Affordable large format?

[Dennis Herrick]

I'm trying to find a scanner large enough to do (or come close to) record
jackets, which are about 12x12. The only one I've found that's affordable is
the Mustek A3 USB, but it doesn't look like it supports XP. I can't get an
answered phone or a returned call from Mustek and can't find this out.

Does anyone know about this scanner?

Are there other scanners that can do 11x17 or so? I know Microtek makes
some, but they're all over $1000 which is far far beyond what I can afford
for this project....

Any suggestions?

 

[Mac McDougald]

I'm trying to find a scanner large enough to do (or come close to) record
jackets, which are about 12x12. The only one I've found that's affordable is
the Mustek A3 USB, but it doesn't look like it supports XP. I can't get an
answered phone or a returned call from Mustek and can't find this out.

Does anyone know about this scanner?

Are there other scanners that can do 11x17 or so? I know Microtek makes
some, but they're all over $1000 which is far far beyond what I can afford
for this project....

Any suggestions?

Sounds like perfect situation for a copystand setup and digicam.

Mac

 

[Douglas MacDonald]

Right on the money here Mac.
I had the same situation exactly a few months ago. I had a dozen or so
watercolour paintings my client wanted reproduced. I had always thought
photographing such things with a digicam would not produce usable results...
It did.

Best suggestion is to buy a relatively good consumer digican (Panasonic
comes to mind) and photograph the covers. Use the provided software to
brighten the images and no one will know you don't have an A3 copier!

Douglas

 

[Simon Waldman]

I'm trying to find a scanner large enough to do (or come close to) record
jackets, which are about 12x12. The only one I've found that's affordable is
the Mustek A3 USB, but it doesn't look like it supports XP.

Is there any reason not to use an A4 scanner and stitch the bits together?

--
"Then there are those who care not about extraterrestrials,
searching for meaning in other human beings. Rare or lucky are those
who find it. For although we may not be alone in the universe,
in our own separate ways on this planet, we are all... alone."
- 'Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"'.

 

[Dennis Herrick]

Is there any reason not to use an A4 scanner and stitch the bits together?

I've been trying that and not had much success... The colors on the two
halves NEVER match. I can always see a line where they join.... Perhaps if I
was better in Photoshop I could do this better!!!

I've also tried digital cameras and the problem is the back of the record
jackets, which when changing to the about 4x4 of a CD jewel case gives about
15 lines of text per inch. A 600 dpi scan is readable, but I've not had much
success getting the same quality with a digital camera.

 

[Mac McDougald]

I've been trying that and not had much success... The colors on the two
halves NEVER match. I can always see a line where they join.... Perhaps if I
was better in Photoshop I could do this better!!!

I've also tried digital cameras and the problem is the back of the record
jackets, which when changing to the about 4x4 of a CD jewel case gives about
15 lines of text per inch. A 600 dpi scan is readable, but I've not had much
success getting the same quality with a digital camera.

Sounds like more lighting and perhaps blur from hand held at low shutter
speeds probs than rez.

Even a lowly 3MP cam like mine does 2160 x 1440.

At 4" wide, that's 540ppi.

Mac

 

[;-)]

Mac McDougaldin article (e-mail address removed), Mac
McDougald at (e-mail address removed) wrote on 12/3/04 4:03 PM:

Sounds like more lighting and perhaps blur from hand held at low shutter
speeds probs than rez.

Even a lowly 3MP cam like mine does 2160 x 1440.

At 4" wide, that's 540ppi.

Mac

Good advice. Definitely a small tripod and use the self timer. If the flash
creates a bright spot, try deflecting the the flash with a piece of black
card taped to the camera and bounce the flash off a white board.
Trial and error and you will have a much cheaper solution than a large
format scanner.

 

[Simon Waldman]

I've been trying that and not had much success... The colors on the two
halves NEVER match. I can always see a line where they join....

well, you'll need a way to lock the exposure and colour balance settings
from image to another. Whether this is possible will depend on your
scanner's software.