How to use Our Scanner

First of all you may consider using our copier machine as scanner, it is faster and more efficient if you need to scan a large number of full pages. Otherwise keep reading.

In order to scan a document with our scanner, do the following:

1. Place the document face down (and upside down) on the scanner.
2. Login to kepler at the console.
3. Type "iscan &" in a terminal. The graphic interface (Image Scan for Linux) will come up.
4. On the Document tab, make settings:
   • Document Source: "Flatbed", unless you are planning to scan a film.
   • Image Type: choose "Line Art" for an ordinary text document, "Color Photo" for a color photo, etc.
   • Resolution: "300dpi" should be fine for an ordinary text document. For photos you may want a lower resolution if you are planning say to send them as an email attachment, but if you want to print them then you may need higher resolution.
5. Click the Preview button to preview the full page.
6. Using the mouse on the previewed image you can select a region (called marquee or frame) to be scanned. Click with the left button on one corner of the rectangular area you want to scan, holding the button down move the mouse to the opposite corner of the rectangular area and release it.
7. Select a destination to send the scanned image using the "Destination" list box. You can either save a scanned image as a "File", or send it directly to a "Printer".
8. The default name for the destination file is default.pnm, but you can change it if needed. You can also change the "File Type", for instance PNM is a good choice for ordinary text documents, JPEG for photos.
9. If you chose to print the scanned image, you can select a "Print Command" in the "Configuration" box. Use lpr to send the output to the default printer, lpr -Plj2 to send it to lj2, etc.
10. Click the "Scan" button. The scanned image is saved as a file or sent to the printer.
11. If you want a PDF file, save the image in any available format (PNM is fine), then open a terminal and use the convert command like this:

          convert filename.pnm filename.pdf
    

    That will convert the PNM file filename.pnm into the PDF file filename.pdf.
12. After you are done, in the "iscan" window click "Close".
13. Don't forget the original.

Want to know more? Look at the User's Guide.

If you want to combine various images in a single PDF document look at "How do I merge several PostScript/PDF documents into a single PDF document?" in our FAQ.