Scanner newbie

designed as photo scanners should fit your purpose. They will come with a software package that will allow some adjustment of the scan as far as size, contrast, etc. and will simply create an image file. If you want to touch up some of the photos, you will need software to do so. I could recommend either Corel Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop Elements. Either of these are satisfactory. I've used Paint Shop Pro (previously from Jasc) much more than Adobe. My wife likes that one. It will be something you'll have to explore and learn to use but it does have some "one step" correction functions that work nicely to remove or soften scratches, dust spots, etc. Doing major work is time consuming but you may find it enjoyable.

From that list pick the HP it should do what you want.

I have a Canon 8400F - just magic for photos on the platen or colour slides or colour negative film on the built-in film unit. It will probably handle monochrome negative film but I don't have any. Great resolution (better than the grain on some old photographs I have) and fast scanning. It is a bit bulky, though.

i have an epson 3170 flatbed scanner i purchased in march of 2004 for about 160.00 at a best buy in dallas,tx. it still works fine. no breakdowns. no repair. during the summer the heat makes it a little slower. but i think its a great buy. i use it for scanning negatives,slides,paper prints ,leaves,fabric,tax records, anything that will fit on the surface.

I have had the CanoScan 8800F for a couple of years and it does a fantastic job. I did not care much for Canon's software, so I bought VueScan (http://www.hamrick.com/). I use my scanner particularly for old photos and I could not be more pleased.