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Need a good photo scanner for my old photos

post #1 of 5
12/9/10 at 11:21am
Thread Starter 
I didn't know where else to post this but I need a photo scanner to scan my old photos. I do have a all in 1 HP that apple gave me 2 years ago when I got an imac. The scans look ok but I was wondering if there is a better option, hopefully one that makes the image look exactly like my physical copy of it. I have over 1000 photos so a very high quality scanner would probably be worth the 200-300 bucks if there is a difference between that one and the all in 1 that I got from Apple.

Also is there a website that would just do this for me? I have seen a few of them and they just don't seem that legit. They just seem like little mom and pop shops or places that will take my money and just throw away my photos.
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post #2 of 5
12/10/10 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crzdcolombian View Post

I didn't know where else to post this but I need a photo scanner to scan my old photos. I do have a all in 1 HP that apple gave me 2 years ago when I got an imac. The scans look ok but I was wondering if there is a better option, hopefully one that makes the image look exactly like my physical copy of it. I have over 1000 photos so a very high quality scanner would probably be worth the 200-300 bucks if there is a difference between that one and the all in 1 that I got from Apple.

Imo a flatbed scanner is a flatbed scanner. Mine is 20 years old!
Scanners are like tripods: once you get one it will stay with you for decades (unlike cameras, or computers!).
I'd say just get a good deal from a major brand. They're only 50/60 bucks. Not worth agonizing over too much.
The scanner probably comes with a CD/DVD with proprietary software, but you can also use other software. There's tons of it floating around.

Quote:
Also is there a website that would just do this for me? I have seen a few of them and they just don't seem that legit. They just seem like little mom and pop shops or places that will take my money and just throw away my photos.

I'd never entrust my unique physical photos to a third party. Do the scanning yourself. It's a lot of work, but worth it. Money-wise, quality-wise, and security-wise. Because you'll be doing it for posterity.

Of course once scanned in (high quality, high resolution, TIFF) you have a solid backup system to secure those photos, don't you?
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post #3 of 5
12/11/10 at 8:32pm
You didn't mention if you would be scanning prints, negatives or both. In any event, I would suggest one of Canon's CanoScan scanners. The model lines ranges in price from $60 to $200. They make several models that scan prints and negatives. I own an older (about 5 years old) CanoScan and it works great for scanning prints and documents. I only paid $60 for it and it has been a real workhorse for me over the years.

What type of scanning software are you using now for the HP? One of the best, all-around software releases for scanning is VueScan. There are two versions: The standard version is $39.95 and the professional version is $79.95. If you purchase the professional version you get free upgrades for life. I use the pro version of VueScan with my Canon scanner.

Here's a link to Canon's scanners:
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/cusa/c...photo_scanners

And here's a link to VueScan:
http://www.hamrick.com/
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post #4 of 5
12/11/10 at 8:48pm
One other thought I want to add. You said you want the digital version of the photo to look just like the printed version you already have. That's not too hard to do with an inexpensive scanner but there's one thing you have to remember. The print you have was made from the negative (or slide) so it's a first generation copy.

Scanning a print takes you another step farther away from the original negative. You can always make a photo look better if you have access to the original negative and are able to scan that. In the field of photography nothing is better than having the original negative or slide to scan from.

If you have kept your negatives over the years you might want to invest in a scanner that has the ability to scan negatives.
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post #5 of 5
12/14/10 at 9:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjanders View Post

One other thought I want to add. You said you want the digital version of the photo to look just like the printed version you already have. That's not too hard to do with an inexpensive scanner but there's one thing you have to remember. The print you have was made from the negative (or slide) so it's a first generation copy.

Scanning a print takes you another step farther away from the original negative. You can always make a photo look better if you have access to the original negative and are able to scan that. In the field of photography nothing is better than having the original negative or slide to scan from.

If you have kept your negatives over the years you might want to invest in a scanner that has the ability to scan negatives.

Thanks I will never reprint the photos I just want them on my digital frames and my iphoto. I hated having the old pictures. I have some of the negaitves but for over a couple 1000 pictures maybe I have 100 or so.My brother is a graphic designer so I have CS4 & CS5. Haven't learned how to use them yet tho. He said he learned by just buying a how to book now makes crap load of money doing such.

I have been scanning old pictures at 600dpi but have yet to fix up any of them. To scan them I am just using the software that HP gave me.

So its a no go on the have someone else do it? $0.30 cents a picture seems pretty cheap, but I know my parents would be pissed if I lost their photo albums.
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