Wanted: Top-Notch Photo Scanner for a Mac User; ADF Preferred
Tuesday November 3, 2009
One reader wrote looking for advice on scanning "several thousand photos." The scanner needs to be Mac friendly and optimized for photo scanning. Given that there are so many to scan, it might help to have an automatic document feeder, though I've never used an ADF to scan photos and am not even sure if you can do it. The Epson Perfection V500 has an optional ADF for an additional $199 (note: that link goes to a review of the V600, a similar scanner but with no optional ADF available). Anyone have any experience scanning a lot of photos using a photo scanner with an ADF? Let us know!
Comments
As a Mac lover and the operator of a commercial scanning service (1Scan.co.uk) finding such a scanner has been my personal holy grail. I haven’t used the Epson you mentioned but I do own an Epson 4990, my first commercial scanning platform.
I don’t think the ADF facility you mention will work. As a document feeder the paper follows a tight path with a bend, and photos don’t like to be bent. Other scanners have a straight paper path. Several are Mac supported but I don’t believe there is one that will produce and acceptable image from a photo.
This week we’ll scan over 10,000 photos for our clients. Our platform is a Kodak s1220 connected to a Vista PC. This is the only realistic option to scan photos in volume at a reasonable price. My suggestion would be to invest in the configuration to do the basic scans then edit them on the Mac. When the project is complete you’ll be able to sell the scanner and PC. In my mind a more realistic option than trying to find a Mac connected bulk photo scanner.