Graphic File Types and Scanner
READ THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTIONS OF FILE FORMATS

Image File Formats

TYPE	Description
Bitmap  BMP	A picture created by a pattern of tiny dots on the screen, called pixels. Bitmap images require a lot of storage space and visibly distort if you change their size. The bitmap file format is very popular on Intel-based PCs because it is the default image format for Microsoft Windows.
Graphics Interchange GIF	Pronounced "jiff" and developed by CompuServe for use over a modem. GIF files are compressed so that you can send them across telephone lines quickly. A format best used for cartoon drawings, straight line drawings, and images with large areas of color.  This format might work well for company logos. GIF files are limited to 256 colors, so they cannot be used for high-end desktop publishing. GIF format advantages: can be made transparent so you see the background color of a Web page; can be animated; can be interlaced (downloaded with poor resolution and then improve in resolution until the entire image arrives, rather than just loading from top to bottom)
Joint Photographic  JPG, JPEG	A compressed file format that is best used for Experts Groupphotographs and graphics with lots of colors, particularly colors that blend and fade into each other. JPEG allows for millions of colors and permits a greater degree of compression than other formats, enabling quicker downloading times for large graphics. JPEGS retain almost complete image quality for most photographs. ANIMATION AND TRANSPARENCY ARE NOT POSSIBLE WITH THIS TYPE OF FORMAT.
Tag Image File Format TIFF, TIF	A bitmap type, but in a compressed format. A common format type for scanners, fax machines, 3-D applications, and medical imaging applications. This is a high-quality format, which should be used for an archived master copy of an image.
PNG	PNG - Portable Network Graphics (.PNG files, pronounced Ping).  The native format for Macromedia Fireworks. PNG was intended to be the replacement for GIF partly because  GIF files are  limited to only 256 colors.  PNG also supports 24 and 48  bit color. The PNG compression is called ZIP  PNG also incorporates special preprocessing filters that improve the compression efficiency for gradient data often found in photographs.  PNG is 10% to 30% smaller than GIF files and a higher quality.  Suitable for the master copy of a photograph.

TIF and JPG and GIF have been the most universal formats.
A compressed is a file that has had the data reduced to conserve space.

READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT SCANNING
SCANNING

Images and text can easily be scanned to be inserted into documents, presentations, web pages, and more. Text can be scanned and saved as text or as an image, depending on the intended use.

What is important for determining what scanning resolution should be used?  The resolution used for an image shown on a video monitor is different from that used if the image is to be printed on a printer.  For your web page design, you will be most interested in the video considerations.

VIDEO

1. How large is the area to be scanned?
2. How large do we want the final image to be?
3. How large is the saved file going to be?
4. Do you want to rescale or resample it in an editor?

When scanning images for the web, remember that many people use 640X480 screens.  Change your screen size to that and check how the image will look.  If you are going to resize a picture after it has been scanned, your quality will be better if you resize to reduce the image rather than resizing to increase the size.  Therefore, make sure the image is as large as you might ever want it to be when you scan it.  Remember large images take large amounts of memory and slow down the computer.  Try to use a DPI no larger than 100 if you are not going to be able to resize the image in a photo editor. Scanned resolution has no meaning other than size when scanning for use on a video monitor.

Images scanned for a web page should normally be saved in JPG format to ensure a small file size.  One thing to remember about JPG files is that every time the file is saved it looses a little quality.  If you want to archive a picture for future use, the master copy of the picture should be saved in a format such as TIFF.  JPG format is wonderful for many purposes, but archiving maximum quality is not one of them.

When scanning text, use a large DPI like 300.  Text is often scanned as line art, and is usually printed to a printer.  Using a DPI of higher than 300 is usually not that beneficial for text.  Text scanned from newspapers, magazines, or books will often have what is called Moiré patterns in the scanned image.  Changing the threshold or using descreening might help it.

Much of the previous information was obtained from http://www.scantips.com by Wayne Fulton.  Visit this website for valuable information on all scanning tips.

SCANNING AN IMAGE AS AN IMAGE:

• Lift the top of the scanner
• Position the image face down on the scanner bed
• Scan a picture of your choice

THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS ARE FOR THE HP SCANNERS LOCATED IN MOST OF THE LABS AT YOUR SCHOOL.

• Click on the Start button
• Select Programs
• Drag across and Select HP Scanning Software
• Drag across and select Precision Scan
• Under Scan to--select Image File
• Select parts of page
• Scan in color
• Click on Scan
• Click on Settings from the menu
• Select Page Settings
• Click next to Custom Resolution
• Change the DPI to whatever you want
• Make sure that use this time only is checked
• Use the arrow to select the region to scan
• Click on Accept
• Change the file type to JPEG--JPG
• Save As -- to the appropriate either C or A drive--Give it a name
• Click on Save
• Position the Image Quality about in the middle
• It will then scan to disk
• When finished, click on cancel

SCANNING AN IMAGE AS A GIF

• Find a drawing to scan
• Place text face down on scanner bed
• Click on Scan
• Scan in color (if there is color in the drawing)
• Set the DPI
• Use the arrow to select the region to scan
• Click on Accept
• Change the file type to GIF
• Save As -- to the appropriate drive, C or A--Name it
• Click on Save
• Position the Image Quality about in the middle
• It will then scan to disk
• When finished, click on cancel

SCANNING TEXT AS TEXT (USING YOUR SCANNER AS A COPIER)

• Place text face down on scanner bed
• Change the Scan To to MS Word
• Click on Scan
• Click on Select
• Select All Text Regions
• Click on Accept
• Register the software later if asked
• The document will open in Word
• Notice that some things are mispelled
• Run the spell checker and correct
• Save as file type Word
• Name the document
• Click on Save

SCANNING TEXT AS AN IMAGE

• Place text face down on scanner bed
• Change the Scan To to MS Word
• Click on Scan
• Click on Select
• Select Entire Page
• Click on File and select Save As
• Change the file type to GIF
• Name the file text.gif
• Click on Save
• Close the scanning software

TO USE THE IMAGES OR TEXT

• Click on the Photo Editor icon
• Open your scanned image

Changes to the image can be made by referring to the Photo Editor tutorial.

• Open Text.gif
• Notice the size of the image
• Also notice that there is no misspelling because it was scanned as an image
• In order to use this picture on something like a PowerPoint slide, it must be resized to 7.5 by 10
• Save the image with the changes
• To use the text file saved in Word, you only need to open it in Word

CLOSE PHOTO EDITOR
TO USE A SCANNED IMAGE IN POWERPOINT

• Click on the PowerPoint icon
• Create a blank presentation
• Select a blank slide
• Create a text box and type  a Title for the slide
• Click below the text
• Click on Insert
• Select Picture
• Select From File
• Open the Clark.jpg saved on your disk
• Size the picture as needed
• Create another blank slide
• Click on Insert
• Select Picture
• Select From File
• Open the Text.gif file saved on your disk
• Size if necessary

NOTE: THIS WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO USE SCANNED TEXT IN A PRESENTATION--TEXT COMES IN MUCH TOO LARGE FOR A SLIDE

THESE SCANNED PICTURES CAN BE INSERTED INTO ANY DOCUMENT IN WORD, EXCEL, ACCESS, WEB COMPOSER, AND MANY OTHERS