Microform Scanner
ViewScan Overview
There are three menu tabs in the ViewScan software interface that contain actions for scanning pages from microforms. You generally perform the actions in the following sequence, but you can skip back and forth as needed:
1. Browse.
2. Cropping.
3. File.
1. Browse
- When you first load a microform into the viewer, it will may be out of focus, badly contrasted, improperly aligned, flipped or inverted, negative instead of positive, or displayed at a bad magnification.
- If you are using reel microfilm, the red and white buttons at the bottom of the screen advance and rewind the film.
- The buttons at the top of the Browse pane are used in various combinations to properly render the page images on the microform as best as they can be for scanning. The buttons pretty much do what their labels say.
- Inversion (Positive / Negative)– change a negative film to display in a positive view.
- Flip (Vertical / Horizontal) – if the type is displaying backward (mirror image), flip it horizontally or vertically to correct.
- Rotate (Right / Left) – exactly what it says.
- Straighten– draw a line down the side of the text to realign it to that ruler.
- Adjust Image – two options:
- Auto Contrast (will go a long way towards fixing the contrast of the image)
- Image Adjustments
- Magnify – a software zoom to quickly resize an image on the screen without resetting the lens position.
- Optical Zoom (In / Out)– a hardware zoom that involves stepping the lens up and down. Using this often requires refocusing the image.
- Focus (In / Out)– a hardware focus that involves stepping the lens in and out.
2. Cropping
- Addition Tool– draw a box or series of boxes around the text you want included in the scan. Shapes do not have to be regular or contiguous.
- Scan Selection– initiates a scan of the selected image.
Alternate between the Addition Tool and the Scan Selection buttons to build up a series of images in the capture tray for printing. To improve the print quality, adjust the output sizing to 400% (1200 dpi).
3. File
Once you have scanned the pages you need, go to the File tab in order to print, save, or email it. In the right-hand pane, click Select all or manually checkmark the pages you want to output.
On the left-hand navigation, you choose the output mode:
- Print – select the desired printer and click the print icon.
- File Save – save the pages as PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and other common formats. By default, Format will be set to Multi-page PDF. You have two Save Location options:
- Save to Local PC– save to a USB thumb drive.
- Save to Google Docs– enter your Le Moyne email address and password and save directly to Google
Docs. (Handy!)
- Email – email the scanned pages. By default, Format will be set to Multi-page PDF (as in File Save).