HTML Document Conversion: Scanning Tips

Scanning images can be a bit tricky. But here are a few tips that should make the process easier and give you better results:

Limit the Use of Color and Grey Scale

64 Colors take up the same amount of room as 64 greys. So if your image is still functional as a Black and White (not Grey Scale), please scan it in that way. Your file will be smaller and easier to handle. Beware of scanner options such as "Black and White Photo". Often such settings are actually grey-scale.

Use High Contrast

Increasing the contrast, especially on black and white, usually improves the sharpness of the image. If you have a grey-scale image or a picture with a colored background, you can still scan it as black and white by increasing the contrast to near full. The lighter background color will be mapped to white, while the darker image lines will become black.

Beware of Ghost Images

A "Ghost Image" occurs when the scanner picks up images from the back of the page. Often this can be corrected by changing the darkness and contrast controls. Experiment to find the best setting of these controls for your particular scanner.

Save Images

After you scan the images, save them as GIF if it is an option. Otherwise save as PCX, BMP, or TIFF because they are popular formats and other graphics programs can easily edit and convert them to GIFs.

Last updated on: Thu Jun 15 15:59:23 PDT 1995