Family Photographs a practical solution

Rob Keeble

Member
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12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Hi All

This post is about scanning. For the longest time i have been wanting a means to scan stuff. Since i am building a number of new websites i have wanted to scan a great deal of old prints but also scan family photos taken back in the day to store them offsite in cyberspace for prosperity. That way if ever there is a disaster such as flood i dont need to worry about family prints being ruined.

Well having had a flatbed scanner from HP for some time i was totally put off the idea. This unit not that old would take an age to heat up and then tick along scanning at a snails paste. Fine if you doing a single copy of say a drawing. But start with pictures and by the time you do the second one you ready to go to sleep or give up.

Then a while back Brent got stuck into reducing his magazine pile into digital form and had the fujitsu scanner that looked great but my concern was it was not twain compliant so i passed.

Since then i have been looking but of late my need ratcheted up. My wife tried some of the larger automatic feed scanners they have at work thinking in the short term she could do a bunch for me in her lunchtime or after hours and it would solve my short term need while i continue my search. This was less than satisfactory since their need is more for documentation.

Well after much research and great hesistation due to being bitten once twice shy, I decided on the Canon LIDE 210 flatbed scanner. I was totally apprehensive so i purchased it from Staples intent on a quick return if it did not live up to what i had read in reader reviews.

Well only got it yesterday and seeing Glenns box for snaps pop up here got me to thinking i should let you all know of this as a solution to capturing in digital form those old family snaps.

This unit sold for just under $100 in Canada and boy it more than lived up to its reviews for me.

You can put multiple pics on the bed at one time and it scans crops and puts them into jpeg image files automatically.

There is no warm up time to mention because it uses new LED technology and it does an automatic correction of the pic too.

In one hour last night i captured so many pics i could not believe it. The unit was so fast that i barely had time to lift the lid remove the scanned pics and get the next set ready to scan before it was finished and had processed all the scans into their own files and displayed them on screen as small thumbnails which the software allows you to set in size for easy checking on scan quality.

So if you want to get this task out the way and capture your family photos before they age some more and get more tatty then try this unit out. Whats more it does not even need a power supply its powered from the USB port. Note most powered USB ports are at the back of your computer.

Then it will even automaticall on a single button scan a document straight to PDF or scan an attach to your email program also at the push of a button. Install is very easy and it comes with some software to do the work. It also has a one button copy function so if you want to make your business go paperless and instead of shoeboxing those expense slips etc scan them and email them to the bookkeeper as they occur.

I am very tough on expectations with technology after having experienced so much over selling and under delivery but this purchase was a delight.

For guys in the USA you can buy it from several online stores for really good prices. New Egg USA has it. We cannot purchase from New Egg USA we have to go to the .CA site and they dont carry it. There is also the LIDE 110 for just on $50 which is much the same just at the high end of individual scans you dont get the high res but this is not really an issue for family snaps.

Just some stats to give you an idea I managed 297 pictures in just on 90 minutes. There were a few that extended that time but they were pics that needed individual scans due to labels having been stuck on the picture that the scanner saw as text and so it did not produce a great image.

I still enjoy holding a snap but these are precious memories and with a digital version you can share them with the whole family as opposed to only one sibling having the family pictures.

Brent i still want one of those units you have. ;):)
 
Boy, that sounds good Rob

I have been working for years on scanning in about 50 photo albums of family, vacations, hobby projects, nature, etc. I would sit at the desk with the TV in viewing range, remove a page of photos, scan each one individually, crop, correct, save, try to name the file something helpful...repeat. I still have about 5-10 albums left (these are the notebook style albums with big rings and hold hundreds of photos). I have been burnt-out on the job for over a year, but need to get back to it and finish up.

I don't do real photos anymore - just digital files. I may print out a photo now and then on plain paper for reference, but mostly I just look at them on the monitor. If I could get these albums (and a few wall hanging photos from my Mom) scanned in - it would be done.

Would have been nice if your scanner was available when I started. I will probably just finish up with my current HP printer/scanner/fax unit, but maybe...

And then on to the 8mm films that need to be converted to digital
 
Sharon has me looking at those units Rob. I have a feeling NewEgg will be getting (Yet another) order from me by the end of the day... :thumb: :thumb:
 
I have a 2+ year old CanoScan similar to that one but more basic. It has totally impressed me. I have to scan in documents into files and recently been using to create artwork for my book. I can print out something that is the resolution is to low to use as it, scan it in at 300 or 600 DPI and get a usable image.

I can only imagine that they have gotten better over the years. But this thing has been a little workhorse. I just wish someone would come up with a good slide scanner at the a similar price. I have lots of slides I want scanned.
 
Great review Rob. I've always had good luck with Canon products and when the current HP printer gives out it will be getting replace with Canon again. I've been meaning to pickup a scanner for a while and may just have to order one of those. :thumb:
 
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