Color Type

ScanThru

Image Type

Specify the mode that will be used to scan the original image or document. Choose the scan mode that corresponds to the type of the image you scan.
To scan...
In the Image Type list,
click the following item:
Text documents Lineart B/W
Text documents or drawings Halftone B/W
Uncolored images with shades of gray (black and white photos) Gray 256 Scales
Color images at lower color resolution (drawings, figures, schemes) 256 Colors
Color images at higher color resolution (color photos, posters, etc) True Color, RGB
The available options are:
  • True Color, RGB — in this scan mode, your scanner captures 24 bits (8 bit per channel R, G and B) of color image information for every dot (pixel) in the resulting scanned image. RGB simply stands for Red-Green-Blue, a color model in which every color is composed of a varying amount of the colors red, green, and blue. Therefore it is possible to produce over 16 million colors using this mode.
    If you choose True Color, RGB mode, you can get excellent color details from your scanner, but it requires considerable disk space to store the resulting file.
  • 256 colors — in this scan mode, your scanner will produce images that contain only 256 colors. If a color in the original image does not match one of these colors, the program chooses the closest one or simulates the color using available colors. In the 256 colors mode, 8 bits are needed for every dot (pixel) in the resulting scanned image.
    To store an image scanned using 256 Color mode, you will need approximately 1/3 of the space required to save a 24-bit True Color image.
  • Gray 256 Scales — in this scan mode, your scanner will produce images that contain more than just black and white, and include actual shades of gray. In a grayscale image, each pixel has more bits of information encoded in it, allowing more shades to be recorded and shown. To reproduce a photo-realistic 256 shades of gray, 8 bits are needed for every dot (pixel) in the resulting scanned image.
    To store an image scanned using 256 Gray Scales mode, you will need approximately 1/3 of the space required to save a 24-bit True Color image.
  • Halftone B/W — in this scan mode, the images you will get from the scanner are composed of a pattern of black dots that fool the eye into seeing shades of gray. Examples of halftone images are the pictures you see in a newspaper. These images usually look very coarse. Because this image type uses only 1-bit for every dot (pixel) (like B/W Document, lineart), the resulting file size is smaller than grayscale or color.
  • Lineart B/W — in this scan mode, your scanner will produce images in 1-bit Lineart, showing image details in black and white only. Lineart is a good choice for printed text or pen-and-ink drawings. To reproduce an image scanned using Lineart B/W mode, only 1-bit of color information is required for each pixel. The space required to store this image is only about 1/8 of that required to save an 8-bit Grayscale image.

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