Appliance and method of using same for capturing images

Abstract

A hand-held image capture and communication appliance and method of using same are provided wherein images may be acquired via scanning means and saved in an internal memory. The scanning appliance includes a processor for manipulating and exhibiting the images on a built-in display screen. Program code stored in the internal memory and executed by the processor includes a capture page module for processing the image data acquired through the scanning means by filtering and discarding redundant image data to form a whole image. The capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a first animation that is designed as a metaphor to signify the progression of the image data processing taking place in the appliance. The metaphor used in the preferred embodiment is a bar graph overlaying a thumbnail of the capture path followed in acquiring the image. The capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a second animation in which the most recently captured image is shown as an outline displacing a previously captured image from the display. This animation communicates to the user the logical sequencing of the captured images as the new last image in the sequence displaces the previous last image in the sequence. Moreover, the display of the newly captured page or image allows the user to examine the page in detail to verify whether the correct scan path was followed and whether any desired content is missing from the image. Should an error occur during the scanning process, the capture page module invokes an error utility module to display a textual dialog explaining the nature of the error.