If you have spent some time drawing or painting a design or motif by hand, or you would like to start your new design in AVA with something other than a blank document, you will probably need to use a scanner to bring the information into AVA.
Scanners and their settings vary from one model to another but there are several general settings that should be considered and checked before you begin to scan. Refer to the user manual supplied with your scanner for specific options within your scanning software.
Surfaces
AVA fully supports the importing of Cruse® and Metis scans using the 'Merge files' opt in the File Menu, and the files can look stunning when rendered in our 3D Designer software!
Importing haptic scans
- Go to File Menu > Open.
- Navigate to a folder containing Cruse® files. This folder may be called ‘CPS’ but it does depend on how the file has been exported from the scanning software.
- Select the .crpsp file from the folder.
- Tick Merge files, and click Open.
- AVA will parse this to open the relevant TIFFs into a single document. All the layers are selected and named for you, which is ideal if you want to simulate what this file will look like once it has been produced, because it means you can go straight to the Window Menu, select 3D Designer and get and stunning representation of what your file will look like when it is produced.
Textiles
- Launch your scanning software and select the scanning mode (image type) to be used. Most scanners have similar scanning mode options;
- RGB / 24 bit image - this mode will scan directly as an image and give a full colour representation of the artwork.
- Grey scale - this mode will scan directly as an 8 bit layer and will give a tonal representation of the artwork.
- Bit map / B&W - this mode will scan directly as a 1 bit layer and will give a solid (black and white) representation of the artwork.
- Select your preferred scanning resolution. A high resolution will produce a good quality scan, but it will also increase the size of the file. The average resolution for a good quality scan and a reasonable file size is 254 dpi.
- Check the scale of the scan is set at 100%. This will ensure that your image is scanned at actual size.
- Select Preview or Pre scan to preview the scan at a low resolution and provide a visual representation of the design on the scan bed.
- Drag a selection box over the area of the Preview that is required (unless you wish to scan all of the information on the scan bed) and click on the Scan button. The selected area will scan at the chosen resolution and scan mode.
- A window will probably open asking you to save your scan. Enter a relevant name, select the file type required (Tiff or Jpeg are best) and allocate a particular folder on your computer to save your scans into.
Wallcoverings
- Launch your scanning software and select the scanning mode (image type) to be used. Most scanners have similar scanning mode options;
- RGB / 24 bit image - this mode will scan directly as an image and give a full colour representation of the artwork.
- Grey scale - this mode will scan directly as an 8 bit layer and will give a tonal representation of the artwork.
- Bit map / B&W - this mode will scan directly as a 1 bit layer and will give a solid (black and white) representation of the artwork.
- Select your preferred scanning resolution. A high resolution will produce a good quality scan, but it will also increase the size of the file. The average resolution for a good quality scan and a reasonable file size is 254 dpi.
- Check the scale of the scan is set at 100%. This will ensure that your image is scanned at actual size.
- Select Preview or Pre scan to preview the scan at a low resolution and provide a visual representation of the design on the scan bed.
- Drag a selection box over the area of the Preview that is required (unless you wish to scan all of the information on the scan bed) and click on the Scan button. The selected area will scan at the chosen resolution and scan mode.
- A window will probably open asking you to save your scan. Enter a relevant name, select the file type required (Tiff or Jpeg are best) and allocate a particular folder on your computer to save your scans into.