Lab: Scanning to acquire images
Image and texture of a memory
In this lab you'll scan two items, a photograph (or other image), and something else which you'll scan to use for texture on your web page.
Save the scan of the photo as a .jpg file at a "reasonable" size (e.g. think of 1000 pixels wide as a bit more than "full screen" for many people.)
Scan some other thing that has a relationship to the image (which can be about anything, as long as it is not greasy, grimy, dirty or otherwise a hazard to the health of the scanning beds!) We'll sample this for texture.
Using DreamWeaver we'll put together a scrapbookish kinda web page with:
- the photo image on one movable layer.
- some text about the image on another layer, and
- Some part of the texture image on a third layer.
Using the scanners to acquire an image
Acquiring an image
- Start Photoshop -- If it's not already on the Taskbar, go to "Applications folder / Adobe Photoshop CS / Adobe Photoshop"
- "Preview" what's on the scanner bed -- Place the photo/other graphic on the scanner bed. In Photoshop, "File | Import > Epson Perfection...". Chose the Professional Mode.
Now, on the dialog box which pops up (below) choose the correct "Image Type" for what you're scanning. You'll probably want "24-bit color" for photographs, or "8-bit grayscale" for black and white images.
Set the resolution to about...- 75 dpi (dots per inch) for a "quick and dirty" scan to produce an image that looks (on the screen) about the same size as in real life, with no Photoshop editing/re-sizing.
- 150-250 dpi is a general purpose setting if you want to edit the image a bit, and then save it with fewer pixels to get back to something that looks about the same size as the original.
- 300 dpi and up if you want to "blow up" your original and sample some part of it, or have a very small, but very high-quality original (e.g. a photographic negative.
Hit the Preview button.
- You'll see a window with a picture of what's on the scanner bed. Use the rectangular marquis to draw a rough rectangular box around the portion of the scanner bed you want to scan, and then hit the Scan button.
- After the scanning process stops, you'll have an image in Photoshop that you can edit/save/etc.
Before you do anything else, you may wish to save an 'original' copy of your scanned image, in .psd or .png format.
See the page on Mac OS-X for instructions on how to connect to your mypages folder from the Mac lab.
See the page on layout layers for instructions on how to assemble a page in DreamWeaver with items on different layers.
Before you leave the lab, make sure you log out and remember to take your items off the scanner bed.