Selecting EPSON Scan Settings


Follow the instructions in these sections to change the EPSON Scan mode, if necessary, and select scanning settings:

Changing the Scan Mode

To change the scan mode, click the arrow in the Mode box at the top right of the EPSON Scan window. Then select the mode you want to use from the list that appears.

Note:
The mode you select remains in effect when you start EPSON Scan the next time.

For instructions on scanning using these modes, see:

Using Full Auto Mode

When you start EPSON Scan for the first time, it runs in Full Auto Mode and displays the EPSON Scan standby window:

Note:
If you want to change the scan mode, see Changing the Scan Mode.

  1. If you want to select a custom resolution or restore faded colors in your image, click the Customize button. You see the Customize window:


  2. Select your settings and click OK. (For details on selecting settings, click the Help button.)

  3. Click the Scan button.
  4. The File Save Settings window appears. For instructions on selecting options, see Selecting File Save Settings.


  5. When you are finished selecting File Save Settings, click OK. EPSON Scan starts scanning in Full Auto Mode.
  6. EPSON Scan previews your image, detects whether it is a photo or document, and selects the scan settings automatically. After a moment, you see a small capture of your image in the EPSON Scan window.



    Note:
    If you need to change any settings, click the Pause button. You return to the EPSON Scan standby window. If you need to cancel scanning, click the Cancel button when it appears.

  7. Depending on how you started EPSON Scan, the program saves the file to the location you specified or opens the scanned image in your scanning program. See Finishing the Scan for details.

Selecting Basic Settings

When you start EPSON Scan in Home or Professional Mode, you see the main EPSON Scan window:

Home Mode

Professional Mode

Before you scan your document or photo, you need to select these basic settings:

Follow these steps to select the basic settings for a document or photo in EPSON Scan:

  1. Do one of the following to select your document type:
  2. Home mode:
    Click the arrow to open the Document Type list and select the type of original you are scanning. Then click the Color, Grayscale, or Black & White button to select the colors in the original.

    Professional mode:
    Click the arrow to open the Document Type list and select Reflective (for scanning a document or photo). Then click the arrow in the Auto Exposure Type list and select Document or Photo.

  3. Do one of the following to select your destination setting(s):
  4. Home mode:
    Click the button for the way you plan to use the scanned image in the Destination box:

    • Screen/Web for images you will view only on a computer screen or post on the web.
    • Printer for images you will be printing or converting to editable text with an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program.
    • Other if you want to select a specific resolution for other purposes.
    • Professional mode:
      Click the arrow to open the Image Type list and select the detailed image type you are scanning:

      Image Type setting
      Type of image you are scanning
      24-bit Color
      Color photo
      Color Smoothing
      Color graphics, such as a chart or graph
      16-bit Grayscale
      Black-and-white photo with many shades of gray
      8-bit Grayscale
      Black-and-white photo with just a few shades of gray
      Black & White
      Document with black text and/or line art

  5. EPSON Scan selects a default resolution setting based on the original and destination settings you select. See Selecting the Scan Resolution to continue scanning.

Selecting the Scan Resolution

In Home Mode, you can change the resolution only if you select Other as the Destination setting.

In Professional Mode, you can select the resolution you want at any time.

Before you select the scan resolution, you should consider whether you will enlarge the images, and if so, whether you will enlarge them before or after you scan. Follow these guidelines:

Click the arrow next to the Resolution list and select the number of dots per inch at which you want to scan. See the table below for some guidelines:

What you will do with the scanned image
Suggested scan resolution
Send via e-mail, upload to web, view only on the screen
96 to 150 dpi
Print, convert to editable text (OCR)
300 dpi
Fax
200 dpi
Enlarge after scanning at 100%
Increase Resolution setting by same amount you will increase image size after scanning

After selecting the Resolution, you can preview your image and make any necessary adjustments. See Previewing and Adjusting the Scan Area to continue scanning.

Previewing and Adjusting the Scan Area

Once you have selected your basic settings and resolution in Home or Professional Mode, you can preview your image and select or adjust the area of the image(s) you want to scan. EPSON Scan displays the preview image(s) in a separate Preview window on your screen.

There are two types of preview:

Follow these steps to preview your image(s) in Home or Professional Mode:

  1. Click the Preview button toward the bottom of the EPSON Scan window. If you want to check or change the preview type, click the arrow next to the Preview button, if it is available.


  2. EPSON Scan prescans your image(s) and displays them in one of the following Preview windows:

    Normal preview



    Thumbnail preview



  3. If you are viewing the Thumbnail preview, you can do the following to adjust the image(s):
    • To zoom in on an image, double-click its thumbnail, or click the thumbnail and then click the Full Size tab near the top of the Preview window. (Available only when you've scanned multiple images at one time.)
    • To rotate an image or flip it horizontally (like a mirror image), click its thumbnail and then click the  rotation icon or  mirroring icon.
    • To adjust the scan area to crop your image, you can create and move a marquee that marks the edges of your scan. See Adjusting the Scan Area (Marquee) for instructions.
    • To adjust the image quality, click the image(s) you want to modify and make the adjustments as described in Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings. If you want to apply the adjustments you have made to all your images, click the All button.
  4. If you are viewing the Normal preview, you can do the following to adjust the image(s):
    • To select your scan area, click the  auto locate icon to place a marquee that marks the edges of your image area. You can move the marquee to change the scan area. See Adjusting the Scan Area (Marquee) for instructions.
    • Note:
      If you are going to scan at a different size than your original, you must first select your Target Size and automatically create a marquee that is proportioned to that size. See Selecting the Scan Size for instructions. You can then copy the marquee and place it on each image you will scan at that size.

    • To zoom in on an image, click inside the scan area and click the Zoom button. EPSON Scan prescans again and displays a larger preview on the Zoom tab. (Your other images are still previewed at the original size on the Preview tab.)
    • To adjust the image quality, click the image(s) you want to modify and make the adjustments as described in Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings.
  5. When you have finished adjusting the scan area, and modifying the color and image settings, you can select the size of your scanned image, if you have not already selected it. See Selecting the Scan Size for instructions.

Adjusting the Scan Area (Marquee)

A marquee is a moving dotted line that appears on the edges of your preview image to indicate the scan area.

You can move the marquee, adjust its size, and create multiple marquees on one image (Normal preview only) to scan different image areas in separate scan files. Follow these steps:

  1. To draw a marquee, move your cursor over a preview image. The pointer becomes a set of cross-hairs.
  2. Position the pointer in the area where you want to place the corner of your marquee and click. Hold down the mouse button and drag the cross-hairs over the image to the opposite corner of the desired scan area. Then release the mouse button. You see the moving dotted line of the marquee.


  3. Do one of the following to adjust the marquee:
    • To move the marquee, position your cursor inside the marquee. The pointer becomes a hand. Click and drag the marquee to the desired location.


    • To resize the marquee, position your cursor over the edge or corner of the marquee. The pointer becomes a straight or angled double-arrow. Click and drag the edge or corner to the desired size.


    • Note:
      To restrict movement of the marquee to vertical or horizontal only, hold down the Shift key as you move the marquee. To restrict sizing of the marquee to the current proportions, hold down the Shift key as you resize the marquee.

  4. To draw multiple marquees (up to 50; Normal preview only), you can just draw them as described in steps 1 through 3, or click the  copy marquee icon to create additional marquees of the same size. You can move and resize all the marquees as described in step 3. To delete a marquee, click inside it and click the  delete marquee icon.

Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings

Once you have previewed your images and adjusted the scan area, you can modify the image quality, if necessary. EPSON Scan offers a variety of settings for improving color, sharpness, contrast, and other aspects affecting image quality.

Before you make adjustments, be sure to click the image or marquee for the area you want to adjust. In Professional Mode, you also need to scroll down to the Adjustments area of the main EPSON Scan window:

The table below describes the settings available in Home and/or Professional Mode. For details on adjusting these settings, click Help in the EPSON Scan window.

When you are finished making adjustments, you can size your scanned images (see Selecting the Scan Size) or go ahead and scan (see Finishing the Scan).

Setting
Available mode(s) and description
Color Restoration
Home and Professional:
Restores the colors in faded photos automatically.
Brightness
Home and Professional:
Adjusts the overall image lightness and darkness.

In Home Mode, click the Brightness button to access the Brightness setting.

In Professional Mode, click the  Image Adjustment button to access the Brightness setting.
Contrast
Home and Professional:
Adjusts the difference between the light and dark areas of the overall image.

In Home Mode, click the Brightness button to access the Contrast setting.

In Professional Mode, click the  Image Adjustment button to access the Contrast setting.
Saturation
Professional only:
Adjusts the density of colors in the overall image.

Click the  Image Adjustment button to access the Saturation setting.
Color Balance
Professional only:
Adjusts the balance of red, green, and blue colors in the overall image.

Click the  Image Adjustment button to access the Color Balance setting.
Auto Exposure
Home: Automatically applied.

Professional: Click the  Auto Exposure button. To turn it on continuously, click the Configuration button, click the Color tab, and select Continuous auto exposure. You can adjust the level of exposure adjustment using the slider.
Unsharp Mask Filter
Home: Automatically applied.

Professional: Turn on to make the edges of image areas clearer for an overall sharper image. The level of sharpness is adjustable. Turn off to leave softer edges.
Descreening Filter
Home and Professional:
Removes the rippled pattern that can appear in subtly shaded image areas, such as in skin tones. Also improves results when scanning magazine or newspaper images which include screening in their original print processes. The results of the Descreening Filter do not appear in the preview image, only in your scanned image.
Histogram
Professional only:
Provides a graphical interface for adjusting highlight, shadow, and gamma levels individually. For advanced users only.

Click the  Histogram Adjustment button to use the Histogram settings.
Tone Correction
Professional only:
Provides a graphical interface for adjusting tone levels individually. For advanced users only.

Click the  Tone Correction button to use the Tone Correction settings.
Threshold
Home and Professional:
Adjusts the level at which the black areas in text and line art are delineated, improving text recognition in OCR programs. (Available only when you select Black & White as the Image Type setting.)

In Home Mode, click the Brightness button to access the Threshold setting.

Note:
To view the red, green, and blue levels at particular points in your preview image as you make adjustments, click the  densitometer icon in the preview window and click an image area. See EPSON Scan help for details.

Certain settings may not be available, or may be automatically selected, depending on the type of image you are previewing and other settings you have selected.

You can customize how certain EPSON Scan settings behave by clicking the Configuration button and changing settings in the window that appears. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

To undo any image quality adjustments you make to the preview image, click the Reset button (if available), turn off the setting, or preview your image again.

Selecting the Scan Size

You can scan your images at their original size, or you can reduce or enlarge their size as you scan them. You do this using the Target Size setting in Home or Professional Mode.

Home Mode

Professional Mode

If you are going to scan your image to a particular size, such as 8 ´ 10 inches, you should select the Target Size setting after previewing it, but before adjusting your scan area (indicated by the marquee). This sets the scan area to the correct proportions so your image will not be cropped unexpectedly.

For instructions on previewing your image(s), see Previewing and Adjusting the Scan Area. Then follow these steps to select the Target Size setting:

  1. You can choose a predefined scan size from the Target Size list. Click the arrow in the list and select the size you want. A marquee (dotted line) proportioned for that size appears on your preview image:


  2. If you need to create a scan size that is not in the Target Size list, you can create a custom size. Click the arrow in the list and select Customize. You see the Target Size window:


  3. Type a name for your custom size, enter the size, click the Save button, then click OK. Your new size appears in the Target Size list.

  4. In Professional Mode, you can fine-tune the size using additional tools. Click the + (Windows) or  (Macintosh) next to Target Size to display these tools:


    • To size your image by a certain percentage, adjust the Scale value.
    • To change the way your image is cropped, turn Trimming on or off. (See EPSON Scan Help for details.)
    • To unlock the proportions of your scan size, click the  lock icon. Then adjust the marquee or enter new width/height measurements.
  5. Once you have selected your scan size, you can click and drag the marquee to the area in the image you want to scan. For details, see Adjusting the Scan Area (Marquee). The marquee proportions are retained as you adjust it.
  6. If you need to rotate the marquee for a landscape or portrait image, click the  orientation icon. (Not available if you are scanning at the Original Target Size.)

    Note:
    For more information about using the Target Size tools, click Help in the EPSON Scan window.

  7. Now you are ready to scan your image(s). See Finishing the Scan for instructions.

Finishing the Scan

When you have finished selecting scan settings, you are ready to scan. Click the Scan button. After a few moments, your images are scanned.

What happens after you scan depends on how you started your scan: