View Add/Edit Patient Images screen. View Video, 1 min. 43 sec.

Importing Images from Image Files
Click the Import Image button on the Add/Edit Patient Images screen to import images that are stored somewhere in you computer. The Import Image screen will appear. Use this screen to navigate to the directory where the images are stored. Highlight one or more images and click Import. You will see the images added to the thumbnail viewer and therefore, to the patient’s record. You can import most popular image formats including: JPEG, Windows Bitmap (BMP), Tagged Image Format (TIF), Paintbrush Picture (PCX, DCX), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Truevision TARGA (TGA), Kodak Photo CD (PCD), Kodak FlashPix (FPX), Photoshop (PSD), Macintosh Pict (PCT), Sun Raster (RAS), and more.

Acquiring Reflective Images from Scanners
Scanners can digitize images from two types of material items, opaque and transparent. If it is opaque, it reflects light and if it is transparent, light travels through it. Some examples of reflective items are: photographs, EOB’s from insurance carriers, perio charts, any sort of document or printout. In dentistry, transparent items usually refer to radiographs which we will call “x-rays.” Except for some specialized scanners, all scanners can perform scans on reflective material. Not all scanners can scan transparencies, and of those that do, very few are suited for dental transparency scanning. Transparency scanning will be discussed in a later section. To acquire a reflective scan from your scanner click the Acquire from Scanner button on the Add/Edit Patient Images screen. The Acquire TWAIN Scanner popup window will appear. If you are going to scan only one image select Single Image. If you are going to scan more than one image, select Multiple Images. For the Image Type select General if this is a reflective scan or X-Ray is you are scanning a transparency. Then click OK to continue. Diamond Dental Software will then open your own scanner’s software to perform the actual scan. Diamond Dental Software will open the software that came with your particular scanner. Diamond Dental Software knows how to call your scanner’s software because in the Scanner Setup discussed earlier, you selected a TWAIN driver as your default scanner software. When your scanner software appears, perform the scan in the usual way. You must be familiar with how your scanner software operates to successfully perform the scan. When the scanning process is complete, your scanner’s software will close and Diamond Dental Software will grab the scanned image and insert it into your patient’s record. It will be displayed in the Add/Edit Patient Images screen.

If you had chosen Multiple Images and if your scanner software is compatible, your scanner’s software will not close after scanning one image. Instead, you will be prompted if your want to make another scan. You may perform as many additional scans as you like. When you indicate you are finished scanning, your scanner’s software will close and all the scanned images will be saved into your patient’s record. These will be visible in the Add/Edit Patient Images screen. Be aware that not all scanners are compatible with Diamond Dental Software for this feature and you may be required to perform one scan at a time. Be aware that setting your scanner to 24 bit color resolution should only be used if color is important to what you are scanning. If color is not an issue such as with text documents and x-rays, set your scanners resolution to 8 BIT GRAYSCALE. Your file size will be greatly reduced and image quality will not be affected.