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Digital Tools - Part Two

The Digital Scanner

canon lido scanner

Please read part one of the article, about Digital Cameras.

The other digital tool I recommend is a scanner.

If you don't have a digital camera, or if you have old pictures taken before the digital age, you can scan these into your computer to edit or reproduce.

You can take old cracked photos of scenes long gone, like your grandparent's wedding portrait, and repair and reprint them digitally.

You can scan in images from books and magazines (be careful of copyright issues).

You can scan in and reprint images for collage or decoupage projects without risking the originals. You can scan in your drawings or paintings to incorporate into calendars or brochures.

You can even scan in fabrics and manipulate the colors or patterns for creating your own unique designs.

You can scan solid everyday objects to make backgrounds for printed paper crafts. For more information on using scanners, please visit Scanning Objects.

Finally a scanner turns your printer into a copying machine. Scan any document and print it out on your computer's printer. You can scan and transmit documents, such as contracts, over the Internet.

Once your images are scanned and digitized, you can use them just like any other digital image. All the software programs mentioned above will work just fine with scanned images.

There is a downside to scanning rather than using a digital camera. I think photos, especially those in color, lose some of their fine detail when scanned and can become pixilated, so always use the highest settings if you want to maintain quality, although this problem is much less obvious with newer scanner models.

As with all thing having to do with computers, products and product model numbers change constantly. Frankly we cant't keep up with the model cahnges. There are many excellent sites that cover this topic.

Here are the latest and best Scanners that Amazon to offer.

You can find various features that may or may not matter to you. For example, most scanners will only handle 8 1/2" by 11" pages, but some models will go to 11" by 14" or more. Others offer automatic document feeds or can scan 35 mm negatives or slides directly.

You can now find many all-in-one models that print, copy, fax and scan - and might even have a phone built in. We use a wireless Lexmark network all-in-one that does all of this with no sacrifice in quality or control and with very reasonably priced ink cartridges.

For larger sizes, you could also check places like Kinko's or Staples. They usually have large scale scanners. They can digitalize the image and give it back to you on a CD-ROM or USB drive.

With a digital camera and a scanner, you will have two powerful digital tools to help you take your crafting to a higher level.

For more information about crafting by computer and other digital tools, please visit Computer Crafting, the gateway to all computer related articles on The Artful Crafter.

For more information on specific software programs you can use in crafting, please visit the following pages:

Read part one of this article, about digital cameras.

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