourself
unless  you understand about stabilised voltages and voltages  which  rise
with  no load.  I've been using this setup for about nine months now  with
no problems.

     The scanner has the following controls:

     START BUTTON

     Right-handed users will find their thumb fits comfortably  here.  You
     hold this in as you pull the scanner down the page.


     TEXT PHOTO SWITCH

     For  normal  black and white scans this slide switch is left  in  the
     TEXT position.  The three other positions give different dot  effects
     to simulate grey scales.


     LIGHT DARK CONTROL

     This variable control can usually be set once,  then forgotten about.
     You should only need to adjust it for scanning photographs or  images
     on dark paper.


     DOTS PER INCH SWITCH

     You can scan at 100,  200,  300 or 400 DPI.  You have to remember  to
     adjust the software to the same resolution.


     The scanner is really easy to use.  TouchUp has options for different
lengths of scan and even half-width scans.  When you select scan, the LEDs
in  the scanner light up and the image underneath is visible  through  the
window,  illuminated by the green light.  When you're ready,  you hold  in
the Start button and move the scanner slowly across the image.  You can go
as  slow as you like.  If you go too fast then a red LED flashes  to  tell
you to slow down.

     A  four  inch  wide scan at 300 DPI is  1200  dots  wide.  The  SM124
monitor  screen  is 640 dots wide.  If your printer can print at  300  DPI
then  the  printout will be the same size as the original  300  DPI  scan.
However,  the  package may not include printer drivers for  all  printers.
When  I  upgraded to a Hewlett Packard Deskjet 500,  I had to  buy  a  new
printer driver.  This was also usable with Easydraw so I didn't grudge the
extra expense too much.

     Outprint  is flexible and offers different scaling and  justification
options.  Both applications are robust and reliable (no bombs or  crashes)
but  are  a wee bit slow.  You can save and load images in  a  variety  of
formats  which  makes it easy to print them on an IBM  compatible  with  a
laser printer.

     In  conclusion I must say that I thoroughly recommend  this  package.
It gets the results I want with no hassles.  The .IMG pictures are  really
nice for spicing up letters in Write On.


                              ~~~~~eof~~~~~