Scan Quality Problems

You see only a few dots in your scanned image.

•	Make sure the document is placed on the document table with the side to be scanned facing down. See Placing Originals for Scanning for details.

•	When scanning with the Black&White setting in Home or Professional Mode, change the Threshold setting. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

A line of dots always appears in your scanned images.

If a dotted line appears in the image, clean the document table glass with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth (paper towels are not recommended), or use a small amount of glass cleaner on a soft cloth, if necessary. Don’t spray glass cleaner directly on the glass. See Cleaning the Epson Stylus CX5800F for details.

Straight lines in your image come out crooked.

Make sure the document lies perfectly straight on the document table.

Your image is distorted or blurred.

•	Make sure the document lies flat on the document table. Also make sure your document is not wrinkled or warped.

•	Make sure you do not move the document or the Epson Stylus CX5800F while scanning.

•	Make sure the Epson Stylus CX5800F is placed on a flat, stable surface.

•	Select Unsharp Mask Filter in EPSON Scan’s Professional Mode window. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

•	Adjust the Auto Exposure setting in EPSON Scan’s Professional Mode window. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

You can also select Color Control and Continuous auto exposure in the Configuration window, or select the Color tab and click the Recommended Value button to return the Auto Exposure setting to the default. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Increase the Resolution setting. See Selecting the Scan Resolution for instructions.

Colors are patchy or distorted at the edges of your image.

If your document is very thick or warped at the edges, cover the edges with paper to block external light as you scan.

Your scanned image is too dark

•	Change the Display Gamma setting to match your output device, such as a monitor or printer, in the EPSON Scan Configuration window. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Adjust the Auto Exposure setting in EPSON Scan’s Professional Mode window. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

You can also select Color Control and Continuous auto exposure in the Configuration window, or select the Color tab and click the Recommended Value button to return the Auto Exposure setting to the default. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Check the Brightness setting in EPSON Scan’s Home or Professional Mode (see Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings). Or adjust brightness using the Histogram in Professional Mode (see EPSON Scan Help).

•	Check the brightness and contrast settings of your computer monitor.

An image on the back of your original appears in your scanned image.

If your original is printed on thin paper, images on the back may be visible to the Epson Stylus CX5800F and appear in your scanned image. Try scanning the original with a piece of black paper placed on the back of it. Also make sure the Document Type and Image Type settings are correct for your original. See Selecting Basic Settings for details.

Moiré (cross-hatch) patterns appear in your scanned image.

A moiré is a cross-hatch pattern that may appear in a scanned image of a printed document. It is caused by interference from the differing pitches in the scanner’s screen and the halftone screen in your original.

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Select the Descreening Filter check box in EPSON Scan’s Home or Professional Mode window. In Professional Mode, set the Screen Ruling of the Descreening Filter setting to an appropriate setting for your document and deselect the Unsharp Mask Filter setting. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

•	Select a lower Resolution setting. See Selecting the Scan Resolution for instructions.

Characters are not recognized well when converted into editable text (OCR).

•	Make sure the document lies perfectly straight on the document table.

•	In Home Mode, select Black&White as the Image Type setting. In Professional Mode, select None for the B&W Option setting. Then try adjusting the Threshold setting.

•	Check your OCR software manual to see if there are any settings you can adjust in your OCR software.

Scanned colors differ from the original colors.

•	Change the Image Type setting in EPSON Scan’s Home or Professional Mode. See Selecting Basic Settings for instructions. Select different combinations of this setting and the others mentioned below.

•	Change the Display Gamma setting to match your output device, such as a monitor or printer, in the EPSON Scan Configuration window. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Adjust the Auto Exposure setting in EPSON Scan’s Professional Mode. Also try selecting a different Tone Correction setting. See Adjusting the Color and Other Image Settings for instructions.

•	Try selecting the following settings in the Configuration window: Color Control, Continuous auto exposure, and Recommended Value (on the Color tab). Also try turning off the Fast Preview setting. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Check the color matching and color management capabilities of your computer, display adapter, and software. Some computers can change the palette of colors on your screen. See your software and hardware manuals for details.

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Use the color management system for your computer: ICM for Windows or ColorSync for Macintosh. With Windows, add a color profile that matches your monitor to improve on-screen color matching. (Exact color matching is very difficult. Check your software and monitor documentation for information on color matching and calibration.)

•	Printed colors can never exactly match the colors on your monitor because printers and monitors use different color systems: monitors use RGB (red, green, and blue) and printers typically use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).

You have trouble adjusting the scan area in the thumbnail preview.

•	Create a marquee or adjust the existing marquee to select the area you want to scan. See Adjusting the Scan Area (Marquee) for instructions.

•	In the Configuration window, adjust the thumbnail cropping area using the Thumbnail Cropping Area slide. See EPSON Scan Help for details.

•	Switch to the Normal preview type (if available) and preview your image again. See Previewing and Adjusting the Scan Area for instructions.