Microsoft Paint is a program that comes pre-installed with the Windows operating system. Paint is mainly a graphics program for creating basic drawings and photo manipulations, but it also has the ability to import scanned documents from a multifunction printer. Once scanned, a text document becomes an image that can be manipulated or printed like any other image file.
Printer Scanning Software
- The first time you plug your multifunction printer into your computer, Windows prompts you to install the scanner software that came with the device. Whether you install the software or not, Microsoft Paint can still scan your text documents. If you installed the printer's scanning software, just open Paint instead when you want to use it to scan a text document.
Paint Scanning
- To scan with Paint, go to the Start menu and navigate to All Programs, then Accessories and then Paint. Once Paint is open, go to the "File" menu and choose "From Scanner or Camera..." to open the scan dialog box. Make sure that the text document you want to scan is on the scanner. Choose whether you want a color or grayscale scan and adjust the dpi settings as necessary. For a text document, 300 dpi is the standard scan setting for maximum text clarity. Anything lower than that may cause the text to look blurry if you print a copy. Click "Scan" to import the scan into Paint.
Save and Manipulate
- After you click the "Scan" button, an image of the document that will appear in a new Paint window. Use "Control + S" or go to "File" and then "Save As..." to save the scan. You can now open the scanned document in any graphics program.
Troubleshooting
- If "From Scanner or Camera..." is grayed out in the "File" menu, check the cable to make sure it's securely connected to the computer and printer. If the connection is secure, you'll need to download and update the Windows Image Acquisition driver for your device. Go to the manufacturer's website and search for your model number and "driver" in the search box. Major printer manufacturers provide free driver downloads on their websites.
