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Do you want to scan documents in Microsoft Office Document Imaging but wonder which scanning preset to use? Do you wonder if you should use one of the built-in presets or customize a preset for your own use? Although Document Imaging provides you with several scanning presets for common scanning tasks, you can customize any of the built-in scanning presets for your own use, or create a new preset of your own to use along with the built-in presets.

If you are scanning for optical character recognition (OCR) results (if text recognition is your first priority), using one of the built-in presets is your best bet. However, creating or modifying a scanning preset can help you optimize your scanning for speed (if you just want to use the text in a scanned document and a lower resolution is acceptable) or image quality (you need a higher resolution image for archiving).

What is a scanning preset?

A scanning preset is a collection of settings or instructions used for a specific type of scan. For example, if you scan a color document and you want the resulting image to be in color, you need a scanning preset with a Scan type setting of 24 bit color. In addition to Scan type (24 bit color, 8 bit gray, or monochrome), each preset controls the following settings:

• Resolution (200 to 1200 dpi; available resolutions depend on scanner model)
• File format (Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) (Tagged Image File Format (TIFF): A high-resolution, tag-based graphics format. TIFF is used for the universal interchange of digital graphics.) or Microsoft Document Imaging Format (MDI) (Microsoft Document Imaging Format (MDI): A high resolution, tag-based graphics format, based on the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) used for digital graphics.))
• Page size (available sizes depend on the scanner model)
• Default folder for saving files
• Language used for optical character recognition (OCR) (OCR: Translates images of text, such as scanned documents, into actual text characters. Also known as text recognition.)
• Save multi-page documents together or as separate pages
• Automatically perform OCR after scanning
• Automatically create file names
• Automatically adjust pages scanned upside down or out of alignment for best OCR results

When you create or edit a preset, you control the settings for that preset only. All other presets remain unaffected. This way, you can create presets for specific purposes.

Built-in scanning presets

When you scan a document, you can choose from one of four built-in scanning presets. Each preset is optimized for different scanning needs. Built-in presets include the following:

• Black and white   Scans in monochrome at 300 dots per inch (dpi). This preset is designed for optimum OCR results when scanning black text on white paper, or when scanning line art. Scanning is faster than with other presets, and the resulting image files are small, and in the TIFF format.
• Black and white from color page   Scans in grayscale at 300 dpi, but saves the resulting file in monochrome, TIFF format. This preset is designed to provide maximum text resolution for OCR when scanning difficult originals containing colored backgrounds or colored text.
• Color   Scans in color at 200 dots per inch. This preset is designed for scanning full-color documents. Scanning is slower, small text may not be legible enough for OCR, and the resulting TIFF image files are large.
• Grayscale   Scans in grayscale at 200 dots per inch. This preset is useful when scanning pages containing continuous-tone, black and white images (such as photographs) and text, or colored text. This preset creates somewhat larger TIFF image files.

Using a built-in scanning preset to optimize for OCR results

If you are scanning for the best OCR results, and optimum OCR results are more important than either scanning speed or higher resolution, use the Black and white from color page built-in scanning preset.

More information about scanning for optimal OCR results

Creating or modifying a scanning preset to optimize for speed or for image quality

You can modify an existing preset, or create a new preset for different purposes. The following are some examples of different purposes you might have for a scanned document:

• You want to use text from a black and white document and are not concerned with a lower scanning resolution (optimize for speed)
• You want to use the text from a color document and are not concerned with a lower scanning resolution (optimize for speed)
• You want to archive an important black and white document (optimize for quality)
• You want to archive an important color document (optimize for quality)

Before you create or modify a scanning preset, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You will not be able to change the Resolution (DPI), the Type, or the Page Size setting for a preset if you have selected the Show scanner driver dialog before scanning check box in the Choose Scanner dialog box, or if this option is unavailable. When this check box is selected, your scanner driver controls the scanning settings and you can change the scanning settings by using your scanner driver.
• The number of Resolution (DPI) settings available in the Advanced Scanning Settings dialog box depends on the scanner and scanner driver you are using. Some scanners and scanner drivers offer fewer or more options for dpi. You may not be able to select the exact values show in the procedure below. However, the values shown are examples to give you an idea of the setting to choose. For example, if you only want to use the text from a scanned image, scanning at 1200 dpi vs 300 dpi will not give any better OCR results. If 300 dpi is the lowest setting available to you, this is the value you should select if you are scanning to use the text.
• Scanning at resolutions higher than 300 dpi and scanning in color can greatly increase the amount of time it takes to scan a document, and the file size of the scanned document.

Create or modify a preset

The Document Imaging scanning component is not installed during a typical installation of Microsoft Office or a Microsoft Office program. You may need access to the CD-ROM, DVD, network file server or shared folder that you installed your Office program from to complete the following steps.

1. To start the Document Imaging scanning component, do one of the following:
   • In Document Imaging, click Scan New Document on the File menu.
   • On the Windows Start menu, point to All Programs (Programs in Microsoft Windows 2000), point to Microsoft Office, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Document Scanning.
2. Select the preset you want to edit, or the preset you want to use as the basis for your new preset.
3. Do one of the following:
   • To edit an existing preset, click Preset options, and then click Edit selected preset .
   • To create a new preset, click Preset options, click Create new preset, and then type a name for the new preset and click OK.
4. On the General tab in the Preset Options dialog box, click Advanced.
5. Select the options you want based on the purpose you have for the scanned document as follows:

   You want to use text from a black and white document and are not concerned with the scanning quality

   Advanced Scan Settings		Value
   Resolution (DPI)		200
   Type		Monochrome
   Auto-contrast, save as monochrome:		N/A
   Save files as:		TIFF

   You want to use text from a color document and are not concerned with the scanning quality

   Advanced Scan Settings		Value
   Resolution (DPI)		150
   Type		24 bit color
   Auto-contrast, save as monochrome:		selected
   Save files as:		MDI

   You want to archive an important black and white document

   Advanced Scan Settings		Value
   Resolution (DPI)		300
   Type		8 bit gray
   Auto-contrast, save as monochrome:		clear
   Save files as:		TIFF

   You want to archive an important color document

   Advanced Scan Settings		Value
   Resolution (DPI)		400
   Type		24 bit color
   Auto-contrast, save as monochrome:		clear
   Save files as:		MDI
   Optimize compression in favor of:		Better image quality

6. In the Advanced Scan Settings dialog box, click OK.
7. Select any other options you want on the General, Page, Output, and Processing tabs.

   For more information about the options available on each tab, click the Help button.

8. Click OK.