Graphics and Manipulation
Lately I've been running into a lot of people wondering about how do I get my picture of Uncle Joe onto my computer from my scanner? And once it is onto my computer what next? I'm going to briefly explain a few tips that I've come across in my scanning and graphics explorations.
I've found Paint Shop Pro 5.0 to be a very good program to scan into. Once you have Uncle Joe in your program you can do what ever you'd like. Let's go step by step to save Uncle Joe to the computer. I like to scan at 72 to 100 DPI. I've found this to be adequate for my personal needs and printing output. Some scanning software is very limited in settings, but I am mostly familiar with Vista Scan. I like this program because it lets me do a lot with a photo.
First we open Paint Shop Pro, make sure the scanner is on and Uncle Joe is poised nicely on the flatbed. Go to "File" "Import", "Twain" then finally "Acquire"...click on that. Then your scanning software pops up. (This maybe different with other programs...) Click on preview in your scanning program, that way you can see if Uncle Joe is positioned correctly. Adjust the frame to your liking then scan. Uncle Joe will pop up in Paint Shop Pro, but he's not saved yet. I usually save my photos as JPEG's for space considerations, but this is not the best format. JPEG's degrade the photo, so you may want to save as a WMF. Now that you've got your photo saved there are several things you can do.
You can add a mask, basically a fancy border. With filters you can change the photo to look like an old fashioned picture, a mask can change the outline, and borders with flood fills can gussy up your ole Uncle Joe. If you are saving the photo for use in Computer Scrap booking, or for a personal card or booklet you can import the picture by copy and pasting it into your favorite program. You select the photo, ctrl+c to copy the open your program and you can paste it right there, You can do this from the edit menu or by crtl+v. There you go! You've got Uncle Joe ready for a card, booklet or where ever your creation leads you...
