[IMAGE: Setting Up A Course Website]

Introduction to Scanning

How Scanning Works. Scanning is a process of sampling and recording the dots and color values that make up an image. The image is scanned and sampled line by line (rasterization) and the results are described as a bitmap file. Images are typically scanned at resolutions between 50 to 1200 Dots Per Inch (DPI). Bitmap files are commonly used in paint programs or image processing programs like PhotoShop.

What Can Be Scanned?

Two dimensional opaque objects up to the size of a flatbed scanner (8 1/2 x 14) can be scanned in one pass, ususally up to legal size. Materials to be scanned include:

photos
artwork
drawings
text

Transparent materials, such as slides or negatives can be scanned with a special slide scanner or a flatbed scanner that has a transparency adaptor. Below are some samples of source materials, process used, and output options.

Source Process Output & example

Photograph, negative, or slide Scanning with flatbed ot slide scanner .jpg file Click

Artwork, logo, graphic Scanning .gif file Click

Text from page Optical Character Recognition .txt or .doc file Click

Entire page Adobe Capture .pdf file Click

Panoramic photographs Scanning with slide or flatbed scanner; processing with QuickTime Panorama .mov file Click

Maintained by: Layne Nordgren (nordgrle@plu.edu) and Gene Gatlin (gatlinet@plu.edu)
Last Update: 09/23/97