Q187764
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PUB98: General Information about Scanning Resolution |
The information in this article applies to:
SUMMARY
Scanned images can drastically increase the amount of time and disk space
it takes to save a file, as well as the amount of time it takes to print.
The amount of detail recorded by the scanner is measured in dots per inch
(dpi). The higher the resolution or dpi, the more detail in the image and
the larger the file size. When you are going to add a scanned image to a
file, you may want to keep the following points in mind:
- Use the optimum scanning resolution to keep images from getting
unnecessarily large. Do this by matching the scanning resolution to the
capacity of the output device.
- If an image has more resolution than a printer can print, the printer
simply ignores the excess.
- The best scanning resolution is equal to two times the number of lines
per inch (lpi) of the printer.
The following table will help you select the optimum scanning resolution.
Output device Output dpi Output lpi Scanning dpi
------------------------------------------------------
Monitor 96 NA 96
Laser printer 300 55-65 120
Laser printer 600 65-85 150
Ink-jet printer 300 50-60 110
Dye sub printer 300 55-70 125
Imagesetter 1250+ 120-150 300
You may also want to consider the following "rules of thumb."
Scan at an Appropriate Resolution
If you are scanning in color or grayscale, scan at no more than one half
the resolution of your printer. Therefore, if your laser printer prints at
600 dpi, scan at no more than 300 dpi. If you are scanning in black and
white, scan at no more than your printer resolution, but make sure that
your scanner is set to "black and white" or "line art."
Scan at an Appropriate Color Depth
If your original artwork is in color, but you will only be printing to a
black and white printer, scan it in grayscale. If your original artwork is
a black and white line diagram, scan it in black and white.
Scan at an Appropriate Size
Use your scanning program to scale the original artwork. For example, if
you are scanning a 5-by-5-inch logo to place on a business card, use the
scaling controls in your scanner software to reduce it to around 20-percent
(1-by-1-inch). Then use the scaling commands in Publisher to get the logo
exactly the right size.
MORE INFORMATION
When you import a scanned image into a document, what you are bringing in
is a rectangular grid of dots of different colors. If you scan an entire
letter-sized sheet of paper at 300 dots per inch, that rectangular grid
contains about 8,415,000 individual dots.
REFERENCES
Additional query words:
mspub 98 ms_pub pub98 pub publisher98 pub5 5.0 scanning scanned dots per inch inches resolution grainy lost
Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo