I would have thought that scanning a basic gel pen drawing would be something that any modern device could handle. Yet look at the difference in color here.
7 thoughts on “Tale of two scanners”
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A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months…
I would have thought that scanning a basic gel pen drawing would be something that any modern device could handle. Yet look at the difference in color here.
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The difference is probably due to a) where the light source is relative to the sensor (i.e. can specular reflections wash out lighter colors. b) postprocessing default settings (the doc scanner is maximizing rendition of smallish type text, at the expense of subtle gradations)
Probably if you played with the default settings on the document scanner you could get it to produce much better results.
I also fell prey to the dream of replacing my slow flatbed scanner with something faster.
Interesting, but not surprising. Most document scanners use contact image sensors, the ancestors of digicam CMOS sensors, which are cheap and good enough for document scanners, but as you discovered can’t compete with CCDs for art.
I’m also looking for a way to digitize the prodigious amounts of artwork my daughter brings back from kindergarten. Many are too large to fit on even the 11000XL (16″x20″). I considered the Fujitsu ScanSnap SV600 but it is fairly expensive and bulky as well. I am leaning towards a camera with copy stand, flat-field macro lens and possibly a sheet of antireflective plexiglass to keep the artwork flat, but copy stands are also going the way of the dodo and jury-rigged combinations of tripod legs and boom are incredibly clunky.
Maybe a tiny little bit over-thinking this? My kids (8, 6, 4, 2) turn out a steady flow of artwork in a variety of formats and media. I don’t memorialize it all – but when I do, I just try to make sure there is good diffuse ambient lighting and take a snapshot with my phone (Nexus 5X). There may come a time when the detail and subtlety of their artistry will be too elusive for such plebian gear – but we’ll hold off on buying the drum scanner for another year or two :-).
J. Peterson — any feedback on the Czurtek? I have been tempted to take the plunge. What I am really looking for, though is something to scan old magazines at 600 dpi (TIFF) for uploading to Archive.org. Comments would be appreciated.
Sorry, should look before I leap 🙁