C:\

Drive letter designation most commonly given to the primary hard drive in a computer system.

Calibration

Optimizing equipment by setting each piece to a standard that produces constant results.

Carriage

Part of a flatbed scanner that travels the length of the scanner bed. The illuminating lamp is mounted on the carriage to provide light for the image. In a CCD scanner, the carriage has mirrors mounted on it which reflect the image back to the CCD. In a CIS scanner, the carriage contains the CIS elements. Also known as a scanhead.

CCD

Acronym for Charge-Coupled Device. Electronic device in a scanner that converts the light into an electrical charge. The semiconductors of a CCD are connected in a way so that the electrical output of one provides the input of the next.

CD-ROM

Acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory. 1. Common term used to describe data stored upon a compact disc using laser optics as opposed to a magnetic media floppy disk. 2. Common name of the component that reads computer CDs.

Centimeter

Unit of measure. One inch equals 2.54 centimeters.

Channel Selector

Command in a scanner interface that allows for control of each of the primary color channels (red, green or blue) separately or together.

Character

A letter, number, punctuation mark or symbol that is represented in a computer by one byte. Characters can also contain information, such as carriage returns or formatting, or they may not have a visible form at all, such as a space between two words in a word processing program. The blank space is a character.

Checkbox

In a dialog box, a box where a checkmark or "X" can be placed with a click of the mouse to either activate or deactivate a function or make a selection.

Chooser

Application found in the Apple Menu of a Macintosh that allows the user to select a printer or network device for use with the system. Mustek’s ISIS scanner drivers are found in the Chooser.

Circuit Board

1. Flat board made of phenolic resin or epoxy which is imprinted with a layer of interconnecting copper foil to form a circuit. Electronic components are then soldered to the appropriate connections in the circuit. 2. Generic term for the main board where the CCD and other components of a scanner are located.

CIS

Acronym for Compact Image Sensor. Unlike a CCD, which is large and mounted in the rear of a scanner, a compact image sensor travels along on the scanner carriage itself. A CIS uses a single row of sensors located only a millimeter or so under the document. A CIS can be illuminated by either a white lamp or a row of red, blue and green LEDs.

Click

Pressing the button on a mouse to select or activate an icon in a GUI. Named for the audible sound made by a mouse button. See double-click, GUI and mouse.

CMS

Acronym for Color Management System. A CMS uses a color target to establish a standard color between input devices, like scanners, and output devices, like printers.

CMYK

Acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, black. Cyan, magenta and yellow are the subtractive primaries and are generally used in color printing. Black is added to enhance the colors and for printing in black.

Color

Scan mode used for scanning images in color.

Color It!

Macintosh imaging application by MicroFrontier. Color It! is commonly bundled with Mustek scanners.

ColorSync

A color management system used in Macintosh imaging programs. ColorSync filters are used with Color It! and Mustek scanner drivers for color management. See CMS.

Color Target

A special image consisting of bands of colors and shades of gray used to calibrate an input device.

Compression

Property of certain graphic file formats that encodes the bits of the image so that the resulting file uses less space. See lossy and non-lossy.

Contrast

1. The difference between light and dark areas of an image. 2. A control in the scanner interface that adjusts the balance between light and dark areas of an image.

Copy

1. To duplicate a document or image by making a digital version with a scanner and then printing out the digital image. 2. One of the features of the Scan Dialog Box, used for copying documents. See Scan Dialog Box.

Cover Sensor

Feature found on many Mustek scanners that automatically launches a scanning application when the document cover is lifted to insert a document.

CPU

Acronym for Central Processing Unit. Generalized term referring to the main part of a computer system consisting of the motherboard, processor, RAM memory, etc.

Crop Frame

Dotted line box that is used to select an image that is to be scanned. The crop frame is found within the preview window of the scanner interface.

Cropping

A function of imaging programs that allows the user to trim out unwanted parts of an image, or shape the image to fit a certain size. See mask.