I've been given the job of scanning all the family photos, and there are a LOT of them. I have a scanner already. It's not a cheapie, and it does excellent hi-res scans, but I've found that it's pretty slow.
So before I undertake this mammoth task I thought I'd upgrade the scanner. I need a stand-alone scanner that will do hi-res scans at least A4, and that does them fast with no quality loss.
And I want it (relatively) cheap.
Thnx.
That was quick! Thanks, I'll check it out.
Cheers.
Do you have one, btw? And if so, do you like it?
Nope, don't have one. But depending how many you have to do, it could beat paying $0.25 a pop for scanning at Officeworks/third-party company, and you get to keep the machine. Alternatively, just delegate it to them to do it for you and enjoy the saved time and effort.
this only does upto 600 dpi optical scanning - (1200dpi Tiffs interpolated) … hardly in the … "no quality loss" category.
may as well scan at 300dpi for all it matters.
I have one of these. Man is it fast. It also makes a second copy of the photo which is enhanced by the software. You keep whichever one you think is best. My wife scanned all the photos from her mother's collection. It holds about 30 photos at a time, and they are all done in no time. Bit pricey when I bought mine but haven't heard of anything to match its speed and I've had it 3 or 4 years.
Yes, I have this one as well.
Bought it after my mother passed away to scan the tens of thousands of photos she had. Also good for double sided documents.
Thanks.
at $650+ Epson fast photo seems like an expensive buy.
When a multi-function will produce same digital copies for less than $150 … Just takes more time.
What is your end use case? (use a lower resolution?).
How many photos?
Archiving?
Project/funeral?
Media use?
I say, because 300dpi is enough for 90% of cases.
Even for 2x funerals … We submitted photos scanned at 300dpi (which was then displayed on a large screen) +++ still looked good.
A generic multi-function printer/scanner is more than enough …. Can easily do 200 or so photos in one SAT night.
+++ you can reminice with family as you go through old photos +++ reminice about past memories.
[EDIT] :
that does them fast with no quality loss. And I want it (relatively) cheap.
as the old saying goes … can't have all 3 …. no quality loss == up around 9600 dpi.
some years ago … I scanned a picture at 4000 dpi.
yet in the end - all that time/effort was wasted, as printed it (onto photo copy paper) at 300dpi.
Simplystu, yes, $650 is a bit steep. Where I am, they're even dearer. I wouldn't even be thinking of replacing my current Epson V600 if it was a bit faster. But I've been given all the photo albums in the family "vaults" and they amount to many hundreds of images.
I'd like to scan them at the highest resolution compatible with digital display, but also so that family can print them out if they want to. Scanning at 9600 would be great, but that's where the time factor comes in. By the time I finished them all, the silver emulsion will have worn off the prints….!
The thing is, most of them are very old photos of people and places that have passed, and I want to preserve as much detail as possible for family member viewing them. Their memories are blurry enough, without the images of those memories also being blurry, hehe.
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isnt the process of setting up a new scanner buying it will take more time then using your current one?
mrkorrupt, too true. Especially if I don't know how successful it will be.
Use the slower speed one that has the higher quality and recruit other rellos with the aptitude to learn and share the load. Have a busy bee day or ten, and celebrate the major milestones together.
Protractor, apparently I'm the only one in the family who can do this, (so they said….)
But yes, I'm thinking I will just bite the bullet and settle in for the long haul by using the slower speed. Not much point in doing all this, if the end result is no better than the old photo.
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Lay the shared scanning idea at their feet and a quote form OW for the whole lot. See if they have an Epiphany.
Haha, No epiphanies from my lot, that's for sure!
Heresy, I know, but have you tried PhotoScan from Google?
Hadn't considered PhotoScan, Soan. I usually do all this kind of thing offline, for privacy.
From experience. Took on the similar projects for two families, many years ago. Still not done.
What took the time was not the scanning so much as recording the information - the when where and who of each photo, and it’s best not to write on the back of the original photo - causes damage to the image. If you can get other family members to batch the photos into meaningful categories and pop each batch in an envelope or folder that can help.
If the end use is just for digital display lower resolutions are usually fine.
Same here. I've started this before with my own photos. I fell into the trap of photoshopping each one after I scanned them. That's the fun part, but it means the job never gets done!
That Epson photo fast is the correct answer for most people with a large pile of photos, they are stupid quick, double sided (for any notes on the back of photos). Yes it's expensive (especially once you realise just how little time you're about to spend using it because it's so damn quick), but they resell very well since everyone wants them for the same one off task of scanning photos. I've even seen people renting them out recently.
I remember reading about scanning and cleaning up photos when I was getting into it that 'once you get good it only takes 15 minutes per images to scan, colour correct, remove scratch etc… (profanity) that. Quick and dirty is all you really need since 99% of what people want things scanned for is looking at it on a screen and/or sharing on Facebook. It's not about getting the best archive quality to blow it up to billboard size or preserve for all eternity. Scanned and viewable is better than in a cupboard you're never going to open.
My recommendations having done this over multiple family sets of photos and negatives now….
Get a label maker and label your originals as you go.
While you get lazy after the four thousandth photo… check your output after each set and clean the scanner each time. You'd be amazed at how much dust and gunk is on your old stuff and how much it can ruin your scans.
For the love of all things, backup your files.
You've sold me.. :)
I hadn't thought of selling it after I'd finished, but that idea does help to make up my mind. As you say, there are lots of people doing this these days. And that probably will be the case for years to come, too. The old photos last forever. Hell, there are even daguerreotypes still around!
My reason for wanting the best possible reolution is that many of the photos I have are up to 100 years old. Even the younger ones are problematic, being small contact prints or under-or-over exposed, or damaged. They will all need some level of Photoshopping, (or in my case, GIMPing.) The higher the resolution, the more successful the retouching.
When I retouch scans, I don't only clean up dust, etc., I also repair scratches, marks, and stains. I'm going to have to really discipline myself this time, and leave the retouching till later. Might as well make the most of the scanner's speed. No point in having a scanner that does things in seconds, and then spending hours fiddling around with the results each time.
Good idea, labelling the originals. At present they're all in plastic bags or negative holders, and I select them by sight. Labels would be better.
Back up, back up, back up - that's my mantra!
Thanks, Hawk. Good tips. :)
Uh Ohhhh……
Just watching a video demo of that machine. I see that you have to feed your photos through it, like a printer. Not good. Most of the photos are very old, and many are fragile. I need a flat-bed scanner, where I can carefully lay them down on glass and close the lid.
Damn… Looks like I'll be sticking with my V600.
hire someone.
Too expensive.
I'm in a similar situation (lots of photos and Epson V800) and am interested in what you end up using going forward, including scanning software.
Sorry, I have no experience with high speed scanners.
I think I'll stick with the 600. But I would like to use different software. I tried that ? software that somebody recommended here,(dunno where it's gone), but it wouldn't install or open on my comp. Can't win..
I tried that Vue Scan. Works okay, but costs ~$40. And what gets me is that it's an ongoing cost! What's the deal with that sort of thing?
Vuescan offers a one-time purchase that you can keep indefinitely. Just no updates after the first year.
Unfortunately, that is a way that a lot of software is going these days.
Thanks, Peter. I'll go back and check it out. I only saw the yearly cost.
I manually did our family photos 3 or 4 at a time on a flatbed scanner. It took many hours over a few weekends. Don't want to do that again!
I don't blame you. It's an ordeal isn't it. The only thing that keeps me going is that I know the family will appreciate it. Well, that is, most of them will.. :)
Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless High-Speed Photo and Document Scanning System.
Does 2 photos per second.