Once again we come together to talk about software, however this is no ordinary software, this is Photoshop 5.5. We are using this program to help improve images that you have scanned for either use on the internet or to print out on paper media. If you have the limited version of Photoshop do not despair you are also working with some powerful tools. In the limited edition there are very powerful features that will help assist to correct flaws found in your scanned image. If you are a student get the full version at educational prices, it is worth every penny. If you are a professional you likely own the full version already. The full version in Canada sells for about $999.99 and if you own a limited edition maybe, the cost to you will be 2/3 of the original you will need to check this out for sure.

Your scanning software will come with a plugin, this can be found by opening up your directory on the software CD. You will need to remove this plugin and place it into the folder in Photoshop 5.5 call plugins. After you do this you may need to reboot your computer. Once your computer is operating again and your scanner is on, open up Photoshop. In your menu bar look for the 'File' menu and scroll down to 'Import' and look for your scanning program in our case it is 'Vistascan'. By clicking on Vistascan you will be opening up your scanning software inside of Photoshop.

Menu Bar

File / Edit / Image / Layer / Select / Filter / View / Window / Help

Your now looking at your scanning software. Follow the instructions in Part 3 of Scanning 101. After you have completed the scan and it is open in Photoshop your ready for the next step. Now the fun begins, cause here is where the real creativity begins. If you had scanned your image at 300 dpi your file size in Photoshop will be around 12 megabytes. This is to large of a file to work with unless you have a graphics card with 16 or more (32 is better) Ram or a 22 inch monitor. Other wise you will be waiting sometime after performing each task to your image. Reduce your image down to something that can fit on your monitor at 100% or under 1000K. Go to the menu bar and look for 'Image' from there scroll down to 'Image Size'. Once there reduce your image down to something that looks right to you. Remember that in Photoshop 5.5 if you make a mistake you can undo it. If you are using a previous version you will have on undo under the 'Edit' menu. So after reducing the image is not what you were after use the 'Edit - undo' or you may have to scan again. After you have reduced your image down to a workable size tasks ahead will not taxi your computer. Remember for the best images and clarity always reduce the size of an image. If you try and blow up or make the image larger from a small image your picture will be more distorted. So start with big and reduce to small image.

The tools are where the power begins. First you may want to clean up unwanted type, color, logos, and things like that. Use the 'Eyedropper' tool to change the background color. Make sure that the background color in the boxes on the 'Tools' menu is the same as your background. If not click on the first square and it will switch to the second or background color. Now with your 'Marquee' or 'Eraser' clean up areas that you do not want. You can use your brushes to create a larger 'Eraser' if needed. Uses your 'Crop' tool found by holding down your mouse over the marquee tool to further down size your image.

Marquee / Elliptical / Single R ow / Single Column / Crop

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