#1  
03-13-2010, 08:03 AM
manthing manthing is offline
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as the title reads, i'd like advise as to which scanner to get to scan dvd covers and inserts.

i'd like something that will give a true copy of the cover & inserts, ie something that is as close to the original as possible.

and the scanner works in a reasonable quick time.

whilst on this topic, i'd like advise as to what resolution i should do the scanning at. 300 dpi? 600 dpi? or as high as possible?

i know printed material, even the glossy mags, are not that high in terms of resolution.

even so, is it better to scan covers & inserts at the highest possible resolution? for example, in case in future there is a better printer & paper?

and finally, if the scanner you recommend is not available in UK, please let me know what is next best / closest match to your recommended one.

thanks.
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  #2  
03-14-2010, 12:35 PM
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Easy question to answer.

A similar question (for a USA client) was recently asked and answered here: Color Laser Printer (and scanner) Needed For Business Use

Quote:
And then add a really good scanner. For example, this Epson V300: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001GBKTGM
This is actually the scanner I use, and I'm an image quality snob. It met all my needs. It can scan paper AND slides, and it does a good job at both. Total price = $90
Luckily, the same items are available in UK, too --and most of the rest of Europe, for that matter.

The Epson V300 is available from Amazon.co.uk for £74.50 with free delivery: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...SIN=B001H1WRG6
  • It gives true-to-source scanning quality, both in color and sharpness.
  • It does not add moire noise patterns, as you find on many cheap scanners.
  • It has an option to filter scans made from newsprint, magazines, glossy publications, or other sources. This is most helpful when scanning magazine covers or comics, when I do hobby artwork for hobby DVDs.
Quote:
whilst on this topic, i'd like advise as to what resolution i should do the scanning at. 300 dpi? 600 dpi? or as high as possible?
Scan at 300dpi. When you scan at a higher resolution, you'll mostly just pick up dust and inherent flaws in the source. The only exception would be scanning photographs or slides.

Also remember that your DVD cases are likely to be smaller than the source item you scanned. So you'll be downsizing anyway. Downsizing adds a perceived sharpness to imagery, and the only reason reason to scan at 600dpi or more is to capture all available sharpness.

Quote:
i know printed material, even the glossy mags, are not that high in terms of resolution.
Correct.

With a few exceptions (National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, etc), most publications have photos submitted at 200-300dpi. Digitally-created/rendered artwork/graphics can range from 600-1200 dpi. The final pieces are often printed 1200-3000dpi (usually 2400dpi) off a commercial press. Offset printing doesn't really use "dpi", but that's a tangent conversation.

... and that's for big budget work. Cheaper pubs use lower res, often accompanied by lower quality content.

Newspapers print at about 200dpi.

Quote:
even so, is it better to scan covers & inserts at the highest possible resolution? for example, in case in future there is a better printer & paper?
Better? No.

The future? Unlikely. I've been scanning since 1992, and have about two decades of experience and knowledge in various areas of the printing world. Very little has changed in 20 years. Scanners are faster, maybe a bit more filtering options, but that's it. Paper hasn't changed in decades.

The only thing really different is the processes between the computer source and the final print -- but that's another tangent conversation.


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  #3  
03-14-2010, 04:24 PM
manthing manthing is offline
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danke for the reply. i will look into the epson scanner you recommended.
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  #4  
03-14-2010, 04:30 PM
manthing manthing is offline
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from a customer on amazon.uk... "I bought this scanner to digitise my old slides and film negatives. Unfortunately the plastic template used to hold the slides and negatives is very fiddly which makes the job very slow and tedious. Also, the quality of the end result is not great."

so is this true from your experience?

and that the power & usb cables are at the front of the unit and so the cables can get in the way?
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  #5  
03-14-2010, 04:35 PM
manthing manthing is offline
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another question, using 300 dpi setting, how quickly will this scan the cover? under 1 minute? under 30 seconds?

my pc is pretty quick and so there should not be any problems between scanner and pc.
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  #6  
03-14-2010, 04:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manthing View Post
from a customer on amazon.uk... "I bought this scanner to digitise my old slides and film negatives. Unfortunately the plastic template used to hold the slides and negatives is very fiddly which makes the job very slow and tedious. Also, the quality of the end result is not great."
so is this true from your experience?
and that the power & usb cables are at the front of the unit and so the cables can get in the way?
Remember that half of all online reviews are left by whinging idiots. This is no exception. (The other third are shills, leaving maybe 1-2 out of every 10 reviews to be useful and unbiased data.)

Some things to consider:
  1. Slide scanning is slow, period, even on pro scanners. This person is just impatient and clearly has never scanned slides before.
  2. Slides are tiny, and don't look as good scanned large as they do when viewed small. It's easy to see blur and other noise that was hidden at its native itty-bitty size.
  3. Scanning slides is a BONUS on this machine. If you want to scan lots of slides, and expect top quality, buy the next model up that does ICE, like the V600 -- or just get a dedicated slide scanner.
This Epson V300 tested very well against a professional Nikon V and Minolta. It actually looked better than the Nikon (which isn't really know for high slide quality -- it's a negative scanner first and foremost), and was almost as good as the Minolta dedicated slide scanner. It was not quite as sharp as the Minolta.

I also want to point out that "the quality of the end result is not great" is a generic nothing of a statement. It sounds like something politicians would say.

As far as cords "being in the way" -- it really depends on how your desk is laid out. My scanner sits on a dedicated cart behind the desk -- the location of the cable is perfect, in my opinion. This just seems like more crying by the reviewer -- not really a valid complaint, just his/her preference.

And then "the plastic template used to hold the slides and negatives is very fiddly" is true of any slide scanner. I think the only exception is the Nikon, which can only scan one at a time. But it's not the best at slides anyway.

Quote:
another question, using 300 dpi setting, how quickly will this scan the cover? under 1 minute? under 30 seconds?
It takes me longer to put the piece in the scanner and walk around the desk, than it does to scan the whole page at 300dpi. We're talking maybe 5-10 seconds here -- just amazing fast. There's nothing special about the computer either -- it's attached to a Pentium 4 3Ghz system. No dual or quad CPU, nothing fancy.


Does that explain it all?

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  #7  
03-14-2010, 06:50 PM
manthing manthing is offline
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phew! you must be tired after all that typing.
ok ok. you convinced me.
and i thank thee for your great advise.
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  #8  
03-14-2010, 07:03 PM
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Yeah, these things take a few minutes to answer. But after a while, I don't have to repeat myself -- I just point to past posts, guides and articles and say "the answer's here" and give a link.

Long term, it'll all pay off .... I hope.

On a serious note, though, consider a V600 if you want good slide scanning with ICE. I would own one if I didn't already have pro slide scanners. It costs more, so I rarely suggest it for standard scanner advice, as this one had started out to be.

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  #9  
03-15-2010, 09:04 AM
manthing manthing is offline
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please add links that show off the benefits of ICE in a scanner so that i can see it for myself.

also, i found out that it might be an added advantage to use photoshop to alter the scan. are there any articles on this that you could point me towards?

thanks.
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  #10  
03-15-2010, 09:17 AM
manthing manthing is offline
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on top of ICE, what about ROC, GEM and anything else out there?

would these other technologies really help or are they marketing BS?
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  #11  
03-15-2010, 09:52 AM
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ROC and GEM are mostly a waste of scanning time -- you can do much better either in Silverfast or Photoshop. That tech is about a decade old, software has advanced since then, for those two tasks.

ICE has not, however, so you still need hardware for that task.

I'll pull out a pair of slides and give a scan.

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  #12  
03-15-2010, 11:18 AM
manthing manthing is offline
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ta admin. doing a stirling job.
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  #13  
03-15-2010, 12:23 PM
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Samples of ICE in action: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...e-vs-2092.html

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