• Making a Preview
• Positioning the Scan Frame
• Making a Final Scan

These basic procedures allow you to scan orginal documents directly into a new Photoshop window. These documents can be black and white (including text and line drawings), or color photographs. The scanner and software should be ready for use before continuing in this chapter.

This chapter is provided so you can get started quickly and easily. If you need more detailed information, see Chapter 4, Using Art-Scan Software. Chapter 4 has specific reference information for Art-Scan features, commands, and windows.

The Art-Scan Interface

The Art-Scan Interface was designed to be powerful and easy to use. The picture above shows the Art-Scan interface screen that we will be using to create a simple scan.

Scanning is done in four easy steps, which are designed in more detail in the following pages:

1. Previewing the image to be scanned.
2. Selecting the area of the image that you want to scan.
3. Setting your options, such as resolution and scale.
4. Scanning.

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Using Auto Scan Mode

The fastest and easiest way to scan an image using Art-Scan is to use the built-in Auto Scan feature. This feature will scan and determine what type of image you have in the scanner (line art, grayscale, or color). Next, it will determine where the image is and scan that image for you at a resolution that will print at optimum quality for your printer type (this works for about 90% of all orginals). All that is required for you are three easy steps:

1. Once you have loaded the Art-Scan program, click once on the drop down list to change from 'Single Image with Current Settings' to 'Auto Preview, Settings, & Scan'. The majority of the controls will disappear from your screen.
2. Make sure that you have an image placed correctly in your scanner, ready to be scanned.
3. Finally, click on the Auto Scan button to begin your scan. During the scanning process, you will be asked whether or not you want to scan another picture. Select Yes if you want to use Auto Scan to scan another image or No if you are ready to see your first scan.
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Scanning Images Manually

1. Making a Preview - Since most images that you scan will be smaller than the full 8.5" x 11" or 8.5" x 14" that your flatbed allows, it is often necessary to tell the scanner what it is that you want to scan. To do this, you must first create a preview scan. This preview scan provides an overview of the entire scan area (up to 8.5" by 14"). A crop box allows you to limit the size of a preview scan. Since the preview scan is just an overview, it is done at a low resolution. You can set the preview resolution under the preferences icon. Higher resolution setttings will make your zoomed view less fuzzy but the preview scan will run slower.

To make a preview scan:

1. Load the Art-Scan software from your image editing software.
2. Place the media that you want to scan inside of your scanner (for the correct way to place media inside your scanner, please refer to your scanner's User Guide).
3. From the Art-Scan main menu you will need to select the correct Scan Mode for your document. The choices are RGB, Grayscale, Line Art, and Vector Line Art. For example, if your document contains text or black and white line drawings, select Line Art. If you are scanning a black and whire select Grayscale, or for color pictures or photographs use RGB. (If your final scan will be in color, we recommend doing your preview scan in the Grayscale mode to reduce the preview scanning time.)
4. After choosing your Scan Mode, click the Preview button. When the preview is complete, it will appear in the Preview window in the Art-Scan main window. You can then place the scan frame over the precise area you want to cpature for your final scan. In addition, you can resize the preview box to limit the size of the preview. This is a useful feature when scanning smaller images, because the scanner only previews the area that you have selected, rather than the entire flatbed area.

2. Positioning the Selection Box - A selection box rests on the canvas at all times. Once the preview is done, you can position the selection box over the portion of the document you want to capture for your final scan. Anything inside the selection box will be scanned. You can adjust the selection box by clicking on any of the handles and dragging to the edge of your desired selection.

To position the selection box:

1. Place the mouse poitner inside the borders of the scan frame. Your mouse icon will change into an icon of a hand.
2. Click and drag the frame over the area you want to use for your final scan then release the mouse button.

To adjust the size of the selection box:

1. Click and drag on any of the handles of the selection box. Drag the handles to the edge of what you want to scan, then release the mouse button.

3. Making a Final Scan - The final scan is the last step that you make in the scanning process. Now that you have selected what you want to scan, all that you have to do is click the Scan button. The image will be scanned, and the new image will appear as a new window in your image editing software, to be saved or edited further.

To create a final scan:

1. Position the selection box around the portion of the preview you want to scan.
2. Set the scan resolution for your final scan. Start by setting the resolution to 150 dpi if you are scanning a picture or photograph, or 300 dpi for line art. Select the resolution from the Art-Scan Main Menu in the box labeled Resolution. Click inside the box and drag the pointer to the resolution desired and release the mouse button The value is displayed in the resolution text field. You can also type in the resolution that you desire in the dialog box.
3. Select the scan mode - CMYK, RGB, Grayscale, Line Art, or Vector Line Art from the Scan Mode box. Click inside the box and drag the pointer to the desired mode.
4. Apply any desired adjustments to highlight, shadow or gamma.
5. Click the Scan button. The scanner scans only the area of the document inside the selection frame. Your new image appears in a new window, ready to be modified, saved, or printed.
6. Click the Exit button to quit the Art-Scan software.

The three tasks described in this chapter are all you need to know to create a scanned image. However, you can increase the quality of grayscale and RGB scans by using Art-Scan's powerful image processing features. These features fine-tune the dynamic scanning range before executing your final scan. The next chapter deals with these features in more detail.
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