Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Scan

Here’s another new app in Windows 8.1, another hole filled in as Microsoft builds up its new OS: Scan. It’s a very simple scanning program for TileWorld.

The hardest part is getting your scanner to be recognized by your Windows 8 machine. That involves first finding and downloading its driver software from the Web, plugging the scanner in and turning it on, and then doing the Dance of Many Steps: Open the Charms bar. Hit Settings→Change PC settings→PC & devices→Devices→Add device. If the gods are smiling, your scanner’s name now appears in the list (either under “Printers” or “Other devices.”)

Now you’re ready to open Scan and do some scanning.

1. Put the page you want to scan into the scanner.

   That usually means face-down on the glass. But if your scanner has a document feeder, you can also put the page in there (and use the Source control to tell the app that you’ve done so).

2. Specify what kind of scan you want.

   Select Show to view all the scanning options. The File Type pop-up menu lets you specify what kind of file format you want (PNG, TIFF, or whatever); Color lets you specify color or black-and-white; “Save file to” lets you tell the app where to put the resulting scanned files. (It proposes a Scan folder inside your Pictures folder.)

3. Select Preview.

   Your scanner springs to life and displays a picture of whatever’s on the glass. Drag the round white handles until they neatly crop the part you want to scan (Figure 4-40).

   (If your scanner has a document feeder, you don’t get a preview; just hit Scan.)

Figure 4-40. The Scan app may be the most straightforward scanning app ever invented. Set up your settings; hit Preview to see what’s on the glass (as shown here); drag the round white handles to crop; and then hit Scan.

When it’s all over, hit View to see the resulting scan. Or go find it yourself; open the Pictures→Scans folder.