Digital Photo Scanner

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I’m not a technical person, but I do know a thing or two about taking pictures. However, one thing that I recently looked in to was a digital photo scanner. I needed something that would be able to copy my pictures from my cameras SD card and print them without all the complications of hooking it up to my computer and trying to figure out where the pictures went. Let me help you understand a bit more about this marvel of technology because I am now pretty savvy when it comes to printing pictures.

There are some important points to consider when buying a digital photo scanner and I think its best I break them down to make it easier:

Photo Size – It’s important to know what size of photo you want to capture and possibly print in the future. The standard sizes will take care of everything up to 5” x 7” photos. There are scanners that will cover much larger photos but the price drastically increases. If you need a much bigger photo you might want to consider a really good inkjet printer or just get them done at the photo lab. Or if you have the space you can consider a flatbed scanner and take a weekend to figure out how to use it.

Color Display – Most scanners will have a tiny TFT or LCD color display so you can get a glimpse of what picture you are going to print. However, don’t expect to be able to see much. The digital photo scanner screen will usually be about as big as a 2.5” camera display.

Sensor – Just like a camera, you will want a CMOS sensor that has the biggest MP, mega pixel, capability as possible. This will ensure that you have perfect copies each and every time. I recommend something 5MP and up. I hate to sound like a broken record, but again, the larger the MP, the more it’s going to cost.

Design – The design is another important factor to keep in mind. Some digital photo scanners will run your photo through like a piece of paper which may end up bending it. I found that VuPoint Solutions takes care of this problem quite well by inserting the photo and closing the lid. HP offers a plastic protector to encase your photo in before inserting it in to the machine.

We’ve talked about the great points about a digital photo scanner but I think it is only fair I tell you some things I don’t like. The first one is that most of the software that comes with it is for Mac & Windows. I am a Linux user so I had to improvise with “The Gimp.” Another thing I wasn’t too fond of was that I didn’t receive a USB cable so I had to go back to the store. I’m sure by now it will be standard for all scanner bundles. And finally, regardless of how small it is, it still only takes care of photos and nothing else.

All in all, if you have a lot of photos you want to scan and put on to your computer, a digital photo scanner is going to save you a lot of time and hassle. I was able to blast through 150 photos in 20 minutes. Saving those old pictures because they turn to dust was one of the best things I’ve ever done.