Digital photo Scanner

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Hello
Does anybody have any suggestions for a scanner or all in one printer that will give brilliant results when scanning digital photos that will be printed. Also what are the differences in hardware dpi, optical dpi and resolution dpi and what is the most important in terms of photo scanning. Also when scanning what amount of dpi should i choose to ensure the scans look exactly like the original photograph and won't just look good when viewed on a screen. My current scanner is an old Epson Photo Perfection 3170 ( spec here EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO, Specifications - Product Information - Epson America, Inc. ) but my thinking is a newer all in one printer might be just as good even though the epson is designed for scanning photos, or would it be better purely getting a new photo scanner. ( by all in one printer i mean along the line of All-in-one printers Buy online | Currys ). Sorry for being so picky but i will be scanning hundreds of photos and i want to do it right first time around)
And finally is there any other features i should be looking out for that will make my job easier like being able to scan more than 1 photo at once.
Thanks for any help.
 
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Hi,

This white paper from Epson might help clear up some of your confusion of the various terminology:

http://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/pdf/tech_scanner-resolution.pdf

No one portion is the most important - various traits of a scanner will directly affect the image quality on the final scan. Reading that white paper will give you a lot of good information. I'd suggest to read it all, but the material you're specifically looking for is on the last page or two.

In terms of type of scanner - I'm not a fan of All-in-ones. If one part breaks you can just replace that one part easily, you have to replace the entire unit (unless you now want multiple all-in-ones on your desk). Also most all in ones don't have the quality of stand alone scanners. With you wanting high quality photos scanned in, I'd spend the money and get the best scanner I could that has proven quality.

Now, that said, you will probably have to profile your printer, scanner and your monitor so you know what you see on your screen is the best representation that the scanner can produce and that the printer, when the photo is printed will produce an image as close to what it really is (and what is really displayed with a properly calibrated monitor).

In terms of what to get - unfortunately, I've been out of the scanner game for a while in terms of photography and normally for my work I just have to worry about requisitioning sheet fed scanners for the different departments which usually aren't the greatest for photos. If I were to look today for a high quality scanner, I'd start doing some research on some of the photography websites (ie: dpreview.com , luminous-landscape.com , etc.) and find out what photographers there are using then start doing some research of those models to see what would suit your needs the most.
 
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Hi,

This white paper from Epson might help clear up some of your confusion of the various terminology:

http://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/pdf/tech_scanner-resolution.pdf

No one portion is the most important - various traits of a scanner will directly affect the image quality on the final scan. Reading that white paper will give you a lot of good information. I'd suggest to read it all, but the material you're specifically looking for is on the last page or two.

In terms of type of scanner - I'm not a fan of All-in-ones. If one part breaks you can just replace that one part easily, you have to replace the entire unit (unless you now want multiple all-in-ones on your desk). Also most all in ones don't have the quality of stand alone scanners. With you wanting high quality photos scanned in, I'd spend the money and get the best scanner I could that has proven quality.

Now, that said, you will probably have to profile your printer, scanner and your monitor so you know what you see on your screen is the best representation that the scanner can produce and that the printer, when the photo is printed will produce an image as close to what it really is (and what is really displayed with a properly calibrated monitor).

In terms of what to get - unfortunately, I've been out of the scanner game for a while in terms of photography and normally for my work I just have to worry about requisitioning sheet fed scanners for the different departments which usually aren't the greatest for photos. If I were to look today for a high quality scanner, I'd start doing some research on some of the photography websites (ie: dpreview.com , luminous-landscape.com , etc.) and find out what photographers there are using then start doing some research of those models to see what would suit your needs the most.
Thank you very much, very helpful
 
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Hey there:
I hope this isn't too belated a reply. But I figured I might be able to help someone else who sees this thread. I recently bought a new scanner myself, the CanoScan LiDE 110, and I've been quite pleased with the results. Using this comparative guide (Best Scanners Review Guide 2012-13), I decided to settle on that one. I can't say whether it can scan multiple photos, because I haven't had the need, but I'll look into it. I'm pretty sure that any flatbed scanner can take more than one at a time--it will usually separate them automatically.

To answer your dpi questions, I have no idea what the different types are. But I would say to use at least 300 dpi for a print-quality scan, possibly even 600 dpi if it's going to be a larger print.

Thanks to Nethfel--that's very useful information. In general, I would tell you to veer away from Epson scanners, but if it's working for you, that's great.

How goes the scanning?
 

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