I believe Scanner Tool translates to xsane? I know I had an application that permitted editing those names in the menu but can't recall its name?
I'm trying to copy a page of clear text with an HP-5370C flat bed scanner that I have been using for some time. I am using xsane which I believe I installed via yum before I realized that Scanner Tool meant xsane. Scanner Tool will not start apparently because it sees another version of xsane.
That's not really my problem however. I have saved scans as .png and .pnm and neither will print a clear copy. The text looks as though it was copied through the mesh of a window screen and is hard to read.
Does anyone know what I am doing wrong?
Bob
On 30/08/11 15:48, Bob Goodwin wrote:
I believe Scanner Tool translates to xsane? I know I had an application that permitted editing those names in the menu but can't recall its name? I'm trying to copy a page of clear text with an HP-5370C flat bed scanner that I have been using for some time. I am using xsane which I believe I installed via yum before I realized that Scanner Tool meant xsane. Scanner Tool will not start apparently because it sees another version of xsane. That's not really my problem however. I have saved scans as .png and .pnm and neither will print a clear copy. The text looks as though it was copied through the mesh of a window screen and is hard to read. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Bob
Ok, I found a resolution control in the xsane menu. It's marked with a ideogram of different sized dots. I should have recognized that as resolution I guess. The default is 80, 300 produces readable copy.
Bob
On Tue, 2011-08-30 at 16:39 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
I found a resolution control in the xsane menu. It's marked with a ideogram of different sized dots. I should have recognized that as resolution I guess. The default is 80, 300 produces readable copy.
If you're scanning for 1:1 printing purposes, then there's some logic in scanning at the same resolution as the normal printing resolution of your printer. That should avoid any image scaling issues, gives you a resolution that should print well, and avoids pointlessly scanning at a resolution higher than you can print. But if you want to edit the file, then a higher resolution might be warranted.
If you have a printer with a massively high resolution capability, do you normally print at that resolution? Usually that's reserved for *high* quality, rather than *normal* printing. 300 - 600 dpi has looked good on laser printers, for text printing, for many years. Higher resolution is mostly pointless, unless there's pictures on the page.
On 31/08/11 09:03, Tim wrote:
On Tue, 2011-08-30 at 16:39 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
I found a resolution control in the xsane menu. It's marked with a ideogram of different sized dots. I should have recognized that as resolution I guess. The default is 80, 300 produces readable copy.
If you're scanning for 1:1 printing purposes, then there's some logic in scanning at the same resolution as the normal printing resolution of your printer. That should avoid any image scaling issues, gives you a resolution that should print well, and avoids pointlessly scanning at a resolution higher than you can print. But if you want to edit the file, then a higher resolution might be warranted.
If you have a printer with a massively high resolution capability, do you normally print at that resolution? Usually that's reserved for *high* quality, rather than *normal* printing. 300 - 600 dpi has looked good on laser printers, for text printing, for many years. Higher resolution is mostly pointless, unless there's pictures on the page.
300 dpi should be fine for my needs, I believe the Brother HL5140 Laser can do better though. The problem was mainly the resolution setting in xsane which initially defaulted to 80 dpi. The ideograph in the menu looked to me like the symbols for setting line width, brush size or something in Gimp and I did not recognize it as resolution. Once changed to 300 dpi I got usable copies.
I find the following for the HL5140 printer: Max Resolution ( B&W ) 2400 dpi x 600 dpi I assume 600 dpi is along the horizontal axis? It is presently configured to print 300 dpi.
The HP5370C Scanner: Resolution 1200 dots per inch (dpi) optical resolution
1200 x 2400 dpi hardware resolution
unlimited interpolated resolution (HP Scanjet 5370C scanner only)
I guess that says I should be able to set xsane to scan 600 dpi and produce copies, however there were other problems. Each time I changed resolution in xsane I had to unplug the USB scanner and restart xsane or things would "lock up!" Something bad was happening because after producing the needed copies Thunderbird Mail locked up too, something that is not normally a problem. I eventually bit the bullet and rebooted the computer.
I left one doctor's office with copies of my blood work and wanted a second copy to give to the hematologist. Usually the computer/scanner works nicely as a copy machine but I guess that's the first time I used this computer for that purpose since installing F-15 64 bit. I was panicking when things didn't work as expected! Sorry.
Thanks,
Bob.
On Wed, 2011-08-31 at 10:09 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
300 dpi should be fine for my needs, I believe the Brother HL5140 Laser can do better though.
Most recent printers can. Mine can do 600, and it's early 1990's vintage.
The problem was mainly the resolution setting in xsane which initially defaulted to 80 dpi. The ideograph in the menu looked to me like the symbols for setting line width, brush size or something in Gimp and I did not recognize it as resolution.
I can remember having fun trying to set the resolution, years ago. As I recall, the setting wasn't visible, and needed some other option set before it appeared.
Many program icons are far from obvious, even when you know what they refer to. Often, you remember to hit the right icon more from remembering that it's the third one along, etc., rather than the picture on them. If it weren't for the pop-up tool-tips, that appear when the mouse is hovered over something, but not clicked on, I'd have no idea what some buttons do.
I find the following for the HL5140 printer: Max Resolution ( B&W ) 2400 dpi x 600 dpi I assume 600 dpi is along the horizontal axis? It is presently configured to print 300 dpi.
When it comes to product specifications, I assume nothing. But that would seem right.
You can make some guesses with printers and scanners, based upon the mechanics, that the horizontal resolution has some upper limit related to the pixels it has, but the vertical resolution may be changed by changing the moving speed of the paper or scanning sled. Horizontal resolution being fixed, because it doesn't move horizontally, the sled only moves in one direction (lengthways down the page), so it can't scan horizontally between the dots.
Just to be clear cut, <<<---- this is the horizontal direction ---->>>, and the horizontal resolution is along it.
Though, in some cases, the higher resolution isn't actually higher resolution, but some interpolation (software trying to guess what might be between pixels, and faking it). It's usually a waste of time, and just makes huge files. It can't create resolution that isn't there. If you want to artificially crispen a scan, you're probably better to do it in some graphics software that lets you control how much it does it by.
The HP5370C Scanner: Resolution 1200 dots per inch (dpi) optical resolution 1200 x 2400 dpi hardware resolution
"Hardware resolution" being "actual resolution."
unlimited interpolated resolution (HP Scanjet 5370C scanner only)
Able to fake higher resolutions than it actually does, with gay abandon.
If you believe them, that it's unlimited, then you can keep on upping the resolution until you can see the atoms and electrons in the page.
;-)
I guess that says I should be able to set xsane to scan 600 dpi and produce copies
Yes, it would look like you have equipment that can run at 600 DPI, and it's a reasonable resolution to pick for good quality document scanning and printing.
I see little difference between 300 and 600 dpi on mine, unless I'm printing graphics (you want the dithering dots, used to get greyscales, rather than lithographic-only black-and-white printing, to be as tiny as possible). But text, on ordinary paper, looks pretty much the same. Bearing in mind that I'm using normal typewriter sized fonts, not midget text.
Each time I changed resolution in xsane I had to unplug the USB scanner and restart xsane or things would "lock up!" Something bad was happening because after producing the needed copies Thunderbird Mail locked up too, something that is not normally a problem. I eventually bit the bullet and rebooted the computer.
If you can repeat the steps, and get some logs, it sounds like a bug that should be squashed. I have seen oddball behaviour when changing resolutions, but I've tended to blame my scanner for screwing up more than the computer, though I'm not sure if I blamed the right thing.
My scanner is old and knackered, but I dread trying to buy a new one, because of all the fun and games of trying to find hardware that isn't designed solely for use with Windows or Mac.
It could be drivers, I suppose. e.g. If I use anything that accesses the webcam built into my laptop, I see the "camera is on" light come on, and it never goes off again, unless I reboot. If the driver for your scanner screws up, that could cause problems, and the rest of xsane, itself, could be blameless.
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Bob Goodwin -
Tim