Using the Canon Microform Image.SCAN Software

This tutorial will assist you in using the Canon Image.SCAN software, which is designed to help you scan and save images from microfilm or microfiche.  To get started, please follow the steps outlined below.

Step 1. To begin scanning images of pages from a microfiche or microfilm, click on one of the flags on the screen corresponding to the language you would like the software to use.

Step 2.  Once you have clicked on one of the flags, you will come to a screen that says "Help Tools" in the top left-hand corner.

On the left-hand side, there is a list of video tutorials that you can watch to help you understand the features of the microform reader.  To watch a video, simply click on the button of your choice. When you finish watching the tutorial, or if you do not wish to watch any part of the tutorials, simply click on the "Continue" button in the bottom-right hand corner of the screen.

Step 3. Once you  have clicked on the "Continue" button, you will see a screen that looks like a virtual keyboard.  You will be prompted to enter your name.  You can either type your name using the computer keyboard, or you can use the mouse to click on the letters of the virtual keyboard to spell out your name.  Once you have entered your name, click on the "Enter" button:

Step 4. Once you have clicked on the "Enter" button, you will see a screen that looks like a virtual scanning workstation. There are three rows of buttons to the left and a large rectangular empty window on the right.

 To begin scanning, first align the page you wish to scan in the center of the microform reader's screen.   On the scanning workstation screen,  click the button in the top row labeled "Scan":

Step 5. Once you have clicked the scan button, a scanned image of the page you selected from your microform will now appear in the long rectangular box on the computer screen.

  If the image is acceptable to you, then press the "ACCEPT" button in the top row.

If the image is not acceptable to you, you can click the "Rescan" button located directly to the left of the "Accept" button, which will clear the scanned image from the box and allow you to scan your page again.

Before you hit the "accept" button, there are also a number of things you can do to change the appearance of your scanned image.  You can click on the other buttons in the scanning workstation to perform a variety of tasks:

 Click any button in the image to the left to read its description.

Here are brief descriptions of the buttons, starting in the top left-hand corner and moving from left to right:

TOP ROW:

Start Over: This button takes you to the opening screen, where you selected the language (see Step 1). 

Help: This button takes you to the "Help Tools" screen, where you can watch video tutorials (see Step 2).

Rescan: This button allows you to clear the scanned image and rescan the image you have selected on the microform reader.

Accept: This button allows you to accept the image that you have scanned, which will allow you to save the image in the next step.

MIDDLE ROW:

Zoom In: This button allows you to zoom in closer to a selected portion of the scanned image.

Zoom Out: This button allows you to zoom back out and view the entire scanned image, once you have zoomed in on some portion of it.

Remove Border: If your scanned image has a border around it (example: dark areas around the image with no text or graphics), then clicking on this button MAY remove that border.

Undo: Clicking this button clears the last change you made to your scanned image.  For example, if you clicked "Remove Border," and then clicked "Undo," it would return the border to your scanned image.

BOTTOM ROW:

Despeckle: If your scanned image has small spots or "speckles" on it, clicking this button MAY remove some of those spots and improve the quality of the image.

Deskew: If your scanned image appears to be at an angle ("skewed"), clicking on this button MAY straighten the image.

Invert: This button will reverse the appearance of your scanned image.  That is, if your page is white text with black background, this button will reverse it to black text on white background.

Fit: Clicking this button will enlarge the scanned image to fit the rectangular window in which your scanned image appears.

Step 6. Once you have clicked the accept button, a window will now pop up that asks, "Would you like to scan another image?"  

If you do want to scan additional pages, then click "Yes."  If you are finished scanning pages, then click "No."  If you click yes, you will return to the scanning workstation, and you can scan your next page by repeating steps 4-5.  If you click no, you will come to a screen that allows you to save the scanned images as files on a zip disk.

Note: The "PRINT IMAGE" button has been disabled. Accordingly, it is not possible to obtain paper copies from this machine.

Save to Disk:  If you press "SAVE IMAGE", a window will pop up, telling you to insert a disk in the floppy drive. 

 Put a zip disk in the zip drive marked "A" on the computer.  Then press "okay" on the computer screen.  Then click on the "smiley face" on the computer screen. Press the black button next to the "A" drive on the computer to release your disk.  When you save scanned images to a zip disk, the image.SCAN software will create a file on the disk with the name you typed in on the computer screen in step 3.  When you open your disk on a computer, simply look for this file; open it and your scanned images will be present.  These images are saved in "TIF" format.

If you need additional assistance, please inquire at the Microform Service Office.

N.B. This tutorial is based on a tutorial created by Scott Lloyd, Information Services Specialist at Cincinnati Bible College & Seminary Library.