Choosing the Best Original Type
(when scanning or copying)

Original Type is the most important image quality setting for copying images. When selecting an original type use a default setting for sharpness, contrast, darkness and background suppression.

To get the best results, it is important that you be able to assess your original document, and make a determination as to what types of images comprise the document.

To select an Original Type:

  1. Select Copy (or Scan to File).
  2. Select the Image Quality tab.
  3. Select an Original Type.
  4. Select a Rendering Option, if needed.

Original Types

Mixed Text and Graphics: use for most jobs, business graphics, charts, logos and maps. This setting preserves gray text and is recommended for text critical applications.

Text: use for enhancing text only. Using the text setting turns dark gray text to black. For black and white transactional applications of text and numbers, or book copying without pictures or graphics, use text mode.

Mixed Text and Halftones: use for printed photos and halftones. Recommended for pictorial critical applications.

Photo: use for photographs and continuous tone images

For example, if the original is a paste-up, or has multiple areas of different types of information, Mixed Text and Graphics mode is the best compromise.

A good approach to making the best Original Type selection is to identify the area in the document of greatest importance. Perhaps, in a document composed of text and images, making the text legible is more important than a high quality reproduction of the pictures. If this is the case, use Text mode.

Photo mode is the only mode that applies a halftone; all of the others apply a form of error diffusion to minimize moiré.
For jobs which contain various types of documents (e.g. some pages of text, some pages of halftoned context), the mixed mode is the best compromise. Alternatively, you're encouraged to use job programming to selectively define a different original type for each page.

Rendering Options

Mixed Original types

Diffusion Dither simulates gray values using collections of black and white pixels without disturbing sharp edges.

Hybrid combines halftones and diffusion in a manner determined by the local pixel classification.

Text

Diffusion Dither simulates gray values using collections of black and white pixels without disturbing sharp edges.

Threshold/High Contrast produces a very high contrast reproduction of black and white inputs.

Photo:

125 lpi for high image quality results - recommended setting

106 lpi for medium image quality results

85 for low image quality results

Background suppression should be ON if the photo does not extent to the lead edge of the paper as it enters the scanner.

TIP: One of the advantages of build job is the ability to set Original Type for each section or page of the build job.

For information on Build Job see Using Build Job.

TIP: It is best practices to proof a job when you make image quality adjustments.