If you ’d like to add a assembling of prints , negatives , or slides to your digital photo collection , you ’ll need to skim them . In late year , the quality and affordability of consumer digital scanner have better — making them well suited to this type of projection .
Before purchase a image scanner , take stock of the types of media you ’ll need to digitize . Do you primarily have negative or prints ? Are all of your negatives 35 millimetre , or do you have all-encompassing - formatting negatives as well ? These factors will have an encroachment on the type of scanner you practice .
For this case of project , there are two main categories of scanners : flatbed and pic scanners .
Flatbed scanners
If you ’ll be skim a mixed bag of media , the best choice will be a flatbed scanner . Though they ’re designed mainly for glance over print and other knockout copy , many flatbed scanners let in adapters for scan different film formats .
Although you could clean up a basic electronic scanner for as picayune as $ 50 , we do n’t urge doing so . We ’ve found that many of these inexpensive electronic scanner use deficient optic . For archival undertaking such as this , you ’ll want to get the best information potential out of your scan . We recommend spending at least $ 150 for a good scanner .
Resolution and mo depth were once top consideration of people shopping for digital scanner . But thanks to improvement in scan engineering science , these specification are n’t as much of an issue today . Unless you need museum - quality reproductions , almost all of the image scanner on the market today are more than adequate for archiving 4 - by-6- , 5 - by-7- , and 8 - by-10 - inch prints . That say , there are a few features that may better your scanning experience :
ConnectivityMost scanners currently on the marketplace connect to the Mac via USB 2.0 . This should be adequate for most scanning undertaking . If your Mac does n’t support USB 2.0 , regard purchase an cheap upgrade card , as scans can take doubly as long at the slower speed . A few scanners also offer a FireWire connection . If you ’ll be scanning most of your material at very high solving , a FireWire connection will help speed up up the unconscious process of transfer your read image to the Mac .
Film AdaptersMake sure that any electronic scanner you use includes adapters for the eccentric of picture you ’ll be read . Although many midrange scanner offer adapters for 35 mm film , some also expand those options to back up mounted coast , intermediate - format film , and more . You should also pay attention to how many frames the transcriber can keep at once . Some can batch - process multiple film strips — reducing the number of times you ’ll have to reload the moving picture transcriber .
SoftwareAlmost all image scanner come with their own scanning software , which often includes features such as junk and scratch removal and color correction ( although we urge performing serious image correction in a consecrated image editor ) . If you ’ll be scanning film and print , you may want a image scanner that includes Digital ICE . Part software package and part ironware , Digital ICE uses a special infrared light to detect detritus and rub on your picture and then withdraw any trace of them during the scanning mental process , using the besiege pixels to fill in the missing data point . regrettably , Digital ICE is typically included only with higher - terminal ( that is , expensive ) scanners .
Film scanners
If you ’ll be scanning only moving picture , you ’ll get the best results from a dedicated film scanner , such as theNikon Coolscan V ED($550 ) . Although they be given to be more expensive than flatbed scanners and are less various , film scanners take up less room and generally get safe results . Many film scanner let you tip your moving picture in straight , bypassing bungling adapters . And if there are holder , they lean to be easy to use than the ones that come with flatbed .
If you do n’t have the fund to bribe a raw flick scanner — especially for a onetime projection like this — discipline out eBay for a good used scanner . Many hoi polloi , once they ’ve finished their own archiving projects , are willing to sell their scanner at a reasonable damage .
Tip: Buy a printer, get a scanner
If you do n’t already own a good ink - jet printer and are design to buy a scanner for this project , you might want to consider getting a multifunction printing machine ( MFP ) rather . Canon , Epson , Hewlett - Packard , and many other companies sell exposure - oriented MFPs that can scan , mark , and serve as a photocopier . TheEpson Stylus Photo RX700($400 , pictured correctly ) , for example , can read 35 mm picture show and slides as well as prints , make borderless prints of your scan , and even print onto exceptional CDs and DVDs to help you speedily identify backup phonograph recording .
