** 1 page review / 715 words **

** SCANX.GIF here **

Scantastic?

Matthew Bacon thinks so...

For years I've been happily using a B&W hand-held scanner to get photos and drawings onto my STe for further editing.

However, hand scanners do have to be manually wheeled across the page - a craft-skill I never quite mastered! They're also limited to scanning "strips" the width of the scanning head (typically 100mm) at resolutions up to 400dpi.

Recently the cost of flatbed scanners has fallen through the floor making hand scanners almost redundant. Flat bed scanners remove the skill factor and offer higher resolution for the same money so recently I purchased a Microtek E6 colour flatbed scanner.

Flatbed scanners are not the most distinctive style objects - they all look very similar - the E6 takes up roughly the same desk space as a standard ST/Falcon. Just like a photocopier, the lid hinges up to reveal a clear glass plate large enough to accommodate a full A4 sized page.

In line with current trends on other devices there are no external controls on the E6 apart from the power switch. All settings are software controlled which, for the Atari platform, means you need to buy a copy of ScanX published by HOMA SYSTEMS HOUSE.

ScanX provides a comprehensive level of control and offers similar functions to those found in the PC and Mac driver software supplied by Microtek.

The E6 can be connected to any Atari system with a vacant SCSI socket using a suitable SCSI cable. ST owners without a spare SCSI socket will additionally need a SCSI host adapter such as the ICD Link or equivalent.

ScanX can run as a application or desktop accessory. Running as a desktop accessory ScanX can scan directly into applications using a GDPS scanner driver. Programs that currently support GDPS include Pixart, PhotoLine and OCR14.

When ScanX is run for the first time you are required to give the ACSI/SCSI ID and model of scanner after which the main screen is then displayed (figure 1).

** FIGURE1.GIF here **
** caption **
ScanX can scan any page up to A4 in 24-bit colour, 8-bit greyscale, 1-bit halftone and line art
** /caption **

The area to the left of the controls on the main display (figure 1) is called the prescan window. Select PRESCAN to perform a fast scan which displays a rough preview of what's on the scanner in the prescan window. The next step is to define the area to be scanned by either dragging and re-sizing the crop frame within the prescan window or by typing in values.

Before scanning the defined area, the colour depth (millions of colours, greyscale etc) and the resolution (75 to 600dpi) have to be selected. ScanX also provides control over the scanning velocity, brightness, contrast and exposure. The slower the scanning velocity the more detailed the scan will be.

Select SCAN to begin a defined scan of the defined area. If the results are not satisfactory simply change the settings and perform another scan. When scanning in colour ScanX holds the image in memory. On my 14Mb Falcon a full A4 page colour scan at 210dpi results in a 12.8Mb file in Targa (TGA) format.

** FIGURE2.GIF here **

Except when scanning in colour ScanX scans to disk in IMG format which means ST owners, with enough disk storage space, can scan a full A4 page in 8-bit greyscale mode.

The Microtek E6 scanner used with the ScanX driver produces excellent results. If you're into graphics or DTP this combination is currently the only dedicated scanner software in town.

** product boxout **
Microtek E6 & ScanX driver

Publisher
HOMA SYSTEMS HOUSE, P.O. Box 52127, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 550, Canada.
Email: aa414@freenet.carleton.ca
http://www.magma.ca/~nima/

UK supplier:
Titan Designs, 6 Witherford Way, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 4AX
Tel: +44 (0)1293 693 6669
Email: TITANWEB@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/TITANWEB/

Cost
œ199 Microtek 330 & ScanX

Specification
30-bit single pass flatbed, 9600x9600 dpi (interpolated), SCSI interface

Requires
SCSI interface, 640x400 (ST-high) resolution minimum, 4Mb memory minimum, hard drive recommended

Pros
Easy to use, excellent results, reasonably priced, runs as a desktop accessory or application

Cons
ScanX documentation could offer more detailed advice over settings.

Microtek no longer produce the E6 model but its successors, the 330 & 630, are compatible with the ScanX driver.

85%
** /product boxout **

** Image **
** FIGURE2.GIF **