Buying a Photo Scanner
Buying a photo scanner can be a bit more involved than just buying a flatbed scanner or document scanner because there are a few extra features that need to be evaluated. But it doesn’t have to be complicated, it is just a matter of understanding what all the features are and why they are important.
Why Buy a Photo Scanner
People primarily look to buy a photo scanner to scan old photographs or even new ones (your children’s school portraits) but there are other uses. Most photo scanners are also designed for film and slide scanning which is actually a better way to preserve old images when possible. Or some people scan three-dimensional objects like shells they found at the beach and make greetings cards or scrapbook pages from the scanned images.
You can actually use a photo scanner for scanning just about anything, including everyday documents, receipts, magazines, children’s artwork, etc. Being able to scan so many different things is the great benefit of having a scanner. However, if you only need to scan documents or random paperwork you could either buy a faster document scanner or save money on a cheaper flatbed scanner.
The reason to purchase a photo scanner versus a document scanner or general flatbed scanner is because of the features it has for handling photographs and film products. If you have a lot of photos to scan and want high-quality images for enlarging and printing, then you want to buy a photo scanner. If you only have a few photos but want to mostly be able to scan a variety of things, you may be able to get away with a something a bit cheaper and lower quality as far as image resolution.
Main Features of a Photo Scanner to Compare
Scanners have come far enough today that there are many great models with many fine features at reasonable prices. Even if you buy a picture scanner on the cheaper side of the price range, you won’t be giving up much in quality unless you need to scan film. Slide and film scanning will benefit greatly from paying more.
Here are some of the features and specifications to focus on when comparing these scanners:
- Optical Resolution
- Auto-corrections
- Software
- Film Accessories
- Operating System Compatibility
- Size
- Price
I want to spend most of my time talking about resolution as I think it is the most confusing. Many people think that the higher the resolution specs of a scanner are the better off they are, but that isn’t quite true. It all depends on what you need to scan.
Understanding Optical Resolution
Optical resolution is basically the amount of detail a scanner can extract from the item being scanned. The value is given in dpi which is “dots per inch” and the higher the number the crisper and sharper an image will be, in theory. I say in theory though because the quality of the scanned image will also depend on the resolution of the item being scanned.
For example, most photo prints only have about 300 to 600 dpi of resolution. If you scan a 300 dpi photo print at 4800 dpi, you won’t be gaining much because there is only 300 dpi of detail to be captured. Now, if you have a small photo that you want to scan and enlarge to print out at 8 x 10”, then scanning at a higher resolution than the print itself is necessary, but even then you won’t need to use the 4800 dpi that many photo scanners offer.
Where high resolution becomes important is for scanning film, slides and negatives. Prints made from film are limited in resolution by the printing process used to make them, but the original film has much more detail that can be captured when scanning. You also need to increase scanning resolution stepwise based on the amount of enlarging you want to do. Since slides are so small and detailed, scanning them at 2400 or even 4800 dpi may be necessary to create a large print later.
Scanning three-dimensional objects is another area where high resolutions (2400 dpi and up) may be necessary. A leaf from outside will have more detail than a photo print and some people like to zoom in on an area to create unique designs. Some artists even you use high-end photo scanners to capture details for their own creations so resolution is important in this case also.
So if you only have photo prints to scan, you probably won’t need the scanner with the highest resolution. It won’t hurt to have it and if you some day need to scan slides or want to get creative and scan objects then having the high resolution capabilities will be beneficial.
Other Features
Once you decide the amount of resolution you need, you can focus in on some of the other features listed above to compare scanners. Most photo scanners for sale have in-built features like auto-scan and auto-correction, but make sure the model you are considering has these as they make scanning easier {auto-scan) and can improve you image quality (auto-correction).
Another thing to compare between scanners is the type of scanning and additional software that is included. All photo scanners come with basic software for scanning and basic image-editing. But some scanners have additional software like Photoshop Elements for photo-editing or OCR software for creating editable text from documents.
If you plan to scan film, slides or negatives then you will need a scanner with guides and mounts for holding the film for scanning. The number of slides or film strips that can be scanned at once varies depending on the scanner model, so if you plan to scan a lot of film products you will want to consider the capacity of each scanner.
Finally, let’s just touch on the last few features to compare and those are OS compatibility and footprint. Most photo scanners on the market are compatible with both Windows and Mac but be sure you check before you buy, especially if you are running an older operating system. The footprint is just the size of the scanner and most of the better photo scanners will be similar in size, but if you have limited space you may want to look for a compact option.
The price of a scanner versus the features and options is where the decision is usually made when comparing different models of scanners. The lower-priced models will generally have lower optical resolutions, no film scanning accessories and basic software. Whether you need all the extras will be up to you and want you want to do. There are certainly some affordable photo scanners made by Epson and Canon which will work great for people with basic needs.
Okay, I said buying a photo scanner doesn’t have to be complicated but I still gave you a lot of information to digest. Take some time to read the photo scanner reviews here and check out the list of bestselling photo scanners to see what other people are buying and why. Canon and Epson are certainly the leaders in the field and it is hard to go wrong with any of the current bestsellers based on the customer reviews.
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