The shapes, sizes, and appearance of external scanner buttons might vary, but you can expect that they all perform the following three tasks: Initiate a basic scan All scanners with exte
Trang 1You definitely want to check the carriage lock if you’ve installed your scanner properly but it’s not functioning correctly This is an easy feature
to forget about, and a locked carriage can cause your scanner to behave
in a number of strange ways.
Pushing Buttons and Programming Commands
When you think about it, most devices and appliances have some sort of push-button
or lever interface that makes them intuitive to use Until recently, scanner interfaces didn’t offer this convenience You had to place your original on the scanner, then turn your attention back to the computer screen To scan a document, you had to open your scanner’s software program and search for the menu option that allowed you to perform a scan
Why Have Manufacturers Added External Buttons?
Today’s scanners make the process of capturing an image as intuitive as turning
on your television or using your electric can opener Buttons, like the ones shown
in Figure 5-2, replace the need to remember how to locate software menu options before you can perform basic scanning tasks Oddly enough, most scanners on the market don’t label their scanners with words, and the icons are not always intuitive For example, one scanner on the market comes with buttons labeled with different shapes and arrows Other scanners, such as the Hewlett-Packard 5300 series and the Visioneer OneTouch models, have opted to put illustrative icons on their buttons
FIGURE 5-2 External buttons are the latest enhancement to scanner interfaces
External buttons
Trang 2How to Identify What the Buttons Do
The process of using buttons becomes easier to master when you realize that most scanners on the market have buttons that perform the same three to five functions The shapes, sizes, and appearance of external scanner buttons might vary, but you can expect that they all perform the following three tasks:
Initiate a basic scan All scanners with external buttons allow you the luxury of initiating a basic scan using whatever default settings exist While pushing a button
is simple for you, the process that your scanner initiates is fairly complex This
unobtrusive little button launches your scanner’s software, looks at the image, determines its size and type, and adjusts color settings to capture the contrasts and variations
Email a scanned image This button opens your scanner’s software and performs
a scan Then it opens your email program and attaches the image
Copy a document Today’s scanners often do double duty as copy machines
You can program your scanner to make copies using settings you specify for this purpose For example, you might want to use the black-and-white setting or a low-resolution setting, which saves time by capturing less extensive image data
Additional external buttons might allow you to
Open scanner software to adjust settings External buttons generally operate
by using the default settings you’ve specified; however, some models allow you
to press a button to open the software and modify the settings without having to resort to a mouse and menu
Fax a scanned image If your scanner has this option, you can capture an image and send it directly to your faxing software
Once you have some sense what scanner buttons accomplish, it’s easy to sit down at an unfamiliar scanner and perform scanning tasks You can just look at the icons or button names, and pretty much figure out what
to do with the device.
Programming Your Scanner’s Buttons
Scanner buttons perform specific operations according to default settings in your scanning software Your installation software initially specifies settings such as size,
5
Trang 3resolution, and tonal quality You can program and modify these settings to make the process even more convenient
Scanners differ as to how you are permitted to change the settings and customize the buttons You can usually find out how to make your buttons yield the result you want Try searching the online help menu for your particular scanner You can usually figure out how to customize the performance of the scanner’s buttons using the key phrase “customize buttons.”
Does Your Scanner Have a Button for Modifying Settings?
The popular Visioneer 8100 series actually allows you to customize your scanner buttons by clicking the Customize button This feature automatically launches your scanner software and opens the dialog box shown in Figure 5-3, which enables you
to adjust your resolution, image type, and other settings
FIGURE 5-3 Visioneer OneTouch allows you to customize button settings using a
dialog box like this
An extremely convenient feature of the Visioneer OneTouch scanner series is an external button that allows you to open your software to change your scanner settings without using your menu or mouse.
Trang 4Using the Control Panel to Configure Button Settings
Hewlett-Packard scanners allow you to customize your scanner buttons using the Windows Control Panel dialog box If you have a Hewlett-Packard scanner, just follow these steps to modify the initial configuration:
1. Click the Start icon on your Windows taskbar, select Programs, then HP ScanJet Software, then ScanJet Utilities, then Scanner Button Settings, as shown in Figure 5-4
FIGURE 5-4 Recent Hewlett-Packard scanners allow you to customize external
button settings
5
Trang 52. The dialog box shown in Figure 5-5 appears, which enables you to customize the settings for the fax and email buttons
FIGURE 5-5 The Hewlett-Packard fax and email configuration dialog box
Choose the Best Original
Regardless of the make, model, year, or cost of your scanner, it helps to start with the best possible quality original Here are a few tips on choosing original media
(assuming you have a choice):
Use the largest version. If you have a choice between scanning a 3×5-inch original and an 8×7-inch original, pick the larger size Scanned at the same resolution, the larger original will result in a more detailed scan Flaws such as uneven ink coverage are more noticeable when you’re scanning from the smaller original
Opt for an original rather than a photocopy. Uneven ink deposits make photocopies undesirable for photos The problem is compounded if you’re working with text, since optical character recognition (OCR) software is highly