Western Graphtec CS1000 scanner

Large-format scanner handles color and monochrome.

CS1000 Wide-format scanner pros: Ease of use; precision. cons: None significant. price: $12,955 Western Graphtec, Inc. cp_sales@graphtecusa.com 800.854.8385

Western Graphtec's CS1000 scanner, one of the company's first entries in the large-format scanning space, complements its rich tradition of solid printers, plotters, and cutters. Competitively priced at $12,955, the CS1000 offers a range of features that make it worth looking at whether you are in the market for black and white, grayscale, or color scanning capabilities.

For color scanning, the CS1000 uses 8 bits (256 colors) to produce smaller, more manageable files. The CS1000 is especially well suited for scanning drawings and the optimized color palettes used in maps and charts.

Wide enough to handle documents up to 1,000mm (a little more than 390) wide, the CS1000 accommodates documents up to 4m (139) long. At 200 dpi, the CS1000 achieves a black-and-white scanning speed of 3.80/second and a color scanning speed of 1.280/second. The scanner combines speed with precision. With an optical resolution of 600dpi, the CS1000 delivers accuracy of 60.1%, or 65 pixels. Interpolated resolutions range from 200dpi to 800dpi.

Setting up the CS1000 goes quickly thanks to a straightforward design and clear instructions. Once I connected the CS1000 to the test PC (running Windows NT 4.0) using the cable provided, the SCSI card recognized it immediately.

The software was equally easy to install from CD-ROM. Within a few minutes, the CS1000 was ready to start scanning.

Any large-format scanning system incorporates two equally important pieces: the scanner itself and the software that runs it. Demonstrating that it understands the primary uses of a large-format scanner, Western Graphtec includes two applications: Scanning 21+ for general-purpose scanning and Scanning Master Color Copy for using the scanner in conjunction with a printer as a large-format color copier. Both applications are small, fast, and easy to use.

Western Graphtec also provides a TWAIN driver so that you can use the CS1000 with your favorite graphics applications, such as Photoshop.

Scanning 21+ offers a competent set of image adjustment controls, such as mirror, flip, despeckle, and deskew. Several presets are provided for common document types, such as light and dark blueprints, so you often need to make only minimal adjustments.

You can also run the Scanning 21+ application with command-line parameters. Once you determine the correct settings for each document type or size, you can create shortcuts on your desktop to quickly start the application with an optimal configuration. Noticeably missing is the ability to set document size or other measurements in ANSI sizes or inches, though you can define user sizes for this purpose.

The scanner itself is thoughtfully designed with markings to easily position and center any size document.

For difficult documents such as faded bluelines, the prescan function lets you quickly scan your drawing and make adjustments during scanning. The Scanning Master Color Copy application shares the same scanning interface and toolset with Scanning 21+. The primary interface is intuitive-you provide minimal information about the sheet size, scaling, and number of copies before proceeding.

The well-designed Western Graphtec CS1000 delivers fast and accurate monochrome and color scanning. The scanning software is easy to use and provides all features necessary to make the scanner part of an everyday archiving solution, a color-copying component, or both. If you need a large-format scanner, be sure to take a look at the CS1000.