Photos to digital

[atlasaxis]

I have a ton of photos I want to preserve on digital. I've been using my cell to take a picture of each one, not always to the best clarity. Can anyone recommend a photo scanner that will do the job better? Thanks.

[Clocker]

Have you tried a basic all-in-one printer copier scanner? Any good brand like Canon or Brother or Epson should do a much better job than what you are doing.

[JustRalph]

http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...rds=hp+scanner

anything on this list above will beat the hell out of what you are doing

After you get em scanned.........use "Google Photos" to store em

btw, just a tip. If you have a bunch of small photos in a drawer etc, you scan multiple photos at the same time, store them, that way and go back and edit/cut them out later. It will save you time and make it quicker to digital and safety

[wilderness]

This is a very good scanner, although the later two are priced FAR beyond the market, the first on is a good price.

BTW, if you've original photo's than you'll get far better quality if you have the negatives, however scanning negatives is a different ball game.

[wilderness]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

btw, just a tip. If you have a bunch of small photos in a drawer etc, you scan multiple photos at the same time, store them, that way and go back and edit/cut them out later. It will save you time and make it quicker to digital and safety

FWIW, Ralph's suggestion is logical, unfortunately the DPI that you scan at, as well as the format (TIF is preferred) you save the file to may affect the quality greatly.
Most folks save scans as JPG (at a low compression), which is a grave mistake for something you wish to preserve.

[wilderness]

Originally Posted by Clocker

Have you tried a basic all-in-one printer copier scanner? Any good brand like Canon or Brother or Epson should do a much better job than what you are doing.

I've looked at many all-in-ones and have never found one worthy of purchase.
Many have very low DPI restrictions when scanning images.

You could purchase a 10-15 year old independent scanner that will beat those all-in-ones into the ground.

[LottaKash]

Originally Posted by wilderness

This is a very good scanner, although the later two are priced FAR beyond the market, the first on is a good price.

BTW, if you've original photo's than you'll get far better quality if you have the negatives, however scanning negatives is a different ball game.

Nice scanner Don, but does that Canon model that you point out, have the drivers for Win8.1 ?...

If not, can you update the drivers ?

[wilderness]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

Nice scanner Don, but does that Canon model that you point out, have the drivers for Win8.1 ?...

If not, can you update the drivers ?

Hey kash,
How goes it?
Unfortunately drivers are only available thru Win 7.

I've an older Canon scanner model than that, which has been an absolute work horse. I've at least half-a-dozen purchased.

In 2013 I purchased (multiples) of an older negative scanner to begin a project of approx., 15k in negatives.

I still use XP, thus none of these older OS Drivers are an issue for me. (even have a machine with XP-64, which uses lots of Win 7 updates.)

[wilderness]

FWIW, I've used multiple HP scanners and although the machines themselves are built nicely, the scanner drivers, scanner software and OCR software are clunky and a real PITA.
There are a couple of other scanner brands that use the same drivers and software as HP, and they are crap as a result as well.

[LottaKash]

Originally Posted by wilderness

Hey kash,
How goes it?
Unfortunately drivers are only available thru Win 7.

I've an older Canon scanner model than that, which has been an absolute work horse. I've at least half-a-dozen purchased.

In 2013 I purchased (multiples) of an older negative scanner to begin a project of approx., 15k in negatives.

I still use XP, thus none of these older OS Drivers are an issue for me. (even have a machine with XP-64, which uses lots of Win 7 updates.)

Hey Don, I'm ok, thank you very much , and you ?

Thanks for the reply...I do have another older mahchine that still runs under XP....I think I may take a shot and bid on that scanner...I have a gazillion of old photos that need archiving, and that is why I asked....

[wilderness]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

Hey Don, I'm ok, thank you very much , and you ?

Thanks for the reply...I do have another older mahchine that still runs under XP....I think I may take a shot and bid on that scanner...I have a gazillion of old photos that need archiving, and that is why I asked....

Kash,
Not sure how many scanners I've, but it's too damned many.
Bought one of those 8600's for use with my laptop, and it works great.
The newer model is the 8800, which Canon hawks every chance they get.

[LottaKash]

Originally Posted by wilderness

Kash,
Not sure how many scanners I've, but it's too damned many.
Bought one of those 8600's for use with my laptop, and it works great.
The newer model is the 8800, which Canon hawks every chance they get.

Good to know Don...

Btw, I tossed my hat into the ring for that 8600...

[wilderness]

Kash,
Believe I paid around 40 (plus shipping) for my 8600, and that was some time ago.

[atlasaxis]

Thanks all, I appreciate the input!

[DJofSD]

Yes, as others have posted, a scanner is a lot, lot better than just snapping photos of your prints. If those photographs are heirlooms then the purchase is worth the investment.

As wilderness said, use TIFF or whatever lossless format your software supports.

I had an HP scanner for a long, long time and it worked very well. When it finally died I replaced it with an Epson.

When you clean the glass plate of the scanner, do not use paper towels or the like. Use cloth such as handkerchiefs or other items which are not paper. Paper will produce micro scratches which will lessen the sharpness of the image.

Good luck and have fun.