Many bitmaps used by a multimedia application will come from photographs. A photograph uses continuous tones and shades—colors that blend smoothly from one to another. By using a scanner or special digitizing equipment, you can transform photographs into bitmap images.
Scanning is the most common way to rapidly create full-color electronic images from photographic prints, slides, or pieces of flat artwork. The main drawback of scanners is that the scanning process is time-consuming. Scanning a large image at high resolution can take up to a minute or more of processing time. This adds up when you have a few thousand images to digitize. If a speedy production cycle matters more than having the highest quality, consider buying a good video camera and a frame grabber.