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Author Topic: Can someone recommend an auto-sheed feed scanner that doesn't suck? Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-26-2011 09:36 PM                        Agreed completely - it's a heavy duty machine designed for an office with a couple of dozen people working in it, not a home or small business. Minolta might do a smaller scale unit but with the same, crop-free scanning software, though.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-26-2011 09:57 PM                     quote: Frank Angel It scans edge to edge --like any normal person would want and expect. Nice to know I'm not the only person that feels this way. Yeah that's overkill for the quantity of scanning I actually do, but when I do need to scan, it is almost always a stack of paper to pdf.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-26-2011 10:15 PM                     Since you basically like the scanner but hate the software, why don't you look for better software to run the scanner? I have a Canon flatbed scanner which I like but I virtually never use the company's software. I use VueScan. http://www.hamrick.com/ I'm not 100% sure it will work with your scanner(s) but, from what I read on the website, it can operate some sheet feeders. I know that VueScan has automatic AND manual cropping or you can select "Maximum" for no cropping to scan the whole platen. Check it out. Download the trial version. If you don't like it; "No harm, no foul."  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-26-2011 11:36 PM                     Not the most user friendly software I've seen, but after futzing with it for a few minutes I was able to get it to scan the ENTIRE sheet without any cropping to pdf. Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a test workout and if all goes well I'll buy it.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-27-2011 08:31 AM                     Well, VueScan wasn't designed for general purpose scanning. It was meant for more technical work like scanning photos or slides. It's strong points are exposure and color balance, etc., but because it gives the user more control over the scanner, I thought it would work well for your purpose. There are other scanning programs out there, for example, SilverFast but they are more expensive. For getting good scans of images on film, VueScan gives a better bang for the buck than the pricier programs. I agree that VueScan isn't as user friendly for the casual user but, if you do a lot of scanning it's worth taking time to learn it.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-27-2011 10:14 AM                        Randy - you beat me to it! A software option occurred to me, to. When running Windows, my Epson scanner works with its Epson-written driver. That includes a lot of flashy graphics, auto-cropping (though you can disable it) and about 50 other features I virtually never use. However, when I'm booted into the Ubuntu partition, it uses a barebones driver that comes as part of the operating system, and I don't think it crops at all - you have to do that on whatever program you're scanning into (e.g. GIMP). I'm away from home at the moment and so can't experiment, but I guess one free option might be to investigate if this approach could work (e.g. booting a Linux distro from a USB stick whenever you want to scan).  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-27-2011 11:30 AM                     I enjoy using Linux and I think that there are plenty of things that make Linux better than most operating systems but, for occasional use, the amount of work it takes to get a Linux system up and running the way you want it to might not be worth the benefit. While I have computers with Linux already set up so that I can switch to it and use it when I want to, many people just don't have the fortitude. VueScan only costs $39.95 for the Standard version and $79.95 for the Professional version. Even at $80.00 the Pro version is well worth the money if you want to do any kind of scanning on a regular basis. Yes, it takes time to tackle the learning curve but I think it's better. I'm the kind of guy who drives a car with a stick shift, doesn't use digital cameras and regularly cooks his own meals in the kitchen rather than eat microwave dinners. I like having control over my technology and I'm willing to spend some extra time to understand how to operate my equipment in the way that suits me best. I don't see programs like VueScan or SilverFast to be too difficult to use and, like Brad, I really freakin' HATE it when computer programs make decisions for me without letting me override them when I want to. You could look into SilverFast. It also has some great features but the Standard edition is $10.00 more than VueScan and the Pro version is nearly $300.00. As such, I think VueScan is the best solution.  |  IP: Logged

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