Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/INFOTEXT/REVIEWS.LZH/SCANMAN.TXT

Text File | 1988-11-19 | 6KB | 86 lines

                   A Look at the ScanMan Hand-Held Scanner
                       Copyright 1988 David W. Batterson


     While using this scanner, I couldn't help singing "Mr. ScanMan, bring me a
dream...."  It's a great name for a product!
     ScanMan is an affordable hand-held scanner used to scan small to medium
size photos, drawings, magazine articles, signatures, logos and so forth.  By
saving to a file, you can then use them in desktop publishing or desktop video
presentations.
     Since this is a down-sized scanner, don't expect to scan full pages, such
as an 8 1/2" x 11" letter.  The maximum width is four inches.  A default length
for the scanned area is six inches, but this can be increased up to about 14
inches.  This depends upon available RAM--the default 4" x 6" image gobbles up
120K--and video mode.
     ScanMan comes with a half-slot board (or a full-slot board for IBM PS/2 50
or above).  It requires 384K RAM for black & white, or 640K for color.
     The scanner has a switch for choosing Dither or Line Art mode.  You use
the Dither setting when the image contains color, shading or gray tones.  Then
the scanned image will contain dot patterns to show the various tones.  You use
a dial on ScanMan to provide contrast variation.  You have to experiment to
find the right contrast level for each image.
     The Line Art setting is for text and line art.  Here, you are scanning
black and white only, not gray tones.
     Scanned images are saved in three methods.  One is to scan directly into
PaintShow Plus, which is included with ScanMan.  You are able to see the image
on screen right away.  Then you can manipulate the images any way you wish:
invert, color, fill with patterns, cut and paste, rotate, add text, etc.
     PaintShow Plus saves images as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) files, with
the .TIF extension.  These can be read by PageMaker and WordPerfect 5.0.
     A second way is to scan directly to a file.  Using this method, you don't
get to see the image on screen.  Instead, you save it either as a .PCX or a
.TIF file.  The .PCX file type is used by PC Paintbrush and other programs.
     Ventura Publisher, PageMaker, WordPerfect 5.0 and Microsoft Paint can read
files in the .PCX format.  You can load .PCX graphics files to PFS: First
Publisher.  But you must save them as .ART files to use them in your document.
     The third way is the ability to scan into the Microsoft Windows (version
2.03 or above) clipboard, with the utility program called WinScan.  As I
don't have Windows, I wasn't able to evaluate this method.
     While scanning with ScanMan, you have to have a steady hand.  The
suggested speed of your hand movement is between 1/2" to 2" per second.  A
slower rate is recommended for shaded images, and a smooth motion--rather than
jerky--is the right way.
     I found that it wasn't that easy to keep an exact straight line down the
image.  Any wobbling is going to cause a glitch in your scanned picture.  So I
tried using a thick ruler (and a book) as a guiding edge.  This helped a lot.
The outer edges of ScanMan are slightly rounded.  I would have preferred them
to be perfectly straight; this would help while using a makeshift guide.
     Practice makes perfect, though.  With time you will probably learn to
increase the steadiness of your hand, like a surgeon or diamond cutter!
     ScanMan features 200 dpi (dots per inch) resolution.  How it prints will
depend upon your particular printer.  Of course, laser printers are best,
providing resolution of 300 dpi.
     The PaintShow Plus program is your basic paint program, much like others.
It has a capture utility which lets you save any screen graphics to disk, such
as Lotus 1-2-3 graphs.  Then you can enhance them.  Or you can create a slide
show for desktop presentations.  Slide shows can be run automatically, or
manually using mouse or keyboard commands.
     There are also file conversion utilities.  These convert .TIF files to
.PCX files, .PCX to .TIF, and .MAC to .TIF.
     PaintShow Plus works with most all video modes, including Hercules, CGA,
EGA, VGA, ATT-6300, HPVECTRA, and many more.
     ScanMan is a fun and effective gadget.  If you cannot afford a flatbed
scanner and do a lot of desktop publishing, you'll find it a very useful tool.
It costs $299 if you order it directly from Logitech, but it sells for much
less at discounters or mail order companies.
     For more information, contact Logitech, Inc., 6505 Kaiser Dr., Fremont, CA
 94555; [phone]; FAX [phone].
                                       #
     David Batterson is an independent computer journalist/reviewer.  He also
does technical writing and desktop publishing.  Contact him with comments via
MCI MAIL: DBATTERSON.

     ADDENDUM:
     ~~~~~~~~~
     After writing this review, I saw the updated version of ScanMan at COMDEX
which will soon be available (or already is while you are reading this).
     The improved ScanMan has settings of 100, 200, 300 and 400 dpi.  The
Dither control has three settings, instead of just one.
     Otherwise, it works about the same.  The provided ScanWare software
reflects the changed hardware.
     If you are buying ScanMan, make sure you are getting the LATEST version.
Dealers may still have the older one in stock.  It's easy to tell the
difference: look for the dpi switch which has 1,2,3,4 settings.  The older one
has a contrast control but no dpi switch.  The price remains the same.