Photo scanning guide

AutoSplitter can process scanned images in several ways. This tutorial describes each method. There are 4 methods.

• scan and autodetect
• scan and define splits manually
• scan and reuse cropping areas
• batch process pre-scanned files

Which method should you choose? It depends on your situation. Generally, if you haven't yet scanned your photos, you should aim for scan and autodetect method - this is the default behaviour. If you have already scanned your photos and saved them into files without cropping them beforehand, then you need the batch process pre-scanned files method. The other two methods are workarounds for bad situations. Let's review each one.

If you have a flatbed scanner, you haven't scanned your photos yet and you can put your photos individually on your scanner, then probably this is the method that you need. You may need to adjust the detected splits individually. This should work well in most scenarios. Tips and tricks to increase autodetection accuracy:

• Increase the gap between the photos
• Make sure the edges and corners of photos are not aligned - stagger and scatter them a little bit
• Attach a bright, vivid backdrop (no patterns - background must be uniform) to your scanner's lid so the photos will have a highly contrasting background. This can be very useful for example when scanning polaroids which come with pretty thick white borders.
• Experiment with Options/Preferences/Calibration parameters. If you place your photos over the scanner with very small rotation, lowering your Angle threshold parameter will improve results.
• Ignore edges... parameter may improve autodetection if the edges of your scanned image are not quite sharp, noisy.

These actions should greatly increase success rate and accuracy of photo detection and cropping. However if autodetection fails very often, you have 2 options:

Turn off automatic detection in the Options / Preferences / Calibration dialog. See Split automatically checkbox. The software will stop trying to find photos. You will have to add all photos manually with the Add Split button (shortcut: INSERT). If you cannot scan the images in optimal conditions, for example because they have been attached into a photo album, they you will probably have to define individual photos one-by-one manually. This isn't a very daunting task as this scenario has been taken in account when designing AutoSplitter. Tips and tricks for manual photo splitting:

• If the automatic detection yields too many false positives, it may be a good idea to completely disable automatic detection. Go to the Options/Calibration dialog and uncheck the Split automatically checkbox
• DEL button will remove the split
• Define new photos quickly by drawing their edge and defining their extent by clicking any empty space on the image.
• Refine cropping area by using your mouse. Just grab and move the photo's edges to resize the cropping area. Grab photo corners to resize 2 adjacent edges at once. Holding the SHIFT button while grabbing the corner will let you fine rotate the photo instead of resizing.
• If you mouse over a photo you should see (starting from v1.10) a blue rotation icon near the top edge of the photo. Grab and move this icon sideways to fine rotate the frame.
• Mousewheel over the selected photo split will expand/shrink the area. Mousewheel while holding CTRL will rotate the selection.
• In the right side panel (Extracted splits) you can rotate photos by 90° clockwise or counter-clockwise with a single click.

This scanning method is very tricky and guarantees 100% detection rate and very accurate cropping. However it needs a little preparation. You need to group your photos by size. You will have to use 4 photos of the exact same size for each scan. Check the "Preserve splits" checkbox above the left panel. This is how you use the 4 corners method:

1. Put 4 photos of the exact same size in each corner of the scanner's window
2. Click Scan
3. If autodetection was inaccurate, adjust cropping areas manually.
4. Find the checkbox Preserve splits just above the left panel. Set this checkbox.
5. Place the next 4 photos in each corner - remember, they must be the exact same size and must be oriented like the first set of photos.
6. Click Scan
7. Repeat steps 5-6 until you run out of the similar size photos
8. Prepare the next set of same-sized photos
9. Disable Preserve splits and start over from step #1.

If Preserve splits option is active, the cropping areas should be preserved across sessions, you can exit and restart the software and not lose the definitions.
You will not have to worry about detection and adjustment while your similar-sized photos last. The cropping regions will be retained through scans and since you always have the same sized photos in the same places, the cropping will be fine. You will have to adjust the cropping regions when you change photo sizes. That's why you should group them by size before you start - you will need less adjustments.

In this case you have a lot of pre-scanned image files each containing several photos. AutoSplitter can open multiple files at once - even a whole folder - and detect all photos in all the files in one session. If you have scanned the photos in ideal conditions - even background on a flatbed scanner - then most of the work will be done automatically. You can review the batch detection in thumbnails on the left side of the screen. Double click the thumbnail to open for adjustment and change cropping areas if necessary. See this tutorial for further details on how to extract pre-scanned photos from multiple files. Don't forget to backup your photo collection after you have finished. Save to disc and/or online cloud backup. Safety first!