Best Flatbed Scanners in 2022

Last update: December 14, 2022

Are flatbed scanners good?

Most flatbed scanners come with a scanning resolution of at least 300 dpi. This is good enough for scanning photos and documents. Some scanners even have a resolution of up to 4800 dpi. This is great for scanning high-resolution photos.

Can a flatbed scanner scan both sides?

Do you scan a document up or down?

When scanning a document, you should start at the top of the page and move down. This ensures that you don't miss any important information.

How do I digitize thousands of photos?

There are a few ways to digitize thousands of photos. One way is to use a photo scanner. This will allow you to scan each photo individually and save it to your computer. This can be a time-consuming process, but it is the best way to ensure that your photos are of high quality. Another way to digitize your photos is to use a digital camera. This method is faster than scanning each photo individually, but it is important to make sure that your digital camera is set to the highest resolution possible. This will help to ensure that your photos are of high


Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless High-speed Photo and Document Scanning System (Renewed) Review:


This picture scanner is fantastic. I have spent the last two weeks scanning more than 4000 images from 1990 to 2008. The majority was in the 1990s since we were obviously doing more and more digital work as the 2000s went on. Before scanning a batch, you can quickly select the scanner software EPSON FASTFOTO's three optical resolutions (300/600/1200 DPI) from the settings. Since I won't blow them up and the resolution and quality of our cameras at the time don't merit 1200DPI, I utilize 600 for archiving purposes. At 600 DPI, it scans each photo at around 1 per second through the document feeder, which can handle about 50 photos at once. Because it scans two pages per second at 300 DPI resolution speed, the machine almost throws it out. although much slower at 1200 DPI, the quality is excellent. I've read in other reviews that when photos are scanned, the card stock's inherent curvature makes them appear bowed. No problem at all because the feeder extrudes the photo through while running it over a line, flattening it as it goes. Polaroids or images printed on card paper cannot be scanned. However, it can easily handle postcard thickness. This would take months without the document feeder and software. It's simple with this EPSON scanner and software (included). Although it still takes time, I would pay three times as much for this functionality.



Epson FastFoto FF-640 High-Speed Photo Scanning System with Auto Photo Feeder (Renewed) Review:


I used a flatbed to scan roughly a thousand images over the course of two years. This scanner completed the task in under two weeks, possibly even better! This should have been accessible sooner, in my opinion. Photos come out sharper and more improved. The only thing the associated software can't do is geotag the images (it does ad a timestamp you provide). Additionally maintains organization. The device doesn't like to get hot, which is the only drawback I've noticed. It has a fan that automatically turns on, but if you leave it running all day (as I have), it starts to have difficulties toward the end of the day, resulting in stretched or squished scans. The solution has always been to let it cool. Probably wasn't intended to run continuously for 8 hours. For what it does, the cost is entirely justified.



Plustek Photo Scanner - ephoto Z300, Scan 4x6 Photo in 2sec, Auto Crop and Deskew with CCD Sensor. Support Mac and PC Review:


The primary draw for me is how quickly the Plustek operates. The scanner accepts photos one at a time and there is no "preview" procedure. A normal (4x6) landscape format photo takes approximately 16 seconds at 600 dpi (the highest), while a portrait format takes approximately 24 seconds. The quality is better than my prints from the 1970s and earlier and is sufficient for my requirements.When my initial setup was unsuccessful and standard troubleshooting was unsuccessful, I called their support line. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience. Without wasting any of my time with verification or reading off serial numbers of anything, the woman I spoke with was completely and utterly understandable. I didn't even inquire her location. She was able to restart my computer and reinstall the program after I allowed her to use TeamViewer to connect to it. It was still ineffective. Then she advised me to try a different USB port, which inexplicably worked. 15 minutes were spent on call in total: spectacular.I prefer to use Image Capture to scan on a Mac, but it doesn't even recognize this scanner. The Plustek program or using TWAIN seem to be the only choices. But I suppose that makes sense since there isn't a preview. The actual software works fine. For scanner software, the way it operates is somewhat unusual. Images are collected in RAM as you scan them; they are not written to disk until you "save" them. For my Mac with 16GB, I finish roughly 50 or 60 photos before I get the memory warning and must save.The majority of the time, particularly on the unevenly cut prints I took out of albums, the auto rotate and de-skew works quite well. I've occasionally encountered strange artifacts, and it occasionally crops dark backgrounds wrongly. Overall though, it's excellent to not have to worry about feeding the photos 100% in parallel.If you wish to change anything, you must do so in your preferred editor because there is no internal color correcting tool, at least not automatically. I've used excellent scanners before, so I'd like having that choice. But I don't mind seeing unaltered photos that still have the 1970s patina of early color film.I must report that the Mac software (both 32 and 64 bit versions) is "quite flaky" after scanning a few thousand photographs. The pairing problems I experienced initially sometimes reappear when switched off or otherwise unconnected, and occasionally it takes me a lot of fumbling to fix the issue. Since I've never experienced any issues with any of my many other devices, I am absolutely certain that my computer's USB ports are working. I've tried a variety of cables, so I don't believe that's a problem. I practically know for sure that Plustek's software is to blame for this. Hopefully they'll soon update from "1.0.1.1 (1697)" and resolve this inconvenience.



Epson FastFoto FF-680W Wireless High-Speed Photo and Document Scanning System Review:


Wish I could give this a perfect score of 10. I naturally serve as the family historian, therefore I spend a lot of my free time looking through everyone's old pictures. I ordered this treasure as soon as I learned about it and am overjoyed with how much time it saves me. It scans more quickly than our office's copier generates copies. That merits five stars on its own. If the back of the photo has anything written on it, it duplicates that as well. PRICELESS! The photographs are then automatically adjusted for white balance and color, saving me hours of Photoshop work to achieve the same result. Even naming them while scanning them is possible. I can't express enough how useful this device is and how many years it will likely save me. If only there was a quicker way to remove all the pictures from the outdated sticky photo albums:



Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner Review:


11th Day Update: All 5400 slide transparencies have been scanned at 2400 dpi and burned on DVDs. The slides are 35mm mounted. That was with only little application of Color Restoration, which doesn't enhance the scan in any way. To tell the scanner you want to scan all 4 slides you just previewed, click the slide rather than the checkbox on each preview. We then would look at each set of 4 preview photographs and click and highlight the ones we wanted to color restore.Massive 5,400 slide project completed for $199 with with backup DVDs and a blank USB device. For a fantastic backup, we also sprung for an external hard drive and docking station. Not bad, and our excellent scanner is still available. a lot less expensive than hiring a firm to do it. Work took less than two weeks!Background: I have a BFA in art with a focus in darkroom photography, have owned my own darkroom for 25 years, and have operated scanners for ten years (you can skip the next few paragraphs and get to the settings which worked well for us while scanning a bunch of old slides).I spent ten years working for Thomson Learning/Gale Research as a digital image specialist. I utilized PhotoShop 3.0 , flatbed scanners, picture setters, and even a Nikon Coolscan slide scanner with an automatic slide-feeder every day for ten years for eight hours a day. I believe the slide feeder could accommodate 40 mounted slides and the scanning process took an average of 8 minutes per slide. Every day, it would jam once or twice. I would incorporate the digital photos into dictionaries, online databases, and textbooks that we released and charged public libraries and academic institutions for. Meaning: I was in a setting appropriate for professional publishing. I have a fine arts degree with a specialization in darkroom photography. I still have a real darkroom for taking photographs, but I no longer utilize it. Many thousands of rolls of transparency (slide) film have been manually produced by me.WASHING OUTDATED FILM/SLIDES



Epson Perfection V850 Pro scanner Review:


I primarily purchased this scanner to scan 120 medium format negatives, the majority of which were in black and white, and I still only use it for that purpose. As a result, it functions perfectly properly. The 120 film holder is made of sturdy plastic and has anti-Newton Ring glass. I usually scan three 6 cm x 6 cm photographs at a time, however loading the film is a little tough because it is challenging to get the film both flat and centered in the holder (especially in the case of curling film), but once achieved the holder does retain the film tight and flat. It is simple to place the holder on the scanner. Epson offers Epson Scan and Silverfast SE Plus as its two scanning applications. The Silverfast program is sufficient for 8-bit scans, but in order to control your scanning properly for 16-bit photos, you would need the full Studio AI edition of Silverfast's software. Thus, I use the included Epson Scan, a lot more constrained software than Studio AI, for 16-bit scans. This is my preferred scanning method for both color and black-and-white negatives because it produces a 16-bit RGB image with balanced contrast and levels. I can apply the same contrast and curve adjustments to this image as I could with Silverfast Studio AI during the scan by importing it into Photoshop CC.Usually, I use Silverfast SE Plus to scan my negatives as 8-bit RGB (24-bit) photos to simply regulate file size, but for images I value more than others, I'll utilize the Epson Scan for complete 16-bit images for a slight improvement in scanning quality (most manifest in shadow area detail). The quality is superb, with sharp details and realistic grain (which is typically diminished for medium format compared to 35mm). The tonal range is decent, probably lacking slightly as compared to enlarging the image from the negative on photosensitive paper, but more than sufficient for the majority of applications. A 6cm x 6cm photograph scanned at 3200 dpi takes roughly 2 minutes, which is surely quick enough for me.



Epson Perfection V550 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner with 6400 dpi optical resolution Review:


I'm an amateur, to start. I started digitizing my parents' photo albums a few years ago so that all of my siblings could have access to the images. I merely utilize the scans for digital picture frames and the sporadic #TBT social media posts. I mostly used my all-in-one printer's scanning feature for a very long time. But after my laptop's software was updated, the accompanying software would no longer function to carry out the scanning easily. I was already scanning each photo individually, but as my interest in scanning photos grew, I made the decision to upgrade. I chose the Epson Perfection V550 after spending some time researching reviews on Amazon and deciding against getting a second mortgage to upgrade.Now the scanner, all right. Overall, I adore it and would purchase it once more. It has certainly beyond my expectations and made my pastime of scanning faster and more enjoyable.Pictures: I prefer loading several pictures at once onto the scanner versus going through them one at a time. The scanner performs a good job of breaking up the images into distinct thumbnails, but as some reviews have stated, if you don't leave a gap between them (about 1/2 inch), the scanner may not separate them properly. Depending on your file naming convention, it will either scan all of the photos with the same file name (with a one up number for the various photos) after you "preview" them all, or you can scan them one at a time while they are all on the glass. While it takes a little longer, doing it that way ensures that each photo has a unique file name. In order to use a single batch name and browse the pictures more quickly, I try to group photos together. I can't comment on the efficacy of the image adjusting features included in the EPSON Scan program, such as color restoration, lighting correction, or DIGITAL ICE technology, because I haven't utilized any of them. I often scan at around 250 dpi to keep the file sizes small, even though this scanner can scan at a very high DPI. The quality is more than adequate because I'm not blowing anything up significantly. I genuinely like the "old picture" aesthetic when it comes to antique photos.Negatives: Although I've only scanned a small number of photos, I was astonished by the JPG output, which I think matches or even exceeds the quality of the originals. The scanner comes with a negative holding attachment, and the preview effortlessly separates the images into separate files.Slides: Most recently, I scanned 500 or so slides using the holder that came with the scanner. Four slides can be scanned at once. Once more, I'm in awe of how beautiful the JPGs are. It's like getting your film developed and receiving the photos back. It does an outstanding job. I only have 225 DPI set for scanning.extensive scrapbook pages: My mother assembled a sizable scrapbook chronicling my academic career, and the poor thing is entirely laminated. I intended to digitize a few of the photos and other scrapbook items. I can move the pages around on the scanner, and it performs a superb job of collecting what I need despite the fact that they are laminated and far too large. Whatever you want to call it—cropping, scan area correction, etc.—the feature is quite good. You can only create rectangular scans; but, if I need to perform more precise cropping, I just import the JPG into another application (curves, ovals, circles, etc).I haven't scanned any documents with this scanner because I still have my multifunction printer for that. I've done some photo scanning to PDF output, and that was just a configuration choice. Additionally, I haven't utilized any of the scanner's front-mounted buttons, so I can't comment on their utility.Drawbacks? Only a few; since I purchased it, I've probably scanned between 2500 and 3000 photos. Recently, the moving scanner portion has started to make what sounds like scraping noises at the bottom of the scanning window. Although the scan functionality is perfect, the loudness makes me little concerned that something might go wrong soon. The way it scans newspaper articles has also not made me happy, which is another issue. It tends to overexpose newspaper, so it's never a good copy. I'm not sure if I'm not manipulating the settings right (may be user error!).Unfortunately, my review was rejected both times I submitted it with samples of scans attached as photos, so I am unable to provide any examples of scans from slides or negatives. In conclusion, though, I must say that I have loved using the Perfection V550 for my amateur photo scanning!



Epson B11B207221 Perfection V370 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner Review:


My life has been significantly improved by this scanner. I have the loving moniker and title "Family Historian" from my family. Since I am continuously looking through all of my parents' photos, family mementos, and sentimental possessions from their parents and other deceased relatives, I scan anything I can into my computer. Our previous scanner, a Canon Pixma MG3100 that we purchased years ago before I became the family historian I am today, was replaced with this one. Since I'd been using one of my days off every weekend to visit my parents' house and scan old family photos, documents, etc., my fiance' bought me this as an early birthday gift. When I noticed that he had surprised me with a parcel when I got home from work and realized it was this scanner, I started crying. For a few months, we had been discussing purchasing this scanner, but I was aware that I wouldn't be able to do so for some time.This scanner is very important to me since it scans photo negatives in addition to photos and documents, like any ordinary scanner would. Your ancient photo/film negatives come back to life thanks to it! I cried joyful tears as a result. When I was 19, my grandpa passed away. I had the impression that I never completely experienced the phases of grieving that one is meant to go through after losing a loved one. He suffered a heart attack at the age of 85 and died abruptly in his house. I unintentionally went to the incorrect hospital after my mother gave me the wrong address, and it was unfortunately the wrong one. When I got to the right hospital, my Grandpa, who was my childhood best friend and taught me how to draw drunken cowboys holding a pistol in one hand and a flask in the other (it was decad), had passed away. We'd been on many adventures together, from catching roly pollies and caterpillars and helping me put them in old coffee jars (back when they came in glass jars with plastic lids, we'd just punch holes in the lid He was the only grandparent I had who had not only survived my childhood but also had been there for me through thick and thin, no matter what, throughout my entire life. He was there for EVERY birthday, school play, holiday, you name it, and that man was there for me no matter how he got along with my parents, whether they had a volatile disagreement or not.I was able to receive images of my incredible grandpa, who is no longer able to be here with me in person, thanks to this scanner. Although my parents do have pictures of him, I was aware that they also have a large number of negatives. My first action once my scanner was delivered was to drive the 20 minutes to my parents' house and collect as many of their negatives as I could. Since I installed my scanner a few days ago, I've discovered a ton of images of my cherished Grandpa, who was also my childhood hero. This is the very finest gift I have ever received in my entire life, not just from my fiance. Granted, we haven't had any kids yet. But even so. The best present I've ever gotten.One more thing I appreciate about it over my old scanner is that I don't have to go back and crop out the blank or white area after scanning photographs into my old scanner. Now, I never have to do that! This scanner always detects that it is a photograph and always precisely crops the image! The software is simple to use and install. The scanner itself also required no effort to install. Since I have ADD and am very visual, I personally just went on YouTube to look up a tutorial video. The instructions that came with it, though, are undoubtedly excellent and simple to follow for the large majority of people; I guess I'm just special, lol. I was able to quickly understand how to begin scanning the negatives by watching a YouTube tutorial video. In less than 5 minutes, I was moving around.The scanner was roughly $110 at the time I purchased it, and it was the finest $110 my fiancée and I have ever spent on a present for one another. I hope I was able to assist someone else in deciding whether to purchase this scanner for themselves or a loved one. At least in my opinion, it is truly worth its weight in gold.



Plustek A3 Flatbed Scanner OS 1180 : 11.7x17 Large Format scan Size for Blueprints and Document. Design for Library, School and Soho. A3 scan for 9 sec, Support Mac and PC Review:


This scanner has quite modest functionality. You may purchase one that is identical in every way for one-fifth the cost, with the exception of the fact that its scan area is only half as large. This appears to be by far the least priced large-area flatbed scanner available, and it will be excellent for the majority of uses.Although I'm often a little hesitant about color fidelity with LED scanners, this one doesn't seem to have too many issues. I'm submitting two scans of a calibrated color target for the IT-8.7/IS-12641 standard. One was created using VueScan, and the other with standard scanning software. There are no awards for figuring out which is which. This tells me that, aside from the most difficult reflective-media scanning tasks, the OS1180 is perfectly enough. However, you need high-quality software if you want high-quality scans. Additionally, you won't find it on the ground or growing on trees. This means that if you want high-quality scans of high-quality materials, you must factor the cost of VueScan or another analogous program (if there is any) into the overall cost.The scanner comes with a CD that includes several scanner utility software, the driver, the documentation in PDF format, and a copy of ABBYY FineReader 12 Sprint. On the Plustek website, there is a new driver (actually two, one for Mac and one for PC) that is said to offer better color scans. (It was used to create the scans I'm uploading.) My Windows 10 PC's installation from the CD went fairly easily. But it took me a lot of tries with the updated driver to get it to install without causing Norton Security to act up.Both the previous and the new drivers haven't been completely stable. The scanner will occasionally stop functioning properly in a number of different ways. The solution usually involves closing the driver and restarting the scanner. Although it's not a big issue, it does happen frequently enough to be a pain.A huge scanner is frequently used to scan books, two pages at a time. The "lite" OCR app that comes with the scanner, ABBYY FineReader 12 Sprint, is probably the best and works well for scanning double-page documents. Even though it comes with the OS1180, it will also function with any additional scanners you may have.Theoretically, the scanner has four scanning capabilities that can be activated by buttons: scan, e-mail, OCR, and PDF. They cause some scanner activity and a "generic problem" pop-up warning, but I've had no luck with them. If you work with the software hard enough, you might be able to make them work, but I haven't tried.



Epson Perfection V39 Color Photo & Document Scanner with Scan-To-Cloud & 4800 Optical Resolution Review:


I was given the task of digitizing over a thousand images from four large family photo albums. In spite of the fact that almost all of them were 3x5 or 4x6 in size, using my multifunction printer as a scanner required two distinct scans, with a boundary drag in between to define the final scan. Each photo took many minutes (or so it seemed), and I knew I'd never be done without getting quite annoyed—not the best attitude for preserving family memories.In an effort to automate as much as possible, I looked around for a photo-specific scanner, ideally one with an auto-feeder, but ultimately came up empty. Despite lacking auto-feed, some reading and reviews led me to believe that this printer would be the one I needed. I decided to take a chance and get it because it was reasonably priced.I've now used the device for several hours scanning photos of my children and family, and I'm generally satisfied with it. The biggest shock was how much better the scan quality was than the multifunction printer, even at the same DPI. With actuality, the bulk of the work involved in this operation is taking the images out of the clear plastic album covers and their waxy book pages. It takes me approximately a minute to load a picture, scan it, place it in the "done" pile, and then start working on the next one as the scanner just keeps running.Would using an autofeeder make it more efficient overall? Maybe a little, but in the process described above, the scanner spends the most of the time determining the size of each photo that has been placed on the glass before taking any necessary steps to scan only the image. Similar to the multifunction device, it requires two passes, but the passes are automated and need only be completed by removing the photo. Photos are saved in JPG format, and with each subsequent scan, the filename and its three-digit number are automatically increased. I use Windows 7, and the Epson software that comes with it stores the finished scans in the Library's "Pictures" area. I'm about finished with the first album, so I should be able to complete it in a reasonable length of time.


How do I scan a document with a flatbed scanner?

To scan a document with a flatbed scanner, you will need to first open the scanner lid and place the document face down on the glass. Once the document is in place, you will need to press the "Scan" button on the scanner. The scanner will then begin scanning the document and will save it as a PDF file on your computer.

Is it better to scan or photograph old photos?

If you have the option to scan your old photos, it is better to scan them. This is because scanning will give you a digital copy of the photo that you can then edit, save, and print again if you need to. You can also share scanned photos more easily than photographs.

What are 3 types of scanners?

There are three types of scanners: flatbed, sheetfed, and handheld. Flatbed scanners are the most common and can scan both documents and photos. Sheetfed scanners are used for scanning documents, and handheld scanners are best for scanning small items like receipts.

What are the 5 types of scanner?

A scanner is a device that copies hard copy information and converts it into a digital image. Scanners come in many different shapes, sizes, and price points. Here are five common types of scanners: 1. Flatbed scanners are the most common type of scanner. They are typically large and bulky, and have a glass platen where you place the document or object you want to scan. 2. Handheld scanners are smaller and more portable than flatbed scanners. They are ideal for scanning documents on the go. 3. Sheetfed scanners are similar to flat

What is a good inexpensive scanner?

A good inexpensive scanner can be hard to come by. However, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 120 Color Image Scanner is a great option that is both affordable and effective. This scanner offers 4800 x 4800 dpi resolution and a fast scanning speed of up to 10 seconds. Additionally, it is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems.

What is flatbed scanning?

Flatbed scanning is a type of scanning that uses a flatbed scanner. A flatbed scanner is a device that uses a scanning head to scan a document or an object. The scanning head is placed on a moving carriage that is moved over a glass plate. The glass plate is used to support the document or object being scanned.