Huge scan files

[SLW210]

I would love to hear what you find out.

[rkmcswain]

....the new scans and the old scans show the same general properties--paper is practically the same size, number of pixels is practically the same, resolution is the same. The files sizes should be the same.

I still would like to check them out, you can zip and email them to me if you want. rkmcswain_at_yahoo_dot_com

[CyberAngel]

Here are two representative scans. One is named "old.tif" and one is "new.tif". Both are sized to 5x7 inches so that they'd make the 250KB limit. You'll notice that the old scan is crisper than the new one, but somehow the new one is about 8 times larger than the old one. Same size, same resolution.

ScanSample.zip

[rkmcswain]

What it *looks* like is that your new scan was scanned as grayscale, then converted to monochrome (not saying you did this, but the scanner software)

Look at the old scan, how everything is either solid black or nothing. On the new scan, areas that appear black are actually a series of dots.

The way I understand how tif compression works is that it takes a lot more space to save a checkerboard pattern than is does the same size area where half is black and half is white.

oldvsnew.png

[CyberAngel]

Thanks, RKM. Something else to ask the salesman when/if he shows up. He's postponed his trip again, now it will be "next week". We have several other issues with the plotter (not relevant to this thread). If it were left up to me, I'd send the beast back.

[rkmcswain]

Thanks, RKM. Something else to ask the salesman when/if he shows up. He's postponed his trip again, now it will be "next week". We have several other issues with the plotter (not relevant to this thread). If it were left up to me, I'd send the beast back.

We have a similar problem with at least one of our small-format printer/scanners.
When CAD drawings are scanned on it, the lines are dithered (and upon close inspection, look like your "new.tif" image above).
This is not a problem as long as the same printer is used to make the copies/reprints.

However, when we print one of those scans on our Oce TDS860 (400dpi capability), everything looks fuzzy because it can't print that tight of a dithered pattern.
Our large format Oce scanner scans like your "old.tif" where geometry is a series of solid black areas, not a pattern of dots - and copies come out nice and crisp (not to mention, small file size)

[Jack_O'neill]

I found you a user manual. All you have to do to "unlock" it is to rate the machine by clicking stars to answer a few questions. It's here: http://safemanuals.com/user-guide-in...ICIO%20240W-_E

or if you don't want to fool with that, send me your email addy in a PM and I will send it to you. Its 3.5Mb zipped, over 6 unzipped, in PDF.

[CyberAngel]

Got it! As it turns out, there are settings for the scanner, for image processing, and for job processing. If you look at the scanner settings, the Help refers to Text/OCR Mode, Photo Mode, and Drawing Mode. The actual software calls it Character Mode instead of Text Mode.

We originally set the scanner to Drawing Mode because we were scanning, duh, drawings. That's where the grayscale came from (visible in the "new" scan above). When I set it to Character Mode, I got the same type of image as the "old" scan, as well as the manageable file sizes. Ta-daa!

If the sales people ever show up, they should have a manual for us. If not, I'll get the one in RKM's link. Thanks, folks.

[Jack_O'neill]

Got it! As it turns out, there are settings for the scanner, for image processing, and for job processing. If you look at the scanner settings, the Help refers to Text/OCR Mode, Photo Mode, and Drawing Mode. The actual software calls it Character Mode instead of Text Mode.

We originally set the scanner to Drawing Mode because we were scanning, duh, drawings. That's where the grayscale came from (visible in the "new" scan above). When I set it to Character Mode, I got the same type of image as the "old" scan, as well as the manageable file sizes. Ta-daa!

If the sales people ever show up, they should have a manual for us. If not, I'll get the one in RKM's link. Thanks, folks.

Congrats! Glad you figured it out.

RKM...if he asks for the manual, let me know and I'll send it to you, so you can send it to him....

[CyberAngel]

RKM...if he asks for the manual, let me know and I'll send it to you, so you can send it to him....

Sorry about that.