Scanning and OCR Basics
Scanning and OCR Basics
Scan Text Documents into Word 2003 using OCR Software
1. Place the document to scan face down on the flatbed scanner.2. Launch Microsoft Word 2003 for Windows.
3. Select Acquire Text from the File menu.
4. The document is scanned and text is pasted into the open Word document window.
5. If you are scanning additional pages, repeat step #3. Text is added to the bottom of the current document.
6. Run a Spell Check in Word, then Save and close the document.
Scanning Tips:
• Start with sharp, clear, properly exposed material. • Know the destination: print or Web.
• Identify the nature of the object: color photo, B/W photo, line art, etc. • Consider resolution.
• Place image squarely on the scanner.
• Save the image as TIFF or PSD (Photoshop) and then make changes.
Scanning Images into Photoshop 6.0
STEP I: Scanning an image into Photoshop1. Place the image to scan face down on the flatbed scanner.
2. Launch Photoshop.
3. Select Import, HP PrecisionScan Pro from the File menu.
4. The scanned image appears in the HP PrecisionScan Pro window.
5. Select Output Resolution from the Tools menu. Select 75 for images you will use for e-mail or Web; 150 for images you will use in newsletters and
publications.
STEP II: Using HP PrecisionScan Pro
1. If you want to Crop the image to select only part of it, click away from the image until you see a thin cross, then click and drag on the image to select the desired area.
2. To transfer the image to Photoshop, choose Place Image or Return to
Scanning and OCR Basics
STEP III: Saving the Scanned Image
¾ IMAGES FOR THE WEB
Choose Save for Web from the File menu. Select the correct setting from the Settings pull-down menu (JPG or GIF). Use the 2-Up and 4-Up tabs to view different versions of the image and note the file size and file download information. Click once on the copy of the image you want to use in your Web page. Click OK and name and save the file. IMPORTANT: make sure that you put a .jpg (JPEG Files) at the end of your filenames and .gif (GIF Files) at the end of GIF files. Otherwise the Web browser won't recognize the files.
¾ IMAGES FOR PRINT
1. Repeat step #1 above. Select TIFF from the Save As pulldown menu.
2. IMPORTANT: Name the file with a .TIF filename extension. For instance, photo1.tif Scanning more than one image
If you are scanning in more than one image, you need to copy and paste the individual images into their own image file.
1. Complete steps I and II as noted above.
2. Use the marquee tool (first tool in the Photoshop toolbox) to select individual images. 3. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
4. Choose New from the File menu. 5. Click Ok.
6. Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
7. Save the image (see section Saving the Image below)
Adjustments to Scanned Image
Cropping an image in Photoshop
Use the Marquee tool (first tool in the toolbar). Click and drag around the area you want to crop. Select Crop from the Image menu.
Undo
Scanning and OCR Basics
The file size of an image refers to the total amount of pixel information in the image. The file size is proportional to the total number of pixels.
The file size for an image is located in the lower left corner of the window.
To display the image’s dimensions, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or the Option key (Mac) and click on the box with the file size.
Image Size and Resolution
Resampling files changes the pixel dimension and file size of an image. Scan resolution: i.e. image resolution, is the number of pixels per inch in the image when you open the file in Adobe Photoshop.
1. Choose Image Size from the Image menu. 2. Chose one of the following options:
• If preparing the image for print: make the desired changes in the Print Size options width, height and resolution.
• If preparing the image for the Web: make the desired changes in the Pixel Dimensions. Note: 72 pixels is equivalent to 1 inch.
3. Click OK. Curves
Use the Curves command to adjust the tonal range of an image. 1. Select Adjust, Curves from the Image menu.
2. Click in the center of the diagonal line and draw slowly up or down at a diagonal to adjust the tonal range of image.
3. Click Ok to apply changes. Unsharp Mask
Despite its name, the Unsharp Mask filter has a focusing effect. It increases contrast between adjacent pixels that already have some contrast. You can specify the amount of contrast to create (Amount), the number of surrounding pixels that will be modified around each pixel that requires more contrast (Radius), and determine which pixels the filter effects or ignores by specifying the minimum degree of existing contrast
(Threshold).
1. Choose Sharpen, Unsharp Mask from the Filter menu. 2. Make any desired changes based on the notes above. 3. Click Ok.
Scanning and OCR Basics
Format Use
Description
BMP
Word Processors; Desktop PublishingBitmapped file. The standard Windows bitmap for DOS and Windows. Name files with a .BMP
GIF
Web CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format commonly used to display indexed-color graphics and images for the Web. A compressed format designed to minimize download times. Save Line Art and Logos or images that you’ll want to make part-transparent as a GIF file.JPEG
Web Joint Photographic Experts Group commonly used to display photographs and other continuous-tone images for Web based publishing. JPEG retains all the color information in an RGB image. JPEG uses a compression scheme that reduces file size by discarding extra data not essential to the display of the image. JPEG compress scheme is referred to a lossy because it discards data.PICT
Word Processors; Desktop PublishingUsed widely among Macintosh graphics and page layout application. Effective at compressing images containing large area of solid color.
TIFF
Word Processors; Desktop PublishingTagged-Image File Format is used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. Supports LZW
compression, a lossless compression method that doesn’t discard detail form an image. Allows you to save files that can be used on both the Mac and IBM format. Compress the file to a smaller size automatically by clicking the LZW Compression check box. Recommended Scanning Resolutions
Web Pages: 72dpi-96dpi
Line Art: Scan in at the same resolution as the printer.
Printing: 150 dpi for coarse screen and to print newsletters and grocery coupons. 170 dpi for average screen and used to print newspapers.
266 dpi for high quality screen and used to print on four-color magazines.
354 dpi for very fines screen and used for annual reports and images in art books.
Scanning and OCR Basics
Scanning Documents into Adobe Acrobat 1. Launch Adobe Acrobat Professional.
2. Place your document (face-up) on the automatic document feeder. 3. From Adobe Acrobat, select File > Create PDF > From Scanner. 4. Select HP PrecisionScan from the Device menu.
5. Click the Scan button.
6. From the Scan dialog box, select Black & White Bitmap and Output Resolution of 150.
7. Click Scan.
Creating and Converting documents to PDF
Acrobat uses two different utilities – PDFWriter and Acrobat Distiller – to convert documents into the PDF, Portable Document Format.
Creating a PDF Document
In Adobe Acrobat Professional, choose from the File menu, Create PDF, and select the appropriate option.
Methods for converting a document Windows: Choose from one of the following
In a Microsoft Office application, use the Acrobat icon on the Microsoft tool bar. Use the Print command, and select Acrobat PDF Writer or Acrobat Distiller. Mac:
