Scanner Software 2

[romh]

I am looking to buy a scanner for the simple purpose of scanning photos and having the ability to store them, and then be able to sort, and retrieve them by filename for example. Would the scanner bring this software, or is Adobe the best software that I could get for this purpose?
Thankyou

 

[Comtech]

All retail scanners come with their own software.
OEM do not always, but sometimes.
You can use the built in kodak imaging software with Windows, or whatever you like.
If you already own Photoshop of Paintshop Pro, then they will work as good (and better) than most.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[romh]

Thanks alot for the prompt reply. So you recommend that I keep and use the software supplied by the scanner. SP what is the advantage of using Adobe, besides paying $400 for it.

 

[Comtech]

It depends on how much editing you do, and how you do it.
Don't pay for something you don't need. The software that comes with the scanner, or the built in kodak imaging software is enough to run the scanner.
Simple photo editing can be done with other software, some free. Check out

http://www.irfanview.com

For SERIOUS photo/image editing, it's recommended that you get a decent editor, hence I recommend Photoshop or Paintshop Pro.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[romh]

Thanks alot again. One more question. Maybe, I have Adobe in my head, since you can download the reader for free, and most computers that I have ever seen, have this software. So am I correct in saying that .pdf format is the standard for saving and viewing images? At their website, I also read, that you can save and query files, etc... Their software is sort of like a mini database (inserts, queries etc..). But I trust you when you say that most scanners come with their own software to do this. I am not looking to do any major editing of images ( I am not a graphic designer either, --I'm a programmer). Just simply want a software that I can store the scanned images, and simply be able to recall them later by quering the software (through filename, date, etc..).
I could make a database for this, but I would rather use a n existing software that works with the scanner.

Thansk again for your time comtech.



Thanks

 

[shmoes]

PDF is a document/graphic file which is used for compression/security. I believe the default image for photoshop is pds. i'm not 100% sure, but you can save as most comman file types tiff,bmp,gif,jpg etc

PDF writer comes with Adobe Acrobat. (not the reader)



~Shmoes

I lay claim to nothing and everything. My words may be wisdom or disaster. In the end you make a choice. Noone is perfect.

 

[romh]

Can photoshop work in conjunction with a scanner? After you scan an image with the scanner, what type of file do you save it as? The ones that you mentioned above: jpg or gif or bmp etc.. And then you can open Photoshop and edit the image if you like. Am I correct? I know these are basic questions, but I have never owned a scanner. Thanks again.

 

[Comtech]

You don't want to use Adobe's free reader for anything except reading PDF's. Acrobat is for reading/creating .pdf's, and is totally separate from Photoshop.
Even with Photoshop, you would save most files in .jpg format (equal quality, smaller filesize), or .gif at least.
Find out what software comes with the scanner, some are far better (Photosho/Painthop clones) than others.
MGI Photosuite is common, and not too bad a program for most everything you'd want to do (resize, crop, brighten, remove redeye, etc.).
Most packaged software will save (and recall) images based on date/filename, in folders using the same date/filename sequence, usually a subfolder of My Documents, but this can be changed within the program.
It's difficult to generalize, because there are so many image editors and twain compliant software around. Choose the scanner you want, find out what software comes with it.
Find 3 or 4 models, from different mfg's, and (providing they're all within a few $ of each other, and do the same job) get the one that is going to be easiest to use.
Post back here with your search results, and I can recommend the best software of the bunch (I've used a ton of different ones), and you can then decide if that scanner is the one you want.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[romh]

I'll post back. Thanks alot. Very kind

 

[hunter85643]

I have and interesting one. I built a machine with a SIS mobo, and put WIN 98 SE on it. Loaded all the drivers for all peripherals and set it to running.

I also loaded a HP SCANJET 5p on it and the software to upload/scan images. But the scanner is a SCSI. I purchased a SCSI adapter and put it on the LPT port and the machine says it is operating under the system/device manager. But the software states that it is not connected.

I think the scanner isn't any good. Or is there possibly a step I missed in setting it up. I took out the scanner under the device manager and also deleted the software package, then reinstalled the software and also the driver for the scanner. But no go.



Steven Porter

http://www.worldwidehobbies.net

 

[Comtech]

What do you mean you installed a SCSI adapter on an LPT port? They are nowhere near the same, except maybe for the number of pins.
Is your Scanjet a parallel, or SCSI? (It's parallel as far as I know), so why would you buy a SCSI card?
Definitely need some clarification here, as well as what OS you're using.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[bcastner]

hunter85643,

The 5p is a SCSI device but to my knowledge there are no drivers for an OS later than Win95. The Win95 drivers will not work under Win98 according to Epson.

As a general rule you can find adapters to go from parallel to SCSI, parallel to USB, serial to USB, USB to serial, etc. but rarely do you find drivers that understand this change. Given the lack of Win98 support for the device I would not spend too much more time on this if I were you.

 

[orejas]

Don't save scanned images as jpg if you want to edit them!!!! Jpg uses compression to make the file small but you lose data. Use tif or bmp until you are done editing then change to jpg to store or send the FINAL image
BMP makes huge files so is terrible format for web or email.
I made the mistake of saving files in jpg format and used it for an image on my business cards. Couldn't understand why the white background was being printed as a color(lots of little dots in the tiny image) but my word processer was resizing the image (ie editing it)and causing this change. Used a bmp format and voila! no more dots!