Is "overscanning" a possibility?

[bt]

I have recently purchased an Epson 4180, primarily to scan printed
photos, drawings and documents. The quality of the reflective-media
scans seems quite good--a huge improvement in sharpness and color
accuracy over my old Umax 1200 (much faster, too), and surprisingly
close in quality to scans I've done on an Epson XL graphics scanner.

Here's my question: I'm scanning a bunch of artworks that are on 8 1/2 x
11" typing paper. I would like to be able to scan just beyond the edges
of the pages--so that the edges of the sheet are visible. The Epson
Scan software will not permit a scanning rectangle wider than 8.50
inches. It would be very helpful to me if I could somehow get it to
scan a slightly wider area--even 8.6 inches would make a significant
difference. Is this width limit fixed in the hardware, or is there some
way to trick the scanner into producing a slightly oversized scan?
Thanks in advance for your advice on this.

 

[JWSM]

I think that's its full width. My Epson 4870 only does roughly 21.55cm x
29.7 cm, which is wider 0.5+ wider than A4. You will have to use the back
edge as a guide and do two scans then join them in PhotoShop.

Yes, it's quite a bit faster than the Umax 1200!