Title: Scanners
Course: Technology Applications

Scanners

Scanners are like a blend of a digital camera and a photo copier. The most common type of scanner is called a flatbed scanner. It is found very often in schools, offices, colleges, and in homes. While all scanners are input devices, they do not all look the same. A flatbed scanner It looks like a low, rectangular box with a piece of glass, an inner light bar, other internal workings, and a lid. This type of scanner attaches to a computer by a cable and has a separate power cable.

Specialty scanners are everywhere today. At grocery stores and retailers, the "checkout" register usually has a scanner for credit cards and for reading product tags or barcodes.

All scanners have a common purpose: to take an image or read information from a real-world object and copy it into a computer readable form.

What Can Be Scanned?
Anything that will fit on top of the scanner glass is fair game. This includes photographs, drawings, letters, an opened book or magazine, CD liners, fabric or clothing, plant leaves or movie tickets.

Scanning objects larger than the glass on the scanner can be done, but only with some manipulation. A poster, for example, could be scanned in sections, and the sections edited together in a graphics software program. That takes some time and effort. 3D objects scanned on flatbeds have creative and often funny results as the scanner can only see the part of the object touching the glass. This can often result in creative approaches to old ideas.

Businesses in the publication industry will have larger and more versatile scanners to complete more complicated scanning tasks.