Scanner Advice?

[Red Nile]

I was going to post this in the Image Ink section, but wasn't sure if it was appropriate there.

My question is, what should I look for in a scanner if I want to be able to scan sketches or pictures into the computer for playing around with in photoshop, or just for archiving to a file as-is? For printing out a copy?

Are all-in-one printer/scanner/fax things worth it? Would be nice to have it together like that to reduce the space it takes up...

What's the minimum you think would do the job to your liking? What do you use now? What's your dream scanner?

[Blackbat]

I have a HP Officejet 6210 All-in-one here at work. I don't use it much for graphic scanning but I have on occasion, it seems to do a pretty good job. It's very easy to use/setup and is fairly cheap.

As far as scanning quality, I'm sure it's not up to par for heavy graphic use but it's decent.

I don't know much more than the basics about scanners, so I can't recommend the best. Just thought I'd offer my experience with this one.

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

I have an EpsonCK4900 and an HP 3180 the Epson was 129, the HP 9 (garage sale retail is 99) both scan with amazing quality I used the Epson for the photos in the RL picture section. Those were toned down quality.

The Epson can scan over 10000 dpi ( 1200 dpi hardware) the HP about the same. Not that I would do this, but if you were to scan an a US 20 with the HP, it would pick up the blue copy resistant ink, and the small 20s on the back. Not that I would do that.

Those are both very cheap options, spending more then 200 will get you a killer combo. For instance the Epson RX700 has Hardware resolution of 3200 DPI and and increable printer capable of prining on CDs. Retail 399 but it has a rebate going.

Unless your scanning for professional, do you need better?

Photo example

Scaned phot (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c279/eholler/staff.jpg)

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

Thought you might like to see some Paint Shop art uploaded. This is a comic I used to work on. Remember Photobucket adjusts the sizes the white and grey frame is the bed of my scanner. These were done with the Epson 4800cx

96 DPI
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c279/eholler/AccessDenied1.jpg

200 DPI
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c279/eholler/Accessdenied2.jpg

Less then a minute to scan as an illustration and I could have gone up to a setting of 4800

[Apollinaris]

I would heartily recommend anything from Canon. Their slimscan models are top notch.

[Red Nile]

Thanks for the input...

Is there a particular scan resolution (1200 x 2400 dpi, etc) that people would advise is a good minimum to look for? What's the difference between hardware and software scan resolution, is the quality of the two different?

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

DPI, dots per inch. A 300dpi device, for example, has 90,000 pixels for each square inch of an on-screen image. Higher dpi produces a sharper image, but slows the scanning speed. DPI do not equal pixels.


Hardware resolution. Ussually a measure of the the number of sensors on the CCD bars in the scanner. A 1 pass scanner (most) has typicaly has 3 ccd bars (Red, Blue,and Green). On a 1200 DPI scanner each bar has 1200 sensors.

interpolated resolution—A measure that indicates the maximum resolution attainable using special software. Interpolated resolution is important for scanning line art or for enlarging tiny original images. However, because this type of resolution relies on the scanner's accompanying software, not the actual hardware.

Interpolating an image's resolution can result in a 'soft' or fuzzy image, as the software has added pixels by 'guessing' where they should go, based on the shades of the pixels in proximity.


optical resolution—The maximum resolution a scanner's hardware is capable of achieving and the one that affects most scans.When buying a high quality flatbed scanner, or digital camera, the optical resolution is the figure that needs to be paid attention to.

This is the 1200x2400 number you see.

The x-direction sampling rate - This is determined by the number of sensors in the CCD imaging array.
The y-direction sampling rate - This is determined by the precision of the stepper motor.

So a 1200 x 2400 scanner has 1200 scan elements in each ccd and can move the ccd bar 2400th of an inch.

Most low end combos are 1200x2400. I've seen 4800x4800 all-in-ones but not much higher. Of course I've never really looked.

[Apollinaris]

Really, I think the highest you'll ever bother to set the scan setting is 600 DPI, and I don't think I've ever seen a scanner these days that doesn't at least do that.

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

Yeah, it takes 6 mins for my scanner to do a 600dpi image. Eek. Anyway now that you know way to much, and All in One will probably meet your need.