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UMAX Technologies Astra MX3 Owner's Manual

Umax astra mx3: user guide
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Astra MX3
OWNER'S GUIDE

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  • Page 1 UMAX Astra MX3 OWNER’S GUIDE...
  • Page 2 TRADEMARKS UMAX is a trademark of UMAX Technologies, Inc. Astra is a trademark of UMAX Technologies, Inc. IBM PC/AT is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. MS-Windows, and Windows, are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PageManager is a trademark of NewSoft Technology Corporation.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED...7 Introduction...7 Unpacking the Scanner...8 Package Contents ...8 Getting to Know Your Scanner...9 Astra MX3 Back Panel...9 System Requirements ...10 Installing the Software...10 Installing Adobe Photoshop LE...10 Installing the VistaScan Software ...10 Installing the Hardware ...11 About Scanner Connectors ...11...
  • Page 4 Tips Help ...17 Scan Destination...17 File...17 Printer...19 E-mail...19 Fax...19 Application ...20 Scanner Information ...20 VistaScan Beginner Window Features...21 Performing the Preview Scan...21 Preview Tools ...22 Zoom tool...22 Frame tool...22 Move tool...22 Selecting the Scan To Device or Application...23 Defining the Type of Image to Scan ...23 CHAPTER 3.
  • Page 5 Accessing the Presto! PageManager Online Manual...51 Accessing the Caere OmniPage Online Manual...52 Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01...52 Troubleshooting ...52 General Problems and Solutions...52 Additional Troubleshooting Solutions...55 SCSI Problems and Solutions ...55 Re-Install the Software ...57 Contacting Technical Support...58 UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...
  • Page 6 Maintenance ...59 Cleaning...59 APPENDIX A. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS...60 APPENDIX B. USING THE OPTIONAL UNIVERSAL TRANSPARENCY COVER (UTC)...61 FCC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY ...62 WARRANTY...64 INDEX ...65...

  • Page 7: Chapter 1. Getting Started

    CD, but the application software is Macintosh compatible. The Astra MX3 scanner is equipped with two SCSI connectors and a USB connector. Both the USB and SCSI interface connectors allow you to make a fast and easy connection to your computer.

  • Page 8: Unpacking The Scanner

    The scanner package should contain all of the items listed below. If you do not find all of the listed items, contact the retailer where you purchased the scanner, or contact UMAX. For information about contacting UMAX directly, refer to Chapter 6. How to Get Help.

  • Page 9: Getting To Know Your Scanner

    Provides top lighting when scanning slides. Scan, Copy and Custom (OCR or E-Mail) Buttons USB Port SCSI Port UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide Astra MX3 Back Panel Object Glass Glass surface on which documents or images are placed. Power Light...

  • Page 10: System Requirements

    Installing the VistaScan Software The VistaScan CD contains all the software you need to operate your Astra MX3 scanner. The CD contains: Presto! PageManager OmniPage Ltd. (including the Adobe Acrobat Reader installer) Presto! PhotoAlbum UMAX VistaScan ® Power PC or higher...

  • Page 11: Installing The Hardware

    Installing the Hardware After you have removed the scanner from the box and verified that all of the package contents have been included, please check to make sure that your computer is compatible with the scanner’s connectors.

  • Page 12: Checking Your Computer's Connectors

    Checking Your Computer’s Connectors To use your scanner you need to understand what type of connectors you have on your computer. To determine the connector type, look at the back panel of your computer: A USB port is a small slot ½” long and ¼” wide.

  • Page 13: Connecting The Scsi Cable

    Check the other peripherals for their SCSI address or ID number. Your Astra MX3 SCSI address is preset to 5. If no other peripherals use 5 as a SCSI address or ID number, you are done. If another peripheral’s address is 5, proceed to the next steps.

  • Page 14: Connecting The Optional Utc (Universal Transparency Cover) Cable

    Note: SCSI ID numbers 0 and 7 are used by the computer and by the hard drive. SCSI ID numbers 8 and 9 are settings for factory-use only and could cause damage to the scanner if used as a SCSI address for a peripheral. Connecting the optional UTC (Universal Transparency...

  • Page 15: Chapter 2. Scanning Basics

    To open VistaScan as a stand alone program: Double-click on the VistaScan D.A. application in the Umax VistaScan folder or click on the VistaAccess scanner icon on the Control Strip.

  • Page 16: Setting Vistascan Preferences

    Setting VistaScan Preferences Preferences control scanner settings that you generally do not modify every time you use the scanner. The Preference settings are used as the default settings for several of the scan settings. To access the VistaScan Preferences: Click on the Preferences icon in the upper right corner of the VistaScan window.

  • Page 17: Show Ruler

    The Show Ruler command displays or hides the rulers that border the top and left sides of the Preview window. These rulers correspond to the rulers on your scanner's object glass. Clicking on the Show Ruler checkbox turns off (removes the checkmark) and hides the ruler. Clicking on the checkbox again turns the feature on (displays a checkmark) and shows the ruler.
  • Page 18 Click on the pop-up menu next to File Format and select one of the file types.

  • Page 19: Printer

    Internet. Click on the Fax icon. The fax driver (or printer driver if a fax driver is not selected) currently selected as the default appears to the right of the Scan To icon set. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 20: Application

    Click on the Select button to return to the preferences menu. Click on the pop-up menu next to File Format and select one of the file formats. Scanner Information The Scanner Information tab displays important information about your scanner. The information includes: Scanner Manufacturer...

  • Page 21: Vistascan Beginner Window Features

    Click on the Preview button on the right side of the Beginner window. The image is quickly scanned and displayed in the Preview window. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 22: Preview Tools

    Preview Tools There are three Preview tools in the VistaScan Beginner window. Zoom tool Lets you enlarge or reduce the view of the image in the Preview window. To use the Zoom tool: Once the preview image appears in the Preview window, click on the Magnifying Glass icon.

  • Page 23: Selecting The Scan To Device Or Application

    Printed Matter - Scan something that has been printed like a brochure or magazine. Text/Lineart documents - Scan the text contained in a document, or to scan simple lineart graphics. Web Images - Scan graphics and then use them on the web. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...
  • Page 24 To specify the type of image you are going to scan, click on the icon that represents the type of item you want to scan. Color Photos Settings icon Text/Lineart Settings icon Clicking on any of these icons automatically starts the final scan process using the pre-defined scan settings.

  • Page 25: Chapter 3. Advanced Features

    Chapter 3. ADVANCED FEATURES The VistaScan Advanced window gives you the ability to adjust scanner settings individually for the type of document you are going to scan. If you are a novice computer user, you may want to use the VistaScan Beginner window until you are more familiar with VistaScan and the scanning process.

  • Page 26: Changing The Image Mode

    You can choose from the following settings: Flatbed Reflective - Scans paper originals (non-transparencies) e.g., photographs, documents, and brochures. UTA (Transmissive) - Scans 4” x 5” or smaller photo transparencies. UTA (Negative) - Scans 4” x 5” photographic negatives. Note: For more information about scanning photo transparencies or negatives, refer to Appendix B.
  • Page 27 Changing the Resolution Setting Scanning resolution is measured in dots per inch (DPI). Resolution determines the amount of information the scanner will capture in a scanned image. The higher the resolution, the finer the image detail, and the larger the file sizes.

  • Page 28: Table 1. Resolution/File -Size Guidelines

    Table 1. Resolution/File - - Size Guidelines Resolution Image Size (dots per inch) 0.30 0.58 2.29 5.15 9.16 20.60 36.60 1200 82.40 NOTE: Choosing the True Color RGB 42-bit setting captures more data than the 24-bit setting. This means that the file sizes listed above will be larger if you scanned images using the True Color 42-bit RGB setting.

  • Page 29: Changing The Descreen Feature

    Sharpen - Sharpens lines that may be fuzzy or not clean in the original image. Sharpen More - Sharpens the image more than the standard Sharpen filter does. Blur - Softens the edges of an image. Blur More - Softens the edges more than the Blur filter does. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 30: Changing The Scale Factor

    To automatically adjust the light and dark values: Place the item you want to scan on the scanner object glass. Click on the Preview button from the VistaScan Advanced window. Select an area that you want to adjust using the Frame tool.

  • Page 31: Using The Scan Control Unit

    Fax - Faxes the scanned item using your fax driver. Application - Sends the scanned item to the applications specified in the VistaScan Preferences. E-mail - Sends the scanned item as a graphic file to your Microsoft Exchange or Lotus cc:Mail e-mail application. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 32: Using The Multiple Scan Modes

    Using the Multiple Scan Modes You can select multiple portions of the image scanned in Preview mode using the Multiple Frame tool. To create more than one selection frame: Scan an image in Preview scan mode and click on the Multiple Frame tool.

  • Page 33: Using The Color Adjustment Features

    Moving the slider on the scroll bar to the right increases the brightness. Moving it to the left decreases the brightness. The default setting is zero 0. The maximum brightness setting is 100. The minimum setting is 100. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 34: Using The Contrast Bar

    To get a scanned image with good results, VistaScan provides gamma adjustment capabilities so you can compensate for this variation in your scanner. Moving the slider on the scroll bar to the right increases the brightness of the mid-range gray tones.

  • Page 35: Adjusting The Color Balance

    UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide corrects the gray/color values in an image. You change the values by altering the shape of the curve that represents the brightness values of pixels. Click Reset to cancel the changes and return the value to the default setting.

  • Page 36: Rotating/Inverting An Image

    When you click in the wheel the image tones of the preview image are shifted to the particular hue that is represented in that area. Click on the Reset button to cancel the changes and return the value to default setting.

  • Page 37: Using Vistaaccess - Direct Access

    X over it, the scanner may be disconnected from a power source. Turning the Scanner Lamp On and Off You can turn the scanner lamp on and off using the Astra MX3’s built-in Power Saving utility. The lamp remains on whenever the scanner has power, unless you turn it off using the UMAX Power Saving utility.
  • Page 38 VistaScan. To turn the scanner lamp off: Click on the image of the scanner in the Power Saving utility window. After a second or two, the light in the scanner image goes out, and your scanner lamp is turned off.

  • Page 39: Chapter 4. Push Button Scanning

    Chapter 4. PUSH BUTTON SCANNING The defining feature of the Astra MX3 is its push button functionality. You can scan an image to e-mail, perform OCR (optical character recognition), or even use the scanner as a copy machine by pushing one of the three buttons on the front panel of the scanner.

  • Page 40: Configuring The Copy Button Values

    Configuring the Copy Button Values These settings will be used whenever you press the Copy button on the front of the scanner. Click on the Copy icon. Select a Print to option. Choose one of the available printers that is connected to your computer.
  • Page 41 UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 42: Configuring The Custom Button Values

    Click on the OK button to save the Copy push button configuration settings. These settings will be used whenever you press the Copy button on the front of the scanner. Note: You can also click on the Default button to return the values in each field to the default settings.
  • Page 43 Select either Reflective or Transmissive by clicking the arrow to the right of the Original field. Select the file size for the scanned image by clicking on the arrow to the right of the Scan Area field and choosing the desired dimensions from the pop-up menu. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 44: Using The Push Buttons

    Using the Push Buttons Once you have configured the variables for each of the push buttons, you can scan images and text by simply pressing one of the buttons on your scanner. To scan using one of the scanner’s push buttons: Press the Scan, Copy, or Custom (i.e.

  • Page 45: Chapter 5. Scanning Projects

    Chapter 5. SCANNING PROJECTS The UMAX Astra MX3 scanner includes bundled software to help you with a variety of tasks. This chapter shows you how to print a scan, scan a photo to e- mail, make a personalized calendar, create Web-ready images, and even turn a page of text into an online text document that you can edit.

  • Page 46: Scan A Photo To E-Mail Using Vistascan

    3 as listed in the Scan and Print instructions, and then proceed with the following steps: In the Scan to options, click on the E-mail icon to set the scanner settings to the best values for scanning an image to e-mail.

  • Page 47: Converting Scanned Text With Omnipage Le

    OmniPage toolbar appears. (If the toolbar does not appear, click on the Window pull down menu and select Show Toolbar). Click Select Scanner from the Settings menu. Select UMAX Astra Series then click OK. Converting Scanned Text with OmniPage LE Position the image you want to scan face-down on the scanner’s object...

  • Page 48: Creating A Photo Album

    VistaScan, then click on the Select button. Click on the Photo Browser window Command icon again, and then click Acquire to activate the scanner and launch VistaScan. The VistaScan Beginner window opens. Lift the document cover and place the image you want to scan face-down in the center of the object glass of the scanner.
  • Page 49 15. Choose the Save As command from the Album menu. Enter the file name and directory location in which you want to store the album. Click OK to save the album. UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide...

  • Page 51: Chapter 6. How To Get Help

    Chapter 6. HOW TO GET HELP The Astra MX3 scanner has been designed to be reliable, easy-to-install, and easy-to-use. If you encounter any problems while installing or using your scanner, please follow the solutions outlined below. Consult the online manual...

  • Page 52: Accessing The Caere Omnipage Online Manual

    Follow the directions to install Acrobat Reader on your hard drive. Troubleshooting This scanner is designed to be reliable and easy to install. If you have any problems with your scanner, please read the notes that follow to find out probable causes of the problem.
  • Page 53 I cannot get the scanner to install properly, or it does not run once it is installed. Solution: If you are having problems installing or using the Astra MX3 scanner, ensure that Macintosh OS 8.0 or higher is installed on your computer. Problem: The system takes too long to scan.
  • Page 54 You attached a self-powered device (such as a printer or floppy drive) to your computer without plugging it into an electrical outlet. Remove all other devices from the USB chain, so the scanner is the only device on the USB chain. Make sure that the scanner power adapter is plugged directly into the wall, not into a power strip.

  • Page 55: Additional Troubleshooting Solutions

    Disconnect the USB cable from the computer. Go to Command, Update All Information (Command + U). Reconnect the scanner, and Update All Information again. Is the scanner listed? If yes, you can begin scanning. If no, please call UMAX Technical Support. Additional Troubleshooting Solutions...
  • Page 56 Scanners in Windows 98 and Imaging Device under Windows 95. If the scanner appears under Scanners in the Windows Device Manager, search through the UMAX Smart Site FAQs (from the UMAX web site http://www.umax.com) for Adaptec. Follow those instructions. Make sure that the SCSI ID for the scanner does not conflict with any other SCSI devices connected to your system.

  • Page 57: Re-Install The Software

    Control Panel option. The Control Panel window appears. Double-click on the Add/Remove Programs option. Select UMAX VistaScan and then click on the Add/Remove button to remove the program files. Click on the Start bar, choose Programs and select Windows Explorer.

  • Page 58: Contacting Technical Support

    Contacting Technical Support UMAX Astra scanners are designed to be reliable, easy-to-install, and easy-to- use. If you encounter any problems while installing your scanner: Check out the UMAX Web site at www.umax.com/support E-mail UMAX with your technical support question at: support@umaxcare.com...

  • Page 59: Maintenance

    Spraying the liquid directly on the glass may cause the liquid to penetrate the seams around the glass and contaminate the mirrors and lenses inside the scanner. Please be sure you spray the liquid on the cleaning cloth and then wipe the glass clean.

  • Page 60: Appendix A. Technical Specifications

    Appendix A. Technical Specifications The following table defines the technical specifications for the Astra MX3 scanner. Scanner Type Scanning Element Optical Resolution Maximum Resolution Color Density 36-bit color Light Source Operating System Scanning Modes Line Art 1 bit/pixel Maximum Document Scanner Dimensions 18.4”...

  • Page 61: Appendix B. Using The Optional Universal Transparency Cover (Utc)

    To achieve the best scan from a negative: Scan negatives and slides at the highest optical resolution the scanner supports, which is 600 dpi for this scanner. You should also try scanning at 1200 dpi to see which resolution works best for you.

  • Page 62: Fcc Declaration Of Conformity

    Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. The party responsible for product compliance: Corporate Name: UMAX Technologies, Inc. Address: 3561 Gateway Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538, USA Telephone No.:...
  • Page 63 UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide Position/Title: President Signature:...

  • Page 64: Warranty

    ONE (1) YEAR from the original date of purchase. Should any defect(s) be discovered, the product may be returned either to the manufacturer or an authorized UMAX service center. If you are returning product for repair, please be sure to do the following: 1) Call UMAX Technical Support Mon-Fri during regular business hours at (214) 739-1915 and obtain an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number.

  • Page 65: Index

    Acrobat reader, installation, 50 adjusting brightness, tone, color, 32 album, creating with PhotoAlbum, application, image destination, 19 archiving scanned images, 46 Astra MX3 Back Panel, 9 basic scanning information, 15 black and white images, scanning, blurring images, 28 brightness adjustment, 32...
  • Page 66 30 scanner button values, 39 scanner cleaning, 57 scanner connectors, 11 Scanner Information tab, 19 scanner lamp, turning it off and on, scanner specifications, 58 scanning and printing with VistaScan, 44 scanning basics, 15 scanning negatives, 25...
  • Page 67 VistaScan Beginner window, troubleshooting, 50 true color, RGB, 25 turning the scanner lamp on and off, UMAX Technical Support, 56 UMAX Astra MX3 Owner’s Guide Universal Transparency Cover (UTC), 9, 14 unpacking the scanner, 8 USB cable, 12, 14...

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