Community Newsletter: Q&A: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer?
- 9/29/08 10:23 AM
Fastest way to Scan Photos
by valeriehoughton - 9/20/08 11:22 AM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have discovered the Fujitsu ScanSnap- around $400...
It feeds 22 pages per minute, single or double sided, black and white or color, and can either load it into the iphoto app or anywhere else in your hard drive- to an email or a file...
Anyway, the feed is vertical, so you can actually "feed" them in stacks...
Fantastic!!
Good luck-
Valerie Houghton
Former PC user, converted to Mac's
scanning photos
by Bisonwerks - 9/20/08 12:19 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You might consider using your digital camera set on high resolution to photograph these if you don't have them digitally. I needed to copy hundreds of documents at the Library of Congress.
Rather than pay a dime a page to xerox them, I set up an old enlarger stand and used my trusty Canon digital A95 mounted where the old enlarger head was. I was able to photograph several hundreds of documents in a matter of a couple days, and they were legible and clear for the most part. This camera is several years old and about 5 megapixels. You can get many 8 or 10 megapixel point & shoot cameras these days for under $300, which is a pretty affordable tool for a business.
The caveat is, if you are dealing with glossy photos, unless you have something to hold them flat, like a piece of non-glare glass, or an easel, you may get reflected light in which screws things up.
However, if you are good with certain photo editing software, you can retouch the photos as they need it.
My main problem was in shooting in a high volume was that I did not take a look at the resulting images, many of which were blurred for one reason or another, and I didn't realize that until I was back home in Texas--hundreds of miles away from the originals.
Best of luck,
Greg
Scanning to PC
by aileb - 9/20/08 12:20 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently had to scan a handwritten book manuscript almost 100 years old, small, crabbed, faded ink. Instead I photographed each page using a high quality digital camera. The process was fast and yielded results at least as good as those obtained by my scanner.
Adobe PhotoShop Elements separates scanned photos
by highmeadowhiker - 9/20/08 1:37 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Adobe Photoshop Elements allows you to scan as many photo prints as will fit on your scanner flatbed at one time, and will automatically separate each photo, by detecting edges. If you scan, for example, nine prints, it will create nine individual image files. I have been scanning old prints for many years, using several different scanners, as I purchased successively higher resolution scanners to satisfy my desires for higher res. I now use an Epson V700 Photo scanner. I can scan 24 negatives at a time, or 12 slides. I would not recommend using any all-in-one scanner/printer multifunction combo, as the scan quality is probably compromised. I would recommend an Epson scanner with the term "Photo" in its name. Of course, you will want to read editor reviews and user reviews of any scanner you are considering.
I bought a "refurbished" model from Epson directly, and it was dead on arrival, so I would not trust any refurbished model
Epson Photo 2580 or 2480 with photo attachment
by ThePoke - 9/20/08 2:59 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have an epson photo 2480 with a picture scanner lid that I love and is likely a perfect match for what you'd like to do....
Throw on 15 4x6 pictures and in 5 minutes they're stored with excellent quality. It can also do negatives, slides and larger photos via the regular lid.
It has software that lets you crop on-the-fly, restore color, correct exposure/contrast, etc... and allows you to set "home" (automatic batch) or "professional" mode (slower but allows more control).
We were able to scan, correct and create DVDs with over 3,000 photos in about 3 weeks... Most of that time, the scanning happening in the background while we went through albums, arranged the pictures to music, and created the DVD slideshows.
I've since made a few dvds for friends with a few hundred pictures in a single afternoon...
I paid $199 for it 3 years ago, but have not seen a replacement model (if you cannot find one locally, try ebay?)
easy way to scan
by aoarjunb - 9/20/08 4:18 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Scan with the default software "Microsoft Printer Scanner wizard and scan lastly. You can change the settings to scan with very high and in ordinary quality.
Answer for J. - What is the fastest and best method to scan
by SCosgrove - 9/20/08 7:08 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi
Scanners and their speed, ease of use and quality vary quite dramatically.
However I have been doing what you describe for a few years now and I tried countless 'systems' looking for the perfect one.
I ended up using the Kodak i30 scanner (I think there is a new model now) and it had the best speed, quality, reliability, imaging technology, no jamming, accept any paper thickness for the price compared to all the others.
I used a scanning program called Scan Station written by a company called Versis. (You can get a free trial of Scan Station from www.crispdocuments.com)
Scan Station was by far the best image quality, easiest to use, most versatile, fastest software I found.
Simply pile in ALL your photos at once into the scanner and scan at 300dpi and you will get great quality, true colour, perfectly straight and cropped (i.e. no black borders) images in any format you wish (such as jpeg, PDF, vPDF (vPDF is a super compressed PDF but with no image loss), tiff...) with just one mouse click.
The Scan Station software is the easiest scanning software I have ever tried or used and I have tried MANY!!.
NO technical questions or knowledge is required. Just click one of the scan buttons and it just works and it will scan whatever is in the scanner's feeder to your predefined folder locations in either single files or a multi-page file.
You can have as many scan buttons as you need (i.e. buttons = scanning profiles with unique settings for: dpi, folder location, format etc.).
e.g. you can set up a different scan button for: photos, for personal documents, for mail, magazines/newspapers cuttings, for business documents, etc. etc.)
Scan Station and the i30 (or its equivalent) is a very fast and simple yet powerful combination and I have had no trouble from it at all.
TOP TIP:
Versis Scan Station software was initially designed for business use BUT if you ask Versis or Crisp Documents for the Home use version you will get the software a LOT cheaper. 
I hope this helps.
All the best.
Stuart
What is the fastest and best method to scan
by wqcqc2 - 9/28/08 9:26 AM In reply to: Answer for J. - What is the fastest and best method to scan by SCosgroveDownloaded software -- WARNING -- It contains Trojen Horse!!
XEROX
by STEVERI - 9/29/08 8:16 AM In reply to: Answer for J. - What is the fastest and best method to scan by SCosgroveOur Xerox machine at work scans via sheet feeder, probably 100 sheets at a time, at 10 pages per second in B&W or color and emails you the the scans in pdf or jpg. Because of this I would suggest someone with a lot to scan go to a place with a machine like this.
How do display the programs that don't show?
by Dav244835 - 9/20/08 7:32 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
How do I display programs not in the start menu, add or remove programs or drive C? I've tried to do this but it seems to be hidden like Registry Editor because to get to that I have to go to run and type in regedit. I have Windows XP SP3. So how do I?
Slide/negative scanner
by David Walland - 9/21/08 12:33 AM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I faced (and still face) this problem. The fastest way I have so far found is to use a slide scanner and scan in the negatives. I bought mine several years ago on eBay. I can fit strips of negatives in the holder and scan one after another. It's not *quick* but faster than scanning photos and the quality of the scanned image is very high indeed.
Our new Epson flatbed scanner also has this facility but is somewhat more fiddly. The quality of these scans are also very high. Make sure that the *optical* resolution of the scanner is as high as possible. Interpolated points add no information but give impressive sounding numbers on the outside of the box for the unwary.
My wife is an artist and we often need to have extremely high quality scans. For more normal use a modern high quality flatbed should scan your photos to a quality little lower than negative scans.
I suspect that you are hoping there's a cheap automated way of doing this. If you find one, please let me know, as I still have n photos to scan (where n tends to infinity)!
This is a good question
by Just4fun - 9/21/08 4:45 AM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have not found any quick, easy, quality solution for the average user to use on their PC. So far the best deal seems to be to take your negatives or pics to a Walgreens photo or any other similar photoshop. They will scan 200 pics onto a disk in photo quality for about 10 cents each.
They have quality high speed scanners and they have automatic correction software that adjusts the image. I have not found any software/hardware like this available to the public at a reasonable cost.
If someone else has found such, please tell us!
uploading mass photo's to your pc
by witsuebea - 9/21/08 1:07 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Having done mass photo manipulation in the past I found that I was reverting to my digital camera more and more, set properly this works wonders as you can get it to the point that you have the camera on a tripod and just use a light box (ordinary cardboard box lined with silver foil will do) Other than that an A2 or3 scanner so that you can load the surface with pictures and then separate them in the programme that you are using. scan in at 500 then reset resolution to 300 don't forget to separate your befores and afters if you are altering them in any way. If you are just sorting them for a disc then you still need to set up a safe filing system so that you cannot delete without meaning too.
Scanning photos
by phresia - 9/22/08 10:25 AM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If time is an issue, you might want to take the photos to a photo developer and have them put them on disk for you. I have a HP photosmart 3200 and I can put 6 photos on it and it scans them separately. I found this very helpful when I was making a slideshow for my dad's 65th birthday. Depending on the program you are scanning it into (I work in photoshop,) you can choose the resolution you want.
Scanning photos the quick way
by gillmanwoman - 9/22/08 5:41 PM In reply to: What is the fastest and best method to scan photos into a computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you just want to archive your photos, try putting as many on the scanner glass as will fit and save large pages. If you want to edit the photos, you will of course, lose some of the quality by scanning, then copying and pasting into your PhotoShop, or whatever photo program you use.
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