The Techniques of Scanning and Editing Part II Copyright 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. The Basics for Your First Scan Chapter 5 Copyright 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How To… ■ Use and program the buttons on your scanner ■ Start a scan ■ Decide on an output setting ■ Save an image ■ Print and send a scanned image If you’ve never used a scanner before, it can look like an intimidating piece of equip- ment. Even computer professionals will tell you that it’s daunting to use a brand-new peripheral device for the first time. With technology changing so rapidly, there are always new features, functions, and interfaces to learn. This chapter gives you the bare-bone basics you need to take that first scanning plunge with today’s most popular models. Overview of the Scanning Process After you’ve properly connected your scanner and familiarized yourself with its external buttons, it’s time to scan your first image. Whether you have a high-end or basic scanner, the process is remarkably similar. With any flatbed scanner you need to ■ Position your original on the scanner and close the cover ■ Initiate the scanning process using the external buttons on the scanner or the correct command in the scanner software ■ Send your scanned image to an image-editing, email, or facsimile program Be Sure to Unlock Your Scanner Carriage I recently called Hewlett-Packard technical support to find out what problems users most frequently encounter on their first scan. I actually wasn’t surprised to learn that the number-one source of calls is confusion about unlocking the scanner carriage. This issue is not unique to Hewlett-Packard. Most scanners have carriage locking mechanisms you need to be aware of. A scanner’s carriage (the device the moving sensors are attached to) is so sensitive, it can be damaged by something as simple as turning your scanner upside down to check the serial number. Oddly, many scanner manufacturers install the carriage lock 92 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. switch on the underside of the scanner, like the one shown in Figure 5-1, or in other equally hidden places. Sometimes you really have to look for it! FIGURE 5-1 Sometimes the carriage lock switch is underneath. Whenever moving, jostling, or turning a scanner, make sure that the carriage lock mechanism is in the lock position. What happens if you don’t unlock your carriage? Unfortunately, most scanner software isn’t sophisticated enough, as of the writing of this book, to communicate with your scanner and give you a specific message telling you this is a problem. No wonder technical support gets all those calls! For example, on the Hewlett-Packard scanner, the lamp on the device begins flashing in a sort of Morse code SOS signal, but you can’t assume the flashing lamp always indicates a locked carriage because the lamp is programmed to flash other error messages as well. CHAPTER 5: The Basics for Your First Scan 93 5 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . something as simple as turning your scanner upside down to check the serial number. Oddly, many scanner manufacturers install the carriage lock 92 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase. its external buttons, it’s time to scan your first image. Whether you have a high-end or basic scanner, the process is remarkably similar. With any flatbed scanner you need to ■ Position your original. you need to take that first scanning plunge with today’s most popular models. Overview of the Scanning Process After you’ve properly connected your scanner and familiarized yourself with its external