Flatbed scanner recommendations?

March 25, 2024 11:23 AM

Any recommendations for a good flatbed scanner? I would use it to scan color images for use in digital collages, so mostly 8.5 x 11 inches max at about 600 dpi. Looking to spend $100-200. Thanks!
posted by Fister Roboto to Technology (8 answers total)

Any of the cheap Canon LiDE scanners should be fine. They're inexpensive, reliable and the technology is well established. They do not, however, work with three dimensional objects -- flat photos/pictures/books/magazines only. Anything not touching the glass will be blurry.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:56 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Canons, and you should easily meet your budget.
posted by rhizome at 1:59 PM on March 25

If you end up being tempted by a scanner/printer/copier all-in-one that seems to offer better value than a scanner alone, bear in mind that HP for sure and likely others as well are now designing these machines in such a way that they won't even make it through power-on self-test unless fitted with a complete set of non-empty OEM ink cartridges. Yes, you need to keep them in ink just to make them scan. It's pretty obnoxious.
posted by flabdablet at 7:03 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]

Not what you asked, but related: if, after a few years, you find that whatever scanner you have stops working because the manufacturer stopped supplying updated drivers for your OS, get yourself a copy of VueScan.

I'm not connected with the company in any way. Just a happy user.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 7:43 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]

We have an (older) Epson Perfection 4490 which we use occasionally for flat items and slides. It works well; the software is OK. It is supposed to be usable from within graphics programs via the TWAIN (I believe) protocol but I don't remember testing that.
posted by TimHare at 9:14 PM on March 25

I have an Epson Perfection v300. Still works fine, though it is no longer available. Perhaps another in the same model in the current generation will do just as well, or look for a used model online in the usual places?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:52 PM on March 25

Love the Canon flatbeds! They are cheap and long-lasting (about $70Cdn twenty or so years ago and I still use it today). 600 dpi (you can get 300 dpi a little cheaper)
posted by CCBC at 3:33 PM on March 27

flabdablet, in the horrifying dystopia Last Light (by Alex Scarrow) the protagonist desperately hunts for an ink cartridge to make a scanner run to scan a vital document before the power goes off for good.

Novel has strong focus on lack of redundancy in designed systems.
posted by unearthed at 11:05 PM on April 1