getting a good text copy

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Wishy13764

Does anyone know how to make a good copy of text that has pastel background so
the text can stand out? A good example would be the IRS forms..1040 and etc.
Though that is not what I'm trying to copy. I set my scanner for 300dpi,
greyscale, and when I send it to the printer, the text is barely legible...i
don't think its because of the pastel backgrounds. I see no difference when i
use the brightness/contrast. I did try text, but it is even worse.
 
Does anyone know how to make a good copy of text that has pastel background so
the text can stand out? A good example would be the IRS forms..1040 and etc.
Though that is not what I'm trying to copy. I set my scanner for 300dpi,
greyscale, and when I send it to the printer, the text is barely legible...i
don't think its because of the pastel backgrounds. I see no difference when i
use the brightness/contrast. I did try text, but it is even worse.
Click to expand...


I'm unsure, but I think you may mean the gray background? Doesnt really
matter, pastel would be the same. In the case of scanning black text, you
surely want to use line art mode instead of grayscale. Basically this is
pretty much what it is for.

In line art mode, everything is either black or it is white, and there is no
intermediate gray. This is of course ideal for black text on white paper.

In the case of a unwanted intermediate background (magazines too for example),
that background is not as dark as black or as light as white, so it will want
to be intermediate gray. However since there is no gray, it can only come out
as either black or white, depending on how you set the threshold in line art
mode. The threshold control sets the level of gray that is the borderline
between black and white. You can easily lower the threshold so that an
intermediate background comes out white (meaning, it disappears).

If the background should be a problem at the default threshold (midpoint 127),
just lower the threshold, perhaps to say 100 or even 85, so that the
background comes out white. Normally you can see this effect of the
threshold in the Preview image before you scan it.

There is more about line art and use of its threshold control at
http://www.scantips.com/basics04.html

However if you do want to retain the background tone, then line art wont do
it. If that is the case, then grayscale and using the histogram control to
increase contrast substantially (raising black point, lowering white point)
will likely help. Makes the black blacker and the white whiter, and the
intermediate will likely not interfere with either. You can also change the
middle point there to lighten it. But I am assuming that is not the desired
goal? If you just want the most readable copy, you want line art. Some
scanners have a different name for line art mode, perhaps B&W Document, etc.
 
300 dpi is actually overkill for text, but it shouldn't hurt anything. 150
to 200 dpi should be sufficient. It might help if you tell us which scanner
your using and what software you have or included with the scanner.

Do you have your printer set on fast draft or something like that? Remember
when your printing a scanned image whether picture or text it is still
printing an image and higher print quality is necessary to get good output.
I don't always use it, but I've found the program "Paperport" by Scansoft to
be good at enhancing text. I often was able to get a better printout then
the original by using this program. You'll have to get your hands on
version 8 or higher for XP, but 7 worked ok in win 2000 and lower.

The included software with epson flatbeds is excellent at isolating text as
well if your in the market or just bought your scanner you might want to
think about returning it in favor of one of their scanners.

You could try making it a color scan as well. Of course this will increase
the file size.
 
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