What are the system requirements for the Pentax DSmobile 600 scanner?

• Windows/PC Computer System Requirements
  • Interface: USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 (High Speed) is recommended for best performance.
  • Compatible with USB 1.1 (at slower scanning speed)
  • Cable Length: 6ft (2m) detachable cable
  • Processor: Pentium II 300MHz or higher processor
  • Memory: 128 MB RAM (256 MB RAM for Windows XP)
  • 200 MB free hard disk space or more
  • Monitor: VGA or Super VGA
  • Operating System: Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98, SE
  • Hardware: CD-ROM
• Apple Mac Computer System Requirements
  • Macintosh system OS X 10.3 or higher
  • 128MB RAM or more
  • Interface: USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 (High Speed) is recommended for best performance.
  • Compatible with USB 1.1 (at slower scanning speed)
  • Cable Length: 6ft (2m) detachable cable
  • Hardware: CD-ROM

My scanned images are blank, all dark, or very messed up. What is the problem?

You must calibrate your scanner before use. Calibration adjusts the light levels for the image sensor in your scanner. Read your manual and find the calibrate function in your software, feed in the included white calibration card or a white piece of paper when prompted to. You may need to clean your scanner, refer to the manual for this operation. The feed rollers may be slipping if your original document is laminated or thick, gently push the document to assist the feeder. You might be scanning your original up-side-down, make sure the original document is face up when scanning.

What is the purpose of color calibration?

Calibration is process of ensuring accurate reproduction of color for images. Full color calibration is usually a two-step process: calibrating your input device, such as a scanner, and calibrating your output device, such as a printer or monitor. By calibrating input and output devices correctly, color is accurately captured by your scanner and is reproduced faithfully on your monitor or printer as well. You must calibrate your scanner before you scan or the image you get will be blank, all black, or simply a mess.

Why does the scanner stop during calibration?

This is quite likely caused by the malfunction of the USB cable connection or faulty window operating system. Make sure of the proper connection and proper setting of windows.

What is USB?

USB, Universal Serial Bus, is the Plug and Play* peripheral connection. The USB interface is faster than EPP (enhanced parallel port), and has better compatibility with PCs or other peripherals. Plug and Play (PnP) is an industry-wide hardware standard for add-in hardware that requires the hardware to be able to identify itself, on demand, in a standard fashion. Plug and Play uses both hardware (a Plug and Play BIOS) and software (a Plug and Play-compatible operating system to do the install).

What are digital images?

Image Types - For a computer to represent image information in a digital format, the computer uses units of picture elements know as "pixels". For easy classification, images can be categorized into single-bit, grayscale, or color.

Single-bit - Single-bit images are the simplest of the image types, using just one bit of data to record each pixel. Single-bit images come in two types: line art, and halftone.

Line art includes anything that is black and white, such as a pencil or ink sketch. Line art may also include one-color images, such as mechanical blueprints.

Halftones are reproductions of images that give the illusion of gray but only because the black and white dots (or pixels) comprising the image are arranged in such a way as to fool the eye to see gray. This is because when the halftone is printed, dark areas are represented by many dots coming together, while lighter areas are those with fewer dots. Examples of halftone images are the pictures you see in a newspaper.

Grayscale - Grayscale images contain more than just black and white, and include actual shades of gray. In a grayscale image, each dot or pixel has more bits of information encoded in it, allowing more shades to be shown. For instance, 4 bits can reproduce up to 16 shades of gray, 8 bits can reproduce up to 256 shades of gray, and 12 bits can reproduce up to 4,096 shades of gray.

Color - Color images contain the most complex image information. Most modern color scanners are at least 24-bit, meaning that they collect 8 bits of information about each of the primary scanning colors: red, blue, and green. A 24-bit unit can theoretically capture over 16 million different colors, though in practice the number is usually quite smaller.

This is near-photographic quality, and is therefore commonly referred to as "true color" scanning. Although 30-bit and 36-bit is offered, very few graphics software packages are capable of handling images with more than 24 bits; the additional bits are still worth having. When a software program opens a 30-bit or 36-bit image, it can use the extra data to correct for noise in the scanning process and other problems that hurt the quality of the scan.

What is resolution?

Resolution - An important feature of a scanner is resolution, which is the amount of detail recorded by the scanner. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). The greater the dpi number, the higher the resolution.

Optical resolution - this is the amount of information that a scanner's optics can sample or "see" as the CCD moves vertically across the image. A 24-bit scanner, for example, typically has an optical resolution of 300 dpi, while 30-bit or 36-bit scanners typically have optical resolutions of at least 600 dpi.

Interpolated resolution - Interpolated resolution is accomplished in software by surrounding pixels already seen by the scanner with new pixels that are mathematical averages of the original pixels. Interpolation can be helpful when enlarging images to retain clarity, or when scanning black-white images or fine line art to produce smoother lines.

In the case of resolution more isn't necessarily better…optical resolution will always be the best resolution. Higher-resolution scans will take up more hard disk space and require more RAM memory. A color scan set at 9600 dpi could easily take up over 4 Gigabytes in size. When you hear a manufacturer saying they have 9600dpi understand that they are most likely referring to interpolated resolution and not optical resolution.

Is higher resolution the best choice?

NO. Please refer to "What is resolution?" above for a detailed answer.

How do I select the proper resolution?

Depending on the scanning resolution and the size of the scanning area, scanning color images may create very large files, Large files mean slower scanning speeds, degraded performance within image processing programs and more valuable disk space to store. Therefore, in order to reduce the size of image files, you should always select a proper resolution and scan only the necessary part of the image.

The following is the chart for file sizes of 24-bit images.

What are the common file formats concerning scanning?

All graphic image file formats fall into two categories, either Bitmap formats or Vector formats.

Vector formats use mathematical formulas to recreate graphics. If the graphic is a circle, the file format will have the location of the circle's center, it's radius and other pertinent information such as what color to draw the circle. Vector formats are easily scalable without creating jagged edges, but they are only suitable for simple drawings with a few colors. Scanners do not use victor file formats.

Bitmap formats store the actual color of each dot in the image. They are more suitable for scanned images due to the large number of colors and complex tonal variations in a photograph. A disadvantage to Bitmap formats is that they create large files that take lots of drive space to store. This problem is overcome by several bitmap file formats which compress the data prior to storage on the disk.

Most scanning programs use the *.TIF file format as their default. *.TIF files use compression but it does not shrink the file sizes significantly unless the image is black and white (scanned in Line Art mode).

Another popular file format is the *.BMP file. This is the format Microsoft uses for Windows Wallpaper. If you want to use your own photos as Wallpaper, save them in the Windows directory in the *.BMP format

The two most popular bitmap file formats today are *.GIF and *.JPG. Both of these formats are popular on the Internet because of their high compression ratios.

*.GIF compression uses an algorithm similar to ZIP files. It also reduces the number of colors in the image. A scanned image can have up to 16.7 million colors. A *GIF file reduces this down to a maximum of 256 colors. With appropriate utilities, you can reduce this even further to 16 colors. This would not be a good choice with a photograph, yet should be considered for simple graphics.

*.JPG does not reduce color depth. It merely uses compression algorithms similar to ZIP files. This is the most popular format for scanned images on the Internet and for sending photos as attachments to e-mail.

How do I enlarge the size of the image while preserving the image quality?

Scaling changes image size. However, as the size increases, the quality of the image will reduce. Choosing the proper scanning resolution will give you the best results in preserving the quality while enlarging the image.

To manipulate the best image: Scan the image at the size you want to print it or larger, then if necessary, scale it down to the desired size.

Is the scanner capable of transparency or film scanning?

NO. DSmobile does not support this function.

If there is dimness, skew lines, dark margin or bias in the scanned image, what do I do?

You can repeat selecting the scanning source, then calibrate and scan again. If the same thing repeats, please clean your scanner lens according to the cleaning operation illustrated in the manual. For scanning color-printed photos, you can activate the "Descreen" filter to remove the dot pattern.

If there is some distinguished difference between the original image and the scanned one, what should I do?

Discard the scanned one and try it all over again. If the same thing happens again, please check scanning operation according to the manual.

When do I need to use the descreen filter?

You can activate the "Descreen" filter to remove the dot pattern that is usually generated when scanning color-printed photos. However, this function is not available for B/W mode.

How do I adjust the brightness, Contrast, Gamma, Highlight and shadow?

This is an advanced function for skillful users, as it demands considerable techniques. Please refer to the manuals.

I installed the scanning software that came with the scanner and now my graphic files always open with it.

When installing the scanner application it overwrote your file associations for graphics. File associations concern the file extensions of files. They tell your computer what application to use to open a file when the file is double clicked on. They also effect the icon of the file; in your case the Pagis icon is used for all your graphics files.

Changing it back: Go to your computer "settings" in your start menu and select "control panel". In the control panel select "folder options". In folder options select the tab "file types". Select the graphic file type extension to re-associate and click on the "change" button, then select your previous graphics editing application to associate that file type with. Now that application will open the file when the file is double clicked, instead of Pagis. You may wish to repeat this process for each graphic types you use, like .bmp, .jpg, .tiff, .gif, or any other effected graphic file type. Your computer may ask you to reboot.

My computer cannot automatically detect my scanner, what can I do?

Make sure the USB function is enabled in your system BIOS and that you have a solid connection from the scanner to the computer. Restart your computer if necessary.

How do I install the application software?

Please refer to your product manual.

Is it necessary to restart the computer after installing software?

Yes, it is highly recommended.

How do I get further information about the bundled software?

All bundled software has a complete "readme" file and on-line help. Tutorials are also available for specific software.

How do I select TWAIN source in my bundled software?

In Pagemanager or Presto, before you start the scanning process, you will have to click open Menu Bar, File, Select Source, and make the choice of the established scanner. However, this scanner is also compatible with all other popular imaging software such as Photoshop and Imaging for windows etc. The panel for software can differ. But make sure you follow this step before you scan anything: you may have established over one scanner on your computer. So choose in Select source, or Select Twain the scanner that is being connected to your PC.

How do I install a driver in my Windows (9X, ME, 2000, XP)?

When connecting the cable to the USB port of your computer or other USB devices with USB, the system will ask you for the driver. Insert the driver disk or browse the directory of your USB scanner driver. Please refer to CD for detailed information. Download The TWAIN Driver

How do I check whether the scanner driver is installed or not?

If your computer works in Windows 2000 you may test your scanner as follows:

On the desktop of Windows 2000, enter Control Panel, Manage Tool, Computer Manage, Equipment Manage. Plug in (or out) the USB cable with scanner and/or computer. If "Image Scanner" appears (or disappears) on the screen, that indicates connecting scanner with computer via USB cable is valid and you can read the driver detailed information to check if you correctly installed the scanner driver.

If your computer works Windows 98 you may test your scanner as follows:

On the desktop of Windows 98, enter Control panel, System, Equipment Manage. Plug in (or out) the USB cable with scanner and/or computer. If "ImageScanner" appears (or disappears) on the screen that indicates connecting scanner with computer via USB cable is valid and you can read the detailed driver information to check if you correctly installed the scanner driver.

Can the original driver be used after upgrading the operating system?

It is recommended that you erase the original driver in the windows file manager and install it again in the new operating system. Make sure that you calibrate your scanner before using it or the images you get will be blank, all black, or simply a mess.

Can the scanner be shared on a LAN (Local Area Network)?

No, the scanner is for PCs only and cannot be shared on any network.

How should I protect my scanner when it is not in use?

Store your scanner in the travel carrying case that was provided with your purchase.