Scan2CAD raster to vector conversion software

REVIEW:

Graphtec CSX300 large format scanner

... Continued. [Graphtec CSX300 - previous] [Graphtec CSX300 - next]

Scanning in Colour

While Graphtec's sales information recommends its high end scanners - the CS510 and CS610 - for graphic arts, reprographics and photography, it does not recommend the CSX300 for these applications.

The photograph scans below show why - the scan on the left which was made by the CS600 (the CS610's forerunner) shows much smoother transitions between colours than the CSX300 scan on the right.

However, the CSX300's colour capability is more than adequate for CAD use.

CAD users will need to scan in colour if they are scanning maps or coloured technical drawings. Scanning Master's 8-bit colour (standard) option is useful for this. Eight-bit (256 colour) scans are much smaller than 24-bit (16.7 million colour) scans, and 256 colours are all you need for a map or CAD drawing.


The 8-bit colour (optimized) option is
ideal for scanning old, faint drawings
that cannot be scanned in black and white.

There are also drawings that are simply too poor quality to scan in black and white without losing a lot of information. These drawings are best scanned in greyscale or colour so that at least the information on them remains legible and usable, even if it will never be possible to (for example) use the scans for automatic raster to vector conversion.

Scanning Master's 8-bit colour (optimized) option works well for this type of drawing. Unlike the standard option which matches each colour on the document to the nearest colour in a standard 256-colour palette, the optimized option creates a 256 colour scan using the 256 colours that best match the colours on the drawing. As with the standard option, this creates a much smaller image than would be achieved if the drawing was scanned in 24-bit colour, but unlike the standard option it retains subtle tones and tints.

A word of warning though: the optimized option scans in 24-bit colour before finding the optimal 256 colours. We found that trying to scan an A0 / E-size drawing using this option at 400 dpi caused our PC to hang. Admittedly, our PC is a bit long in the tooth these days with "only" 1 Gb RAM, however it could be a consideration.

[Graphtec CSX300 - previous] [Graphtec CSX300 - next]