Epson ES-1000C - Business Scanning System User manual

EPSON®ESC/ITM Scanner
GT-1000
GT-4000
GT-6000 ES-300C
GT-6500 ES-600C
GT-8000 ES-800C
GT-8500 ES-1000C
GT-9000 ES-1200C
GT-5000 Action Scanner II
GT-300 ES-300GS
Reference Manual

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of Seiko Epson Corporation. No patent liability is
assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has
been taken in the preparation of this book, Seiko Epson Corporation assumes no responsibility for
errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the
information contained herein.
Seiko Epson Corporation shall not be liable against any damages or problems arising from the use
of any options other than those designated as Original Epson Products by Seiko Epson Corporation.
EPSON is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.
EPSON ESC/I is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.
HP PaintJet is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.
Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Copyright © 1995 by Seiko Epson Corporation, Nagano, Japan.
ii

Preface
This manual was designed to be a comprehensive guide to
programming EPSON scanners using the advanced ESC/I control
language. It was written with both the professional and advanced
hobbyist programmer in mind.
Before you begin using this manual, you should thoroughly review
the operating instructions in your scanner’s user’s guide.
iii

iv

Contents
Introduction
Manual Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Command Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Using This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
To understand EPSON scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
To write a scanner control program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Chapter 1 Overview
What Is a Scanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Basic scanning principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Reading color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Reading monochrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
EPSON Scanner Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Control Code Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Function level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Computers and Handshaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Image Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Image data format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Line data transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Block data transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Image definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Gamma correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Data form definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Image processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21
v

Using Scanner Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Scanning multiple shade documents for
output on devices capable of expressing
multiple shades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Scanning multiple shade documents for
bi-level output devices capable of black
and white only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Scanning documents without multiple
shades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Scanning documents to obtain unprocessed
data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-24
Chapter 2 Command Usage
Execution Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
1. Start scanning (ESC G) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
2. Request ID (ESC I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
3. Request Status (ESC F) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
4. Extended Status Request (ESC f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
5. Request condition (ESC S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Data Form Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
1. Set Color Mode (ESC C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
2. Set Data Format (ESC D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
3. Set Resolution (ESC R) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
4. Set zoom (ESC H) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
5. Set scanning area (ESC A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
6. Set data order (ESC K) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Image Setting Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
1. Set brightness (ESC L) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
2. Set gamma correction (ESC Z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
3. Download gamma table (ESC z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Image Processing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
1. Set halftoning mode (ESC B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
2. Download dither pattern (ESC b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
3. Set color correction (ESC M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
4. Download color correction (ESC m) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
vi

Auxiliary Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
1. Initialize the scanner (ESC @) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
2. Set the scanning mode (ESC g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
3. Set the line counter (ESC d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
4. Control option (ESC e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
5. Eject (FF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
1. Header (STX) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
2. Abort scanning (CAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
3. Normal response (ACK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
4. Negative response (NAK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Command Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
ID information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
Control flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23
Recommended command order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
Using commands when options are
installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
Data Block Transfer Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
Data block structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
Information block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-27
Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-30
Transfer order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-32
Scanning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-35
Resolution, zoom, and maximum scannable
area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-36
Setting the scanning area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-38
Image trimming (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-40
Image trimming (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-42
Error Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Command error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Communications error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
System error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-45
Option error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-46
Function Level and Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-47
Using the function level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-47
Commands and function level table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-48
Items not affected by function level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-50
Typical Programming Errors and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-51
vii

Chapter 3 Command Reference
Summary of the Scanner Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Format of the Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Execution Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Data Form Definition Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
Image Definition Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Image Processing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-45
Auxiliary Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-65
Appendix A Interface Specifications
Serial Interface Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Signal pin assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Cable wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Parallel Interface Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Signal pin assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Timing charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
SCSI Interface Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Basic Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
SCSI Operation Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
Communication Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
SCSI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15
Unit Attention Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Sense Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-19
Default settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-19
viii

Appendix B Scanner Model Technical Data
GT-1000 Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-3
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-3
DIP Switch Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-4
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-6
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-7
GT-4000 Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-9
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-9
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-9
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-10
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-11
DIP Switch Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-12
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-15
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-17
GT-6000 (ES-300C) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-19
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-19
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-19
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-20
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-21
DIP Switch Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-22
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-25
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-28
GT-6500 (ES-600C) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-30
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-30
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-31
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-32
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-33
DIP Switch Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-34
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-38
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-41
ix

GT-8000 (ES-800C) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-43
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-43
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-43
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-44
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-45
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-46
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-49
GT-8500 (ES-1000C) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-51
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-51
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-51
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-52
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-53
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-54
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-57
GT-9000 (ES-1200C) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-60
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-60
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-60
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-61
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-62
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-63
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-67
GT-5000 (Action Scanner II) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-69
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-69
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-69
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-70
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-71
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-72
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-75
GT-300 (ES-300GS) Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-78
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-78
Error Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-78
Software Functions and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-79
Software Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-80
The Identity Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-81
The Condition Data-Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-84
x

Introduction
Introduction 1

Manual Construction
This manual consists of the following sections:
❏Overview
❏Command Usage
❏Command Reference
❏Appendix
The contents of each of these sections is described below:
Overview
Presents an overview of scanner functions, EPSON scanner
features, control codes, and programming concepts. This
information is helpful in quickly understanding scanner operating
concepts.
Command Usage
Provides recommended ESC/I command usage and program
construction for optimum use of EPSON scanner features. This
section also provides information on image data transfer, the
scanning environment, and error handling.
Command Reference
Lists each ESC/I command and its parameters in detail.
Appendix
Offers additional information necessary for writing scanner
programs. This includes the specifications for each type of
interface, command support levels, and available scanner options.
2 Introduction

Using This Manual
To get the most out of this manual, you should follow the steps
below:
To understand EPSON scanners
Read through the overview once, and then read the Command
Usage section in depth.
To write a scanner control program
Read through the overview once, then read the Command Usage
section. From there, move to the Command Reference section,
followed by the Appendix.
Always refer to the Appendix to ensure that the interface and data
types correspond to your target scanner models.
Also, several examples of common programming errors and
information on resolving these errors are included.
Introduction 3

4 Introduction

Chapter 1
Overview
This chapter provides a brief description of scanner operations and
concepts. The special features of EPSON brand scanners are also
outlined in this chapter. 1
Overview 1-1

What Is a Scanner
A scanner is a device that performs the following functions:
❏Reflects light off your documents
❏Separates the light by color and intensity
❏Converts that reflected light to digital data
❏Sends the digital data to your computer for further processing
Basic scanning principles
A scanner normally includes two components: a light source that
illuminates the document and a sensor that detects the light reflected
off the document. The sensor is composed of CCD element arrays that
detect the brightness of the reflected light and produce corresponding
digital signals.
The document is read by a horizontal row of sensors that move
vertically down the page. Data from the sensors is read at regular
intervals (such as 300 times per inch), achieving very high resolutions.
Data is organized horizontally and vertically; the scanning direction is
referred to by the following terms:
1-2 Overview

Main scan
The horizontal scanning direction
Sub scan
The vertical scanning direction
By combining the main scan and sub scan data, an entire page can be
converted into organized digital data.
Overview 1-3

Reading color
By illuminating the document with three lights, red (R), green (G),
and blue (B), the scanner can analyze and separate a document’s three
color components. The computer can then overlay this color-separated
data to produce full-color images.
Reading monochrome
Even though you have a color scanner, you can still read your documents
as monochrome. Color scanners can read documents as monochrome in
two ways:
❏Treat all the data on the page as the same color. This method uses
all the light sources, and is fine if you plan to print data in black
and white only.
❏Specify one color (R, G, or B) as a dropout color. This method
uses only one light source and reads all data except for the color
specified.
1-4 Overview

EPSON Scanner Features
EPSON scanners feature the following special attributes.
❏A unified control code structure
All scanner features are controlled by EPSON’s ESC/I scanner
control codes, so the commands for each feature are the same for
all scanner models. All models are downwardly compatible, so
programs written for lower level scanners will work identically on
upper level scanners.
❏Internal image data processing circuits
Each scanner contains circuitry capable of processing image data
before it is sent to the computer; the type of processing is
specified by control codes. By preprocessing image data, the
computer can process data faster with a reduction in image
distortion.
❏Support of various interfaces
GT-1000: RS-232C Serial, Bi-directional Parallel
GT-4000: RS-232C Serial, Bi-directional Parallel,
SCSI (option)
GT-6000: RS-232C Serial, Bi-directional Parallel,
SCSI (option)
GT-8000: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
GT-6500: RS-232C Serial, Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
GT-8500: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
GT-9000: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
GT-300: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
GT-5000: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
ES-300C: RS-232C Serial, Bi-directional Parallel,
SCSI (option)
ES-600C: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
ES-800C: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
ES-1000C: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
ES-1200C: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
ES-300GS: Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
Action Scanner II Bi-directional Parallel, SCSI
Overview 1-5

❏Optional automatic document feeder
An automatic document feeder can be mounted on the GT-8000
(ES-800C), GT-6500 (ES-600C), GT-8500 (ES-1000C), or
GT-9000 (ES-1200C) scanner models, allowing you to
automatically load and scan multiple documents. This is
particularly useful when using OCR (Optical Character
Recognition) software to input text from long documents, or
when creating an image data base.
❏Optional transparency illumination unit
This unit can read transparencies (film) when mounted on the
GT-8000 (ES-800C), GT-6500 (ES-600C), GT-8500 (ES-1000C),
or GT-9000 (ES-1200C) models. You can now scan film directly,
without having to first make a print of the film as was necessary
in the past. This allows for more accurate reading of film colors
with a minimum of degradation in image resolution. You can also
now directly read documents stored on film.
1-6 Overview