Before you start scanning, you will want to set up some options, which will determine the behavior of the scanning interface. To see the scanning parameters, choose Scanning Parameters from the Scan menu. A dialog box shown in Figure 11-1 will pop up. This is the place where you can set up all the scanning options in PPP.

The dialog box has three pages. The File Naming page (Figure 11-1) deals with the file naming convention. This is very important, because you will probably scan hundreds or thousands of images every day. It is a big help that PPP automatically names the files. You do not have to click on each scanned image and select File > Save. PPP will take care of it. You only have to specify how PPP should name the scanned files.

Figure 11-1. Scanning Parameters - File Naming Tab.

The File Naming tab has the following features:

• Place scanned files to folder: Displays the location in which the scanned image files will be saved.

• Preface. Here you specify the beginning common part of the file name. For example, one would like to name his images like this: scan01_0001.tif, scan01_0002.tif, scan01_0003.tif, and so on. In this case, he would set the preface to scan01_.

• Numbering. Here you specify the number in the file name. The Start at box should contain the file number for the first scanned image. The Increment is the number by which PPP automatically increments the file number after scanning. For example, if you would like to scan images from page 100 and only scan every second page, you should set Start at to 100 and Increment to 2.

• Extension. Here you specify the extension for the output images. PPP can only scan bitonal TIFF CCITT Group 4 images. So the extension does not mean that if you specify JPG then PPP will produce JPEG output files. PPP will always produce TIFF files. By default, the extension is tif. You can change it to TIF, TIFF or whatever you wish, but these files are always going to be TIFF Group 4 files.

The Post Processing tab (Figure 11-2) is used to set cropping parameters and specify if the image is inverted after scanning.

Figure 11-2. Scanning Parameters - Post Processing Tab.

The Post Processing tab has the following options:

• Crop during scanning. If this option is checked, PPP will automatically crop the scanned images before saving them to the hard disk. If this option is turned off, no cropping will be performed and all the other cropping options will be disabled.

• Different verso / recto parameters. Check this option if you would like to use different cropping sizes for the verso (left pages, even file numbers) and recto (right pages, odd file numbers) pages. If this option is unchecked, PPP will use the same settings for all images.

• Invert Image after scanning: Scanners will sometimes reverse the tones or colors in a scanned image. Also, pages are sometimes printed with light text on a dark background. Checking this option to automatically reverse the tones and colors in images after scanning..

• Cropping dimensions. Specify the Top, Bottom, Left and Right crop. Each dimension is measured from the edge of the canvas. You can use any of the built-in units (inch, millimeter, pixel).

• Recto cropping dimensions: Allows you to specify the Top, Bottom, Left and Right crop for recto pages. Each dimension is measured from the edge of the canvas. You can use any of the built-in units (inch, millimeter, pixel).

The Twain Setup tab (Figure 11-3) is used to set the scanner data transfer and image resolution parameters.

Figure 11-3. Setting Up the Scanning Parameters - Twain Setup Tab.

The Twain setup tab has these options:

• Transfer mode: Selects the method for transferring scanned images from the scanner to the computer. Native Transfer will send the entire image as a very large, uncompressed, stream of data. Memory Transfer will send the image in compressed segments. If your scanner supports compression, select Memory Transfer. If it does not, you can use either mode.

• Compression: The type of compression to be used in Memory Transfer mode.

• Force resolution: Scanners sometimes scan at the wrong resolution. This combo box allows you to use the scanner resolution setting or override it and specify a different resolution.

The Scanning Parameters dialog box takes up a lot of space on the screen, which is unwanted during scanning. When you are in scanning mode, you will want to see the scanned images in the built-in viewer, and that window will occupy almost all the screen. However, in most cases you will also want to check and modify the scanning parameters during scanning, so PPP is able to display most of the options in a smaller window specially designed for the scanning operation. This smaller window can be seen in Figure 11-4.

Figure 11-4. Scanning Options in a Smaller Window

This window contains the following options:

• Preface. The Preface of the file name. Same as Preface in the large window.
• No. The current file number. Same as Number in the large window.
• Inc. The increment of the file number. Same as Increment in the large window.
• Verso and recto cropping dimensions.

To switch between the small and the large window, use the Minimize () and Restore () icons. Click the Close () icon to close the window.

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