Troubleshooting

Scanner Not Recognized by Scanner and Camera Wizard

My scanner was working fine with Windows Me, but Windows XP won't list it in the Scanner and Camera Wizard. What do I do?

The Scanner and Camera Wizard is certainly a convenient way to use your scanner, but it's not the only way. Before you try the scanner again, be sure you install Windows XP-compatible drivers for your scanner. You might be able to use Windows 2000-compatible drivers if you can't get Windows XP drivers yet. Install the latest drivers available (you might need to restart your computer afterward) and try the Wizard again. Windows Update is a great way to get new drivers.

Next, see if you can use the scanner with its own TWAIN or ISIS driver. If you can, you don't need to use the Scanner and Camera Wizard. Remember to use the Scan button on the scanner if it has one; some scanners require you to push this button to start the scanning process.

Contact the scanner vendor for help if you're still unable to use the scanner with either the wizard or its own scanning software.

Poor Print Quality with Digital Photos

My digital photos look terrific onscreen, but are poor quality when I print them.

There are three major factors which control digital photo quality:

• Camera settings

• Printer settings

• Paper type

Get any of these wrong, and you won't get the print quality you want.

Your digital camera should be set for its highest quality and resolution settings, especially if it's a two-megapixel or lower resolution camera. Highest quality uses less compression to avoid loss of fine detail (more space is used on the flash memory card per picture than with lower quality settings) and highest resolution uses all the pixels to make the picture (again, requiring more space on the flash memory card per picture). If you use your camera to create pictures for use on the Web, the lower-quality and lower-resolution settings are fine, but printed pictures need the best quality available. Remember that your monitor needs just 96 dots to make an inch, while most inkjet printers put 600 to 1,200 dots into the same inch. So, a picture that's just right to fit on the screen doesn't have enough detail to print well.

Similarly, the printer should be set for the best quality setting that matches the paper type. If you're planning to print "knock-em-dead" digital masterpieces, be sure to use photo-quality paper and set the printer's options accordingly. Just want a quick snapshot for the refrigerator? Use plain paper and set the printer for plain paper. Mismatch print type and paper type and you're sure to have problems, because inkjet printers calculate how much ink to use and how to put it on the paper according to the options you select.

Remember, high-quality printing takes time; several minutes for an 8x10-inch enlargement on photo paper with high quality settings is typical.

TIP

If you've been using lower-quality and lower-resolution modes on your digital camera to jam more pictures into your flash memory card storage, that's false economy that leads to poor-quality pictures, especially for printing. With the explosion in the popularity of digital cameras, the per-MB price of flash memory cards is dropping. Camera vendors include very small flash memory cards to hold down the selling price of the camera, but you can almost always use a much larger media size, and sizes continue to increase, almost exponentially it seems.

Check your camera maker's Web site or a leading flash media web site such as Lexar Media (www.lexarmedia.com) to find out what sizes of digital media you can use. If you're responsible for a prolonged shoot away from the office or home, consider picking up multiple memory cards (so you have lots of digital "film" and don't run out) or the IBM Microdrive (now made by Hitachi) if your camera is compatible with it (find out at http://www.steves-digicams.com/microdrive.html). Another solution is a nifty gadget from I/O Magic. It's a small, portable, battery-powered hard drive and media card reader in one. Just insert your camera's card, press a button, and voilàyour pictures are copied to the device's high-capacity hard drive. See www.iomagic.com.

Can't Control DV Camcorder in Windows Movie Maker

My DV camcorder is detected by Windows Movie Maker, but the only way I can capture video is by using the camera's own controls to advance the tape. What should I do?

Some DV camcorders work better with Movie Maker than others. If you can capture video by controlling the camera yourself but not with Movie Maker's onscreen buttons, check with the camera vendor for updated driver software. Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing. Remember that you can always cut extraneous information from a scene with the editing features in Movie Maker.