[sdiy] Roland 100M schemos online

[KA4HJH]

>Of course, don't forget to reduce the color depth to an intelligent number
>of colors for line drawings. Some people suggest using 2 color mode for
>black and white drawings, and this does create a small file, but a 16 color
>mode will often yield an image that appears sharper and easier to read
>small details. The reason is the edges of lines that otherwise might have
>"jaggies" are smoothed out by the availability of different shades of gray.
>In other words, the edges can be anti-aliased when 16 colors are used. So
>there is a often a trade-off to be made between intelligibility and file
>size, when deciding between 2 color and 16 color modes.

Once you start compressing the images the files sizes won't be that much
different, and using 16 grays might improve the legibility noticeably. In
the case of JPEG, do NOT reduce below 256 colors. This will actually
increase the file size and reduce the quality of the image. In fact, you
won't see much difference in file size between 8 and 24 bit color.

If you're not sure exactly what's best, experiment. Save the raw scan
temporarily if you have the space--raw images can get HUGE--and try a
couple of different color depths/compression schemes. Open the files you
just saved and compare. Look at the size of the files. It will all start to
make sense real quick.


One problem with PNG: not everyone has software that can view them (I do).
It's the new kid on the block.



-- 
Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"