Scanning
A scanner is available in the 24-hour lab. The scanner has a document feeder for scanning several pages at a time and it is also a flatbed scanner. This scanner can scan up to legal (8.5” x 14”) size content. You will need your Pirate Card to swipe to gain access to the 24-hour lab which is open 7 days a week all day and all weeks of the year.
Some of the multifunction printers around campus can also scan. The large printer/scanner on the 2nd floor of the Prothro Center in the corner of the break area with the large flat screen, can scan up to ledger (11”x17”/B) size content to your Southwestern email address. There is no fee for scanning but you will need your Pirate Card to swipe to gain access to the scanning features. You will need your Pirate Card to swipe gain access to the building after hours.
A flatbed scanner with a document feeder and a photographic slide scanner are also available in the the Instructional Media Center (IMC) located in ITS (Information Technology Services) offices - 2nd floor Prothro Center. The IMC is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to noon and from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Reservations to use the equipment and software are not required but are highly recommended, especially if you are working with large PDF documents or scanning and editing a large number of photos/slides.
There is no fee associated with scanning.
Scanning to a PDF Document
PDF, or portable document format, is the preferred file type for many professors and students for creating documents to be placed on Moodle and other sites. Not only are PDFs compatible with more programs on both Macs and Windows computer than .DOC files, they are more easily read on many different types of “computers” including mobile/tablet devices [e.g. iPad, iPod, iPhone, Android]. The PDF format is not recommended for pictures, for which image formats yield higher resolution, but is more than adequate for text and the graphics that might go with it. If you are using a Mac, the Preview application that comes with the Mac has many features for working with PDF documents - reordering pages, rotating pages, cropping, combining PDF documents, deleting pages to name a few. On a Windows computer, you will need to use Adobe Acrobat Professional/Standard - Adobe Reader does not have these editing capabilities.
Scanning to an Image Document
Scanners can scan graphics to several image file formats including .BMP, .JPG, .TIF, and a compressed .TIF. If your ideal image type is not one of these, you may open the file in an imaging program after the scan and save it with a different format. Different image file formats have different attributes useful for different purposes.
The three most common image file formats are TIF (TIFF), JPG (JPEG) and GIF. The TIF file format is the leader in the best quality and is very commonly used in commercial printing and professional environments. JPG and GIF file formats are preferred for web pages – JPG is the best choice for photo images and GIF is most common for graphic images.
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Photographic Images |
Graphics, including Logos and Line Art |
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Properties |
Continuous tones, 24 bit color or 8 bit gray, no text, few lines and edges
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Solid colors, up to 256 colors with text or lines and sharp edges
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Best Quality for Archived Master
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TIF or PNG (no JPG artifacts)
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PNG, GIF, or TIF (no JPG artifacts)
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Smallest File Size
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JPG with a higher quality factor can be decent (JPG is questionable quality for archiving master copies)
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TIF, LZW, GIF, or PNG (graphics/logos usually permit reducing to 2 to 16 colors for smallest file size)
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Maximum Compatibility (PC, Mac, Linux/Unix)
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TIF or JPG (the simplest programs may not read TIF or LZW)
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TIF without LZW or GIF
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Worst Choice
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256 color GIF is very limited color and is a larger file than 24 bit JPG
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JPG compression adds artifacts, smears text and lines and edges
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Copyright Information
Scanned (digitized) reproductions of copyrighted materials are characterized by attributes that make them particularly susceptible to infringing copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code)
It is entirely the responsibility of the individual to determine and ensure that use of materials being scanned fully complies with copyright law and with other possible restrictions on use.
For information on determining what work may be considered as “Fair Use” under the current copyright act, consult with Carol Fonken in Smith Library Center or visit U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use.
