Using the Scanner

NOTE: As of August, 2000, the scanner is currently down until I get a chance to install the proper drivers for it under Windows NT or under FreeBSD. The instructions below are mostly obsolete.

The lab now has a Microtek E6 scanner installed opposite the printer. To use it, you must be running Windows on ws31.ug.cs.sunysb.edu.

NOTE: Please be nice to the scanner. It is not an "essential" item, and thus if it breaks or is stolen, it will not be replaced. Please read "Care of the Scanner" below.

Care of the Scanner

Please follow these simple guidelines when using the scanner.

Turn off the scanner power when it is not in use, to preserve the life of the tube.
Don't set heavy objects on the scanner, or force the cover closed so that pressure gets placed on the glass.
Only wipe the glass with a non-abrasive cloth or soft paper towel. Don't use the rough brown paper towels from the bathroom. Use only Windex to clean the class. Avoid getting any Windex anywhere but on the glass.

Using the Scanner

Follow these basic steps to use the scanner. More detailed information is available from the various help screens you can access along the way.

To use the scanner, you must first boot up Windows (DOS) on ws31.ug.cs.sunysb.edu. When Windows starts up, you will be asked for a username and password to mount various filesystems. Probably you will want to mount your home directory, so that you can write your scanned images there. Because I don't want random people who don't belong in the lab coming in to use the scanner, network connections from ws31.ug.cs.sunysb.edu to outside the lab are now blocked, so you won't be able to FTP your data outside the lab without first writing it on one of the lab filesystems.
See here to find out more about how to boot up Windows and mount your home directory.
Turn on the scanner.
Select "Ulead Image Pals 2.0 Go!" from the Program Manager. Then, double click on "Image Editor".
When the image editor has started, select "Acquire" from the File menu to bring up a scan job window. Select the resolution and other settings you desire and click on "Scan" to scan. You can preview the image (works faster) by clicking on "Preview". If you only want to scan a small image, you should preview first and then use the rubber band box to indicate the location of your image before you scan.
Once your image has been scanned, close the scan job window to return to the Image Editor. If desired, save your image to your home directory.
When you are finished using the scanner, turn the scanner power off and reboot FreeBSD on the workstation.

Bugs

Unfortunately, I have noticed what is apparently a software bug, either in the scanner software or else in Windows. If you try to scan something that is too large (e.g. scanning a whole page in color at 450dpi resolution), the scanner software will freeze, necessitating that Windows be restarted. I don't know exactly what the threshold is where freezing sets in, but I have successfully scanned a partial page at 600dpi, with a total image size of 4020x1333 pixels (15.7MB). It might be that exceeding 16MB causes the freezing, I'm not sure. In any case, if you want to scan at high resolution, make sure to preview and use the rubber band box to select only the area you want to scan.

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