O

OCR (Optical Character Reader)

Device for reading characters optically. System for extracting information in a text format from information in the form of a graphic such as hand-written or printed characters which have been scanned with a scanner. You cannot edit text scanned with a scanner because it is in a graphic format, but with OCR software you can convert to a text file and then edit the text with word- processing software.

Orientation

The direction in which a document is fed, either along the width (portrait) or length (landscape) of the page.

P

PDF

Stands for Portable Document Format. A widely used format for transmitting and viewing documents on computers. PDF documents can be read or printed out with Adobe’s Acrobat Reader program.

Pixel

Short for picture element, a pixel is the smallest unit used to measure a display image.

Platen

The document scanning unit.

Portrait

A vertical scanning orientation. Documents are scanned across the shorter axis of the page.

Preview

Provisional scanning and display of the document you are about to scan before you actually scan it. If the preview scan looks different from what you want, you can change the settings, display the preview again and confirm before scanning.

Preview area

The area at the left of the ScanGear MF main window. When the Preview button is clicked, the item(s) on the platen glass of the scanner are scanned, and the results are displayed as the preview image in this area. At this stage, the scanned image is not passed on to the host application program.

Properties dialog box

The dialog box that contains information about a particular device, such as a scanner.