Scanners for digitising old photos

[John]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

I have looked at the HP ScanJet 5530 which has an adapter for
automatically scanning up to 24 photos at a time, but the reviews for
this on ZDNet are only 7.4 out of 10.

Would I be better looking for something I have to manually put the
photos on the flatbed but has a multiphoto mode so I can scan more
than 1 photo at a time?

I'm not sure exactly how multiphoto mode would work, I presume it
would automatically recognise the different photos that were placed on
the flatbed and save them as different files?

All the different scanners are very confusing. I'm not sure what I
need to be looking for with what I want to do. I'm not sure what
scanners give the best results and have fast scanning times.

If you can offer any advice I'd appreciate it.

John

 

[Pam]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

John,

I'd look at the Epson scanners. I've been very happy with mine. Personally
I wouldn't trust an automatic feeder for my old photos. I think I'd just put
more than one on the scanner bed and do it that way.

Pam

 

[John]

I'd look at the Epson scanners. I've been very happy with mine. Personally
I wouldn't trust an automatic feeder for my old photos. I think I'd just put
more than one on the scanner bed and do it that way.

Pam

Thanks. I think you might be right on that. I will have to look for a
good scanner that allows you to put multiple photos on the bed and
scans them all into individual files all at once.

Cheers

John

 

[Surfer!]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

I have looked at the HP ScanJet 5530 which has an adapter for
automatically scanning up to 24 photos at a time, but the reviews for
this on ZDNet are only 7.4 out of 10.

Would I be better looking for something I have to manually put the
photos on the flatbed but has a multiphoto mode so I can scan more
than 1 photo at a time?

I'm not sure exactly how multiphoto mode would work, I presume it
would automatically recognise the different photos that were placed on
the flatbed and save them as different files?

All the different scanners are very confusing. I'm not sure what I
need to be looking for with what I want to do. I'm not sure what
scanners give the best results and have fast scanning times.

If you can offer any advice I'd appreciate it.

John

Current A-list flat bed scanner at PC Pro is the Epson 3490, at the
princely sum of £70 or thereabouts.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/80002/epson-perfection-3490-photo.html

How many photos do you have to do?

 

[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX N2469R]

Consider a flatbed with an infrared channel for
dust and scratch removal. Only a few have this
for both film AND PRINTS.

 

[One4All]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

Would I be better looking for something I have to manually put the
photos on the flatbed but has a multiphoto mode so I can scan more
than 1 photo at a time?

If you haven't, already, you need to read up on scanning and scanners,
generally, whether by buying your own books and digital photo magazines
or going to a library that has them, altho these materials are probably
too specialized for most public libraries. Computer magazines like "PC
World" also carry articles, and many libraries subscribe to those.
Googling on "flatbed scanners" and reading the sites that seem basic
and introductory would also help. Wikipedia might be a good site. Other
threads in this group provide links to "scantips.com."

Specifically, all flatbed drivers allow you to place however many items
you want to scan on the glass. But, scanners do their best work
centered and toward the top, so favor the top center when placing your
photos. I'd say put the photos on the glass in landscape orientation,
regardless of whether the photo is in portrait orientation. You can fit
only two photos per scan. Leave an inch from the top for the scanner so
it can calibrate each scan.

Scanner drivers have a Preview mode, in which a quick scan is done of
everything on the glass. Then, you use the Marquee tool to outline the
particular image you want a closer look at in the Zoom mode. (I'm
referring to Epson Scan's Professional Mode.) The scanner rescans for
that image only, returning it in a larger view. Make whatever
adjustments, sizing, etc. you want, then return to Preview & do the
same with the other image. When done, do the final Scan. The scanner
will save each image as a file in a folder you've designated. This is
the general pattern of scanner drivers.

Mr. Forsberg suggests that you buy a scanner "with an infrared channel
for dust and scratch removal." This feature goes under different names,
but the one I know, and that many Epson drivers and scanners come with,
is "DigitalICE." Don't buy a scanner without it. It doesn't cost that
much more, and if it had any weight, it would be in gold.

 

[-]

Googling on "flatbed scanners" and reading the sites that seem basic

and introductory would also help.

www.scantips.com is a great resource. Wayne has often monitored this group
and provided helpful advice.

Doug

 

[fruitbat]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

I have looked at the HP ScanJet 5530 which has an adapter for
automatically scanning up to 24 photos at a time, but the reviews for
this on ZDNet are only 7.4 out of 10.

Would I be better looking for something I have to manually put the
photos on the flatbed but has a multiphoto mode so I can scan more
than 1 photo at a time?

I'm not sure exactly how multiphoto mode would work, I presume it
would automatically recognise the different photos that were placed on
the flatbed and save them as different files?

All the different scanners are very confusing. I'm not sure what I
need to be looking for with what I want to do. I'm not sure what
scanners give the best results and have fast scanning times.

I would definitely recommend a Printer-Scan-Copy combination unit.
Yes, you cannot readily scan multiple photos at the one time into different
files.
But you have a versatile machine for photocopying, scanning, printing and
maybe even fax.
The scan quality is more than adequate.

 

[Alter Ego]

I would definitely recommend a Printer-Scan-Copy combination unit.
Yes, you cannot readily scan multiple photos at the one time into
different files.
But you have a versatile machine for photocopying, scanning, printing and
maybe even fax.
The scan quality is more than adequate.

Photoshop CS2 will seperate multiple photos placed on the glass, just leave
a little space between each photo, it also straightens them for you. I use
the Epson RX620

 

[Roger]

I just wondered if there are any good scanners for home use that don't
cost a lot of money, that can digitise old 6x4 photos quickly and
still give reasonable quality? I can only afford about £200 max,
preferably as low cost as possible.

I have looked at the HP ScanJet 5530 which has an adapter for
automatically scanning up to 24 photos at a time, but the reviews for
this on ZDNet are only 7.4 out of 10.

I have an older 5470c which does a find job of scanning prints and
documents. It will scan multiple images, but I find it easier and
faster to just put them on one-at-a-time.

Would I be better looking for something I have to manually put the
photos on the flatbed but has a multiphoto mode so I can scan more
than 1 photo at a time?

I'm not sure exactly how multiphoto mode would work, I presume it
would automatically recognise the different photos that were placed on
the flatbed and save them as different files?

You are scanning 6 X 4 photos. Typical resolution is about 300 dpi
for prints, so if you scan at twice that you are looking at only 600
dpi and most flat beds will do far more than that. Color depth is
another issue, but I think you will find most in the $150 to $200
range will do quite well. Good film scanners are quite a bit more.

All the different scanners are very confusing. I'm not sure what I
need to be looking for with what I want to do. I'm not sure what
scanners give the best results and have fast scanning times.

My 5470c is very fast with scan times ranging from about 10 seconds to
near half a minute depending on the size of the print, or document
being scanned. The reviews and literature should include scanning
times.


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com