Using the Image Manager Requirements You will need a Web Cam, or a document scanner to be able to capture images, but you can view captured images on any computer on the Pawn System even without a Web Cam or scanner. The Web Cam or document scanner can t be shared across the network, so they will only work on the computer where they are attached. Practice Mode If you type IMAGEMGR from the command line (usually the P: prompt), or choose TOOLS > Image Practice from the Data Center, you can practice taking pictures without attaching the pictures to any data record. Camera Selection If you only have one Web Cam it will already be selected. If you have two or more, you can select the one you want under Camera. (figure 1) Resolution 640 x 480 is the minimum suggested, but if your camera is capable, you can choose any higher resolution. (figure 1)
FIGURE 1 Window Adjustment When you first launch the Image Manager, it might need to be moved or adjusted in size depending on your preferences and the screen resolution of your computer. The best way to do this is to start a preview, so Press Ctrl+P to preview what the Web Cam sees. When the image appears, move and size the Image Manager window until it looks right to you. (Figure 2) You can end the Preview by pressing Ctrl+P again.
Figure 2 Taking pictures To capture an image, first start the Preview with Ctrl+P, then press Ctrl+S to capture a frame. The still picture will be displayed in the window. When taking pictures, keep in mind that there are 16 slots to store pictures on each data record. You can move to a different slot by using the navigation buttons (Figure 3) or by pressing the Left, Right, Home, or End keyboard buttons with the Ctrl button pressed. Note that navigation is disabled while previewing the Web Cam. When adding multiple pictures, it s best to fill the slots in order (1, 2, 3...) so that you don t misplace a picture, for example by having slots 1, 7, and 16 filled and the rest blank. CAUTION: If you capture an image in a slot already populated with an image, the old image is deleted and replaced with the new one.
Figure 3 Scanning Documents You can also store images scanned using a document scanner. If you have a document scanner, press Ctrl+A to begin a scan. The Scanner control screen you see will depend on the scanner you have, The figures shown below are for the DocketPort 667. Initially, you might need to calibrate your scanner, but follow manufacturer instructions to get the scanner set up properly. Choose Color and choose the size of document you will be scanning, something like what is shown in Figure 4 below (for scanning a driver license, ID or business card):
Figure 4 Put your document in the scanner, and when you click on the Scan button, the scanner will capture an image of the document and display it in the selected image slot. (Figure 5)
Figure 5 Viewing Images As mentioned earlier, images can be viewed by any computer using the Pawn System. Try exiting from the Image Manager and running it again. Any images you saved will be visible on any computer on the system, and you can navigate through the images as described above. Image Manager Menu All of the Web Cam controls are available under the Camera heading in the menu: ADJUST: Dependent on the Web Cam software installed. The default settings are usually fine. PREVIEW: The same as pressing Ctrl+P. SNAPSHOT: Captures a frame during Web Cam preview.
EXIT: Exits the Image Manager. Pressing Esc also exits. Scan acquisition is under Scanner: Picture options are under Picture: COPY: Allows you to copy the current image, which can then be pasted into Word, WordPad, etc. DELETE: Deletes the current image from the computer. FOLDER: Opens Windows Explorer with the current image file highlighted. This allows you to copy the image file and use it elsewhere. If you delete, move or rename the image file in Windows Explorer, it will no longer be available in Image Manager. If you want to delete the image, choose Edit > Delete as shown above. INSERT: Allows you to select.jpg pictures to add to the record. You can select one or more pictures to add.
Attaching Images to a Data Record Any time the word Image appears on the message line, you can press the letter I to launch the Image Manager and attach an image to that record. (see below) When a record has an image attached, the record number will be highlighted, similar to this: Possible Uses Your imagination is the only limit on how you can use the Image Manager. You can attach images to Loans, Guns, Sales, Buys, Layaways, Inventory and Customers. You can t save images for Loan Payments or Layaway Payments. Here are some possibilities: 1. Take pictures of Pawn merchandise while setting the Location. 2. Take pictures or scan the license of Customers when they come in for a Loan, Payment, Sale, etc. 3. Take pictures of Sale Merchandise when you are going through Set Price. 4. Take a picture of the customer if he is picking up someone else s loan (attach to the loan). In this case, the redeemer might not even be in the customer file. Image Size The images files are relatively small in size. It would take 1 million medium resolution images to take up 10% of a 500 GB hard drive. However, that number of images would significantly slow down your backup and increase the space needed on the backup media.