Scanner Tutorial Part 3
Congratulations You've now got part two of the scanning tutorial under your belt. Are you ready for the big time? This is the last part of the tutorial on scanning. You now should feel comfortable with what pixels are, and how image size and resolution determine the final size of a scanned image. You also should be comfortable with scanning in images in general with your scanner. Should you have accidentally missed it, the practice questions for part 2 of the scanner tutorial provided insight into how to create images that are no larger than 25 % of your presentation screen. Remember this in one of your instructional objectives, so if you missed it, be sure to go back through this previous section labeled: Lesson 1 Part 5: Scanner Tutorial Part 2-practice activity.

This last section will now look at a few of the more detailed image adjustments that come with most scanning software and/or image editing programs. The following scanner control features will next be discussed in the ScanTips.Com lessons:

• What is a Histogram
• Setting the "Black and White" points in the Histogram
• Adjusting brightness via the Histogram Control Tool
• Increasing the sharpness of an image
• Using the CURVE tool or Emphasis tool (HP scanner software) for image fine tuning

The lessons at ScanTips.Com do not incorporate a review of similar editing tools and functions for the HP scanner software DeskScan II. So should you be using Hewlett Packard scanner software, feel free to check out the link: how HP's DeskScan II operates prior to beginning the tutorial at ScanTips.Com. Should you want to see what tips Hewlett Packard offers with respect to their scanners, check out their site: Scanning Hankbook-Learn from a Scanning Expert. This site offers selected snipets from Jerry Day's book, Color Scanning Handbook—Your Guide to Hewlett-Packard ScanJet Color Scanners. Just select the left hand link titled: Image types for Hewlett Packard referenced tips. In any case though, the links above are purely supplementary for HP scanner users. Irrespective of your scanner type, all learners should continue on to the material below and the ScanTips.Com tutorial.


At the conclusion of this section (Part 3) of the scanner tutorial, you get the opportunity to demonstrate your newly acquired skills. Let's discuss the assignment briefly prior to beginning your lesson.

Lesson 1 Part 5: Scanner Tutorial Practice Assignment (10 pts.)

As you are always trying to demonstrate to your students that your subject matter is relevant to their daily lives, I'm sure you come across numerous magazine or trade journal covers which depict visual images and bold type substantiating your classroom subject matter. Now that you have your scanning skills under your belt, select any magazine cover of your choice and scan this image into your computer (remember you could incorporate this into your PowerPoint or Clarisworks presentation down the line). Use your scanner software tools to maximize the image clarity, cropping and/or scaling the image such that it will display in its entirety on a 640X480 monitor. Once you have this image finalized, save it as a TIFF or PICT image (both file formats provide lossless compression) and attach it in an e-mail to your instructor. To evaluate the effectiveness of your image adjustments, mail a single color copy of your magazine cover to your instructor (feel fee to scale down the color hard copy if you select a magazine that is larger than the traditional 8 1/2 by 11 inches). With that said, let's begin the last lesson on scanner controls.

Buddy Response Lesson 1 Part 5: Scanner Tutorial (10pts.)

1. Acknowledge successful scanning and viewing of file with your Buddy.
2. Write a brief description of any difficulties, workarounds, or image enhancements you performed and forward this to your Buddy and instructor.
3. Forward scanned image as attachment to Buddy and instructor.
   
   

Begin Lesson:

For Scanner Tutorial Part 3, go to ScanTips.Com entry page and complete the section called: Scanning 201. Advance through this lesson using the next button at the bottom of every page, advancing through the following sections:

1. A Simple Way to Get Better Scans
   (* the major section *) Including sections:
2. Luminance / Histogram
3. UnSharp Mask sharpening
4. Histogram Practice (Here's a nice review prior to your practice questions)
5. Curve Tool

This information will teach you the finer points of image enhancement as related to scanning, so feel the power! You'll find the section titled Scanning 201: A Simple Way to Get Better Scans in the left hand column of the main entry page at ScanTips.Com. When you've completed studying this information advance to Lesson 1 Part 5: Scanner Tutorial Part 3-practice activity.

Proceed on to Lesson 1 Part 5: Scanner Tutorial Part 3-practice activity