Welcome to Scan Collecting for Dummies. 

Collecting pictures of Asian models can be different things to different people. Some liken it to other hobbies, such as collecting baseball cards. Others find it more enjoyable to focus on the models they like the most. Whatever reason you may have, or whatever extent to which you plan to collect, Scan Collecting for Dummies will be one of the greatest resources you find online.

This extensive series of lessons is an effort to provide quality information for scan collectors.  Our specific intention is to give the knowledge and tools to new and/or inexperienced collectors to allow them to enjoy and maximize the potential of their collecting experience.  We have also included some areas that may benefit intermediate/advanced collectors.  Our intention is to provide something for everyone.

Note about programs.

Before proceeding with the intricacies of collecting pictures, you should try to equip yourself with at least the most fundamental tools available for viewing and organizing your pictures. Further, you should become familiar with some of the programs and their capabilities we will suggest you use in the future.  The following is what we feel a comprehensive list of software used in collecting pictures divided into three skill levels: beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Notice that we offer alternative programs in the same category as many people may be more comfortable using different programs than we recommend.

If you do not have software flagged for "Beginners", we recommend you download and install it before continuing. They will not only help you through future lessons, but will probably enhance your online experience in other aspects as well. We recommend waiting on downloading and installing the programs flagged as intermediate and advanced until you reach the respective sections in your progression through this manual.   This is because some of these programs have detailed installation instructions which we elaborate upon later.

Note about depth.

We have purposely went very in depth with every section.  So far to the point that you may think we are insulting your intelligence.  This is purposeful because many people need the depth even though you may not.

Note about page loading.

Many of these pages will take a long time to load.  This is because they are very graphics rich.  In most cases, screen captures have been included to explain EVERY step of a given process.  I have done what I could to make the filesizes and images themselves as small as possible as well as including several pages for quite lengthy topics to speed up loading time.  Nevertheless, most pages will load slowly.

Note about terms.

We have used many terms that some people may not be familiar with.   Any term that we feel needs defining has a hyperlink which will take you to the glossary in the appendix.  That way you can simply click the term to see its definition.  We also recommend taking a quick look at the glossary before reading the sections.

Note about Operating System (OS) assumptions.

Most sections of this resource assume you have a computer running Windows 95/98/NT.  Unfortunately many of the programs discussed do NOT have Mac versions.

Note about icons.

Icons have been included to point out things that should be paid special attention.  The icons used along with their particular meanings are shown below.

		The Tip Icon with text next to it is a special tip.   Here you will find a hint which may point to an easier way.  Also, this icon is used to point out a special note which may be outside of the scope of the current discussion, yet still important to know.
		The Explore Icon with hyperlinks next to it is used to point out a more in depth discussion of a topic is available.  These icons are mainly used in the Part number indexes, but may be used elsewhere.
		The Warning Icon is used to point out something that can be dangerous.  It is also used to point out something you specifically should not do.