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General discussion

"Portable" scanner for historical society book project.

Jul 19, 2010 5:05AM PDT

Here's the situation.

Our historical society is publishing a photo-oriented history book using photos from individual's private -- and often family -- collection. What I am looking for is a high quality scanner that I can reasonably pack up and take to the contributor's home where I can scan the photos on site.

Specs required for scans:

300 dpi
Output size: at least 8 inches wide or 16 inches wide for a double spread.
Color Mode: grayscale (8-bit)

Recommendations? Thanks S

Discussion is locked

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You can google scanners.
Jul 19, 2010 5:10AM PDT
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portable scanner at HS
Jul 29, 2010 6:52AM PDT

I work at a historical society and use a couple of portable USB-powered scanners (Canon, Xerox) with a laptop to do just as you say. Either brand and others can be had for <$100.

By the way, scan black and white photos as full color, not greyscale, to get a good quality scan and be sure to save as TIF files. You may want to scan at 600dpi as well to get the best image.

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Thanks for the input!
Jul 29, 2010 6:58AM PDT

The publisher requests that the color mode be set to grayscale 8-Bit -- so we will probably follow that direction.

What are the models of Canon and Xerox scanners you are using?