Book Scanner

Quick Guide for the Book Scanner

This one-page guide will give you the bare bones of what you need to work the book scanner. If you need high-quality scans, we highly recommend you work through the full tutorial. 

If you get lost, refer back to the user manual on the Home page. Contact information for KSL staff is available on the left-hand navigation of each page. Service Center staff can also assist with basic troubleshooting.

Start the Scanner

Make sure the scanner is turned on. The switch is on the right side of the scanner.

Position the Material on the Scanner Bed

You do not need to lay the book open across the scanner. The starting point of the scanner is the bottom, right-hand corner. On your desired starting page, place your open book into the front edge of the scanner. The spine should be facing towards you. Slide the book to the right until it is flush with the edge. A gray arrow points to where the book should be. You do not need to close the scanner's lid.

Starting Software

To launch the software, press the button Book Pavilion located along the right side of the scanner's surface. 

The scanner will take a few minutes to warm up. At the end of this warm up, the scanner will automatically take a pre-scan.

Setting Up Your First Scan

With the book held firmly in place on the scanner bed, press the Preview button on the scanner and select what you want to scan. A dotted selection window will populate. Drag the dotted rectangle to just outside the book's edge, or inside the book if there is enough space inside of the book's margin. 

Scan Settings

The following settings are recommended. Review the full tutorial for more information about how to choose settings and additional options. 

Mode Settings

1. Color: choose color, gray, or text (black and white); we recommend color or gray
2. Resolution: for books that are mostly text, 300 DPI (dots per inch) is fine, but the scanner can go up to 600 DPI
3. Color Matching or Auto Density: remain unchecked
4. Gamma: leave at its defaults
5. All other sliders should remain set to 0

Purpose

Purpose can be found at the top of the software screen. The easiest way to use the scanner is to set the Purpose to File Utility which saves one picture at a time. If you are interested in PDF utility, review the full tutorial. 

File Save Settings

The Scanning Attributes and Save Setting sections are found in the middle of the software's window. Adjust the following settings. For more information, review the full tutorial. 

1. File Format: Under Scanning Attributes and from the File Format dropdown, select Uncompressed Aldus TIFF. 
2. Destination Folder: Under Save Setting, click the Browse button next to the Destination Folder. The computer's File Explorer will open. Select your documents or pictures folder as your destination location. 
3. File Name Prefix: You can name the scanning project for organizational purposes without having to manually rename each file. Every new scan is named sequentially following the previous scan. Adjusting the Pad, the numeral dial next to File Name Prefix, indicates how many digits are in the number behind the prefix. 

Once all the above settings are complete, you can focus your attention on scanning. 

Scan

Now you are ready to scan:

1. Position your book on the scanner in the same place you had it for the preview, and press the appropriate scan button (Color, Grayscale, or Text).
2. Hold the book firmly flat against the glass and slide as far into the gutter of the book as you can.
3. You will see the scanner sensor move across the bed; it isn’t too bright and it won’t hurt your eyes.
4. Remember there is no need to close the scanner lid.
5. After each scan rotate the book, turn the page, and press the button.

Post-Processing and File Transfers

Files should be taken with you when you leave the computer, as the memory is wiped regularly. Use either an external hard drive or flash drive or cloud storage. If you are a CWRU affiliate, your OneDrive is already linked to the computer when you log in. 

Want to do more with your images? The Freedman Center Technology Lab has post-processing and editing software, including the Adobe Creative Suite. Some relevant tutorials are: