Scanner to digitize prints: Need recommendations for a scanner to digitize prints. I’ve done my slides but still have lots of prints to do. Multiple prints at a time, decent resolution...

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Need recommendations for a scanner to digitize prints. I’ve done my slides but still have lots of prints to do. Multiple prints at a time, decent resolution range, fast scanning. Thanks for your advise. My old scanner isn’t compatible with Windows 10 and was pretty slow.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Canoscan 9000F Mark II has done the trick for me. Slides, Negs, Prints, making PDF files, etc., etc.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

gvarner wrote:

... My old scanner isn’t compatible with Windows 10 and was pretty slow.

What is your old scanner?

I have an Epson 2580 that I bought a couple decades ago. The old software wouldn't work on Win10. Epson says it's incompatible with Win10.

With a little time on Google and some experiments, I found a driver that runs the scanner. Didn't have to buy a new one. (Of course it runs at the same speed it used to).

But if you have to buy a new one get a flatbed scanner. The scanners that take the item to be scanned and drag it through the scanner are incompatible with delicate paper (e.g. very old prints) and don't work at all if you have to copy something that is bound. A lot of my old prints are mounted on cardboard which does not bend.

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

Look into a software product called VueScan.

https://www.hamrick.com/

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

The Epson V600 does a fine job with both prints and slides for a reasonable price.

dfrodin Loc: Colorado Springs, CO

I recommend the Epson perfection 850 scanner. It will pick up subtle tones that are missed by most other flatbeds out there. It's one of the best scanners available that will satisfy your needs well into the future. Plus it can handle any slides, film or other media you might use. Good luck!!

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

gvarner wrote:

Need recommendations for a scanner to digitize prints. I’ve done my slides but still have lots of prints to do. Multiple prints at a time, decent resolution range, fast scanning. Thanks for your advise. My old scanner isn’t compatible with Windows 10 and was pretty slow.

Since nobody has suggested it yet I will recommend Epson’s FastFoto 680 )I believe that’s the current model; I have the 640). Able to handle up to 30 prints at a time (it has a feed mechanism much like a fax machine) it scans both sides of the print (in order to capture notes on the back that could be (manually) added to the metadata And creates two outputs of the image side- the straight scan and one with corrections like red-eye removal and color fade enhancement.

Having scanned at least 5K prints in the past 18 months or so I can tell you this has saved 90% of the work it would require using a flatbed scanner

Worth checking out

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

gvarner wrote:

Need recommendations for a scanner to digitize prints. I’ve done my slides but still have lots of prints to do. Multiple prints at a time, decent resolution range, fast scanning. Thanks for your advise. My old scanner isn’t compatible with Windows 10 and was pretty slow.

I scan prints only if I cannot find the negatives - the actual negatives work so much better. Epson products record every detail, including scratches and dust. They also exhibit what I call ‘flare’ - light area bleeds into adjacent dark area - so I use Plustek scanner in multi scan mode instead. The extra time gives a much better result. Considering all the time some users spend ‘perfecting’ photos from a ‘raw’ file, I am surprised that they will tolerate the lesser output from some scanners.

foggypreacher Loc: Dickinson, Texas

quixdraw wrote:

Canoscan 9000F Mark II has done the trick for me. Slides, Negs, Prints, making PDF files, etc., etc.

Several stores show no longer available, except as used or refurbished. Amazon has a refurbished unit for $699. Reviews are very good. thank you quizdraw. I will be looking for something like this in 2021.

JeffR Loc: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

f8lee wrote:

Since nobody has suggested it yet I will recommend... (show quote)

I have two issues/suggestions with this comment:

1 – I recommend avoiding feeders due to the risk of damaging old, irreplaceable photos. Although flatbed scanning takes more time and effort, it is safer.

2 – While I would still type the info from the reverse of the photo into the metadata, I find that often the reverse image itself is worth saving as well. I have some old photos of myself as a child, and the comments my departed mother wrote on the reverse are just as valuable to me as the picture itself. Here's how I would handle this situation. Load the digital images of the front and back of the photo into Photoshop Elements 2019. After I've finished enhancing the images, I use Image/Resize/Canvas to create white space at the bottom of the image from the front of the photo, and then using the Guided option, I select Photomerge/Photomerge Compose to combine the images in order to place my mother's handwritten comments in the white space under the picture.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

JeffR wrote:

I have two issues/suggestions with this comment: b... (show quote)

Well let me allay your fears with actual hands on experience

It comes with a transparent sleeve for delicate originals, so they are not damaged in any way.
Further, the feeder works perfectly well for the bulk of snapshot like photos that I think most of us desk with in these situations.

As for the back image, it generates three jpeg files from a single print:
1- the straight scan
2- the corrected scan
3- the back of the print

Again, thousands of prints done, no issues

Modnar Loc: Batley' West Yorkshire, UK

I agree with f8lee regarding the EPSON FF-680. I have one and find it a worthwhile investment. A ditionally it will scan printed documents and convert them into PDF format. Searchable, if required. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

LFingar wrote:

The Epson V600 does a fine job with both prints and slides for a reasonable price.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

gvarner wrote:

Need recommendations for a scanner to digitize prints. I’ve done my slides but still have lots of prints to do. Multiple prints at a time, decent resolution range, fast scanning. Thanks for your advise. My old scanner isn’t compatible with Windows 10 and was pretty slow.

If you happen to have an All-In-One photo printer, just use the scanner on that for prints. That’s what I do with my HP printer, and the jpegs come out beautiful.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Fredrick wrote:

If you happen to have an All-In-One photo printer, just use the scanner on that for prints. That’s what I do with my HP printer, and the jpegs come out beautiful.

I have one and it’s intolerably slow. Plus it’s driver can’t be set to itemize separate prints. I have to scan as one JPEG and then use PS Elements to break each one into its own file by cropping.