 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group CanoScan FB310 colour flatbed scanner Carol Daniels cad@melbpc.org.au |
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The CanoScan FB310 is a compact, lightweight colour flatbed scanner. It comes bundled with software for Windows 95 and Windows NT (detailed in the Info Box) to get you started and keep you going. Its parallel port makes it easy to set up and its claim of noiseless operation isn't marketing hype, it works virtually silently. This may not be important to all readers, but I know that even the little bit of noise my laser printer makes can drive me crazy when I'm trying to concentrate.
Installation
Installation was straightforward. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The quick start guide includes step by step instructions for connecting all the bits and pieces, but the diagram is equally clear, with enough information to guide all but the most technically apprehensive individuals through the setup process. In fact, most of what you need to know could be distilled as:
Connect the scanner to your computer's printer port, then the printer to the scanner's printer port. Once you've connected the hardware, use Windows 95 install new program feature to install the software.
It's that easy. The only real difficulty I had concerned the contortions I had to go through, to rearrange my office to accommodate a new piece of equipment. The FB310 is compact, it doesn't take much more room than a large dictionary would. But no matter how small its footprint, any new piece of equipment occupies some space. Space, especially flat space, is at a premium in my house.
So I suggest you consider where the scanner is going to fit, before you buy it and bring it home. You may find that your current cables won't reach to your preferred setup, and there's nothing worse than getting your new toy home and half installed, then having to go out again for cables, or another extension cord.
Other than the time required to untangle the cables behind the computer and for me, the time it took to rejig my office to accommodate the visitor, setup of hardware and software was a snap. In less than 20 minutes, not counting time for rearranging the office and visiting the chiropractor, I was ready to scan.
The scanning software was as easy to use as the scanner was to set up. The interface is intuitive with icons that make sense.
Scanning
You might recognise Figure 1 as the cover of the book I reviewed in the July issue. I figured it would be difficult to scan. As a book cover, I wondered if the thickness would pose a difficulty. Also, the cover is essentially black (a mix of matte and gloss) with some difficult-to-render combinations, yellow text and white text against black and grey, and black text across yellow and patterned backgrounds. The hinged cover easily accommodated the book's thickness. The preview looked fine so I clicked on scan and I was done. Well almost. I had to do a little cropping, and flip the image, but that's all.
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Backtracking a bit, Figure 2 is a screen capture of the dialog that you get
when you fire up iPhoto Express to acquire a new image. Figure 3 is iPhoto's start menu, I selected scan.
I wanted to have a go scanning some royalty-free clip art to use in a project. Some of our readers may
remember that before DTP created a market for electronic clip art, clip art came on the mulched, bleached and
bound remains of dead trees. I have, and still value such remnants of another age, because they represented a
much better sample of the images I actually need. Of course, without a scanner they weren't as useful to me
as they could have been.
I didn't want the entire page (Figure 4), only the selected portion shown in Figure 5.
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I did some playing around with that image, then switched to another line
drawing, this time of lavender (Figure 6). I used this as a base image on which I tried various
techniques.
I settled on Figure 7, this started its life as the black ink drawing of lavender in Figure 6, I coloured it
using a variety of iPhoto's tools added a special effect (wind) and generally tarted it up. Still fiddling, I
thought may be it needed some more text (Figure 8).
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More fiddling produced Figure 9, a combination of stitched together copies
of the base image, with some tarting up.
Changing my mind I try simplicity, adding a border and drop shadow to an image takes just a couple of clicks
(Figure 10). Another click or two and there are two borders (Figure 11).
All in all I spent a half a day playing with these images, having a good time and getting some usable artwork
out of the exercise.
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Conclusion
I had expected to have difficulty installing and using the scanner. It turned out to be a snap on both
accounts. Of course, installing and scanning a couple of images and documents doesn't make me (pause for
super hero theme music) ScanWoman. But most home and small office users really don't want (or need) to become
ScanGurus. They just want a reasonably priced way to scan when they want to, with minimum fuss and a
reasonable level of quality.
Canon's CanoScan FB310 is targeted squarely at this market, with a feature set to match. With an expected
price of around $200, it's certainly affordable, with the security and peace of mind that comes with its
brand name status.
If these features fit your requirements, consider Canon's CanoScan FB310.
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Reprinted from the August 1998 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
