Scanners provide one of the most convenient options for reproducing office documents, photos and/or pieces of art and sending or sharing them online. Just like the traditional office copiers, media scanning works by emitting light at the document or object being digitized and then capturing the image through its Charged-Coupled Device(CCD) array. One of the main advantages of using a scanner is that you can transmit the scanned object into your PC and edit or alter it quite effortlessly. You can use scanned media in any printed format, even on-demand book printing.
Color Scanning
While the process of scanning a colored picture or original piece of art may sound easy, reproducing it in the very same quality, format or details can be a daunting task. One of the critical aspects that determine the quality of any scan is the resolution setting, which is often measured in dpi (dots per inch). A typical scanner usually allows you
to select a resolution ranging between 75 and 6000 dpi. In most cases though, the dpi settings largely depend on the quality of the scanner itself.
A higher resolution basically translates to a better quality scan. A 500 dpi colored photo scan can be almost as clear as the original compared to a 100 dpi or less scan. In this case, the file that’s scanned with the higher resolution can be as large as 3MB while the one done with a lower dpi setting can only consume as little space as 500KB. That means transferring a 500-dpi scanned image can take longer on a slower PC or might not fit into a single disk with smaller capacity. But the scanned images are often clearer.
The perks that come with media scanning at a lower resolution is that you’ll require less storage space and attaching them to an e-mail can be easier. The only problem with lower dpi images is that their edges tend to more irregular and jagged and when printed, the color of the original image doesn’t often come out clearly.
Black & White Scanning
When it comes to scanning black and white photos or documents, you need to pay attention to both scanner resolution and contrast. For instance, if the background of the photo or text is white, you might need to darken the black or grey areas to add some contrast. You can always feel free to increase or decrease the contrast of your object after a
scan is completed in order to add more life to it.
Things You Need To Know When Scanning
When scanning your photo, document or piece of art for print reproduction, it’s important to understand that the scanned copy can never be better than the original. You can expect the reproduced copy to have minor deficiencies, scratches or slight imperfections. But in order to ensure your scanned copy is of the highest quality, always keep the scanner glass clean and check whether there are wrinkles, dirt or any other debris in the scanner
For you to perfect on the skill of reproducing perfect photos and documents via media scanning, you need to keep experimenting and practicing with several objects. The more you scan different pieces with different resolutions, the more refined your scanning techniques will be. It can never be perfect till you try several times and master the tricks of doing
it right. Please contact us to learn more about scanning your media at Easy Street Print.