Scanners- printers - buying and using tips

Scanner Reviews from Imaging Resource, sorted by manufacturer, is also a quite good place to start searching for your new scanner.

Canon 9950F! The scanner that ends Canon's dedicated film scanners now when they announce the launch of the new flagship to its CanoScan scanner range: the 4800 x 9600 dpi 48 bit color depth CanoScan 9950F. The world’s first flat-bed scanner to offer 30-frame capacity for 35mm filmstrip, the 9950F also incorporates an aspheric element lens – Canon’s own ‘Super-Toric’ lens – for unsurpassed levels of clarity, contrast and image quality. Canon's new range-leader features FARE Level 3 – the ultimate infra-red film correction and enhancement system for precise, automatic dust and scratch removal, color restoration, plus grain and backlight correction. QARE Level 3 offers a similar correction and auto-retouching functionality for photo prints. A fast scan engine, moving backlight FAU, extremely efficient light capture system and USB 2.0 Hi–Speed / IEEE1394 FireWire connection combine to deliver super-quick 3.6 second previews and exceptionally fast scan times. The slim contours, aluminum hairline finish and robust build of the 9950F are consistent with its position at the top of the CanoScan range.



How I correct my scanned images in my digital darkroom! (Only in Swedish for the time being, unfortunately

An independent review site which have a good and detailed description of the Acer ScanWit 2720 film scanner.
A great site from Wayne Fulton to offer some scanning tips and hints, fundamentals and other basic scanning information to help us to get the most from our scanner. Although you find most of the information on this website the book is well worth the money. I bought it myself

From his book I quote " Video Resolution - How much to scan? As an example, if we intend to scan a 1 inch width and want an image with 1024 pixel width, then we need to scan at (1024 pixels / 1 inch) = 1024 dpi (good luck, this is quite extreme, unless we are scanning film). Or if we will scan an 8 inch width and need an image with 400 pixels of width, then we scan at (400 pixels / 8 inches) = 50 dpi. Remember that "dpi" is Dots Per Inch, meaning pixels per inch.
It's still a hard question however. What size do we want? Are we scanning to fill a quarter of a 640x480 screen, or to totally fill a 1280x1024 screen? Only you can answer questions about your purpose.
But if scanning for the web, keep in mind that many people use 640x480 screens, whether you do or not. It is a very good idea to switch to 640x480 and check your own web pages.

You might also be interested to know, before you buy, a little about: How much detail can you capture and scan? Two popular film formats were tested: 35mm (image size approximately 24mm x 36mm, or 0.94 x 1.41 inches) and 4x5 (image size approximately 97 x 122 mm, or 3.8 x 4.8 inches). Promise you will learn a lot!

From the article " Understanding Resolution" I personally, at last, understood more about the concepts of input and output resolution and I am not so terribly confused any more, as to what settings to use, and when.

Confusion between image size and resolution is a perennial favorite. To illustrate, it is convenient to think in terms of destinations which I try to illustrate here!

Curious about some of the most frequently asked questions from a scanner newsgroup! What to buy? Which resolution to scan? ....

Peter Jones has at his website Digital Photography Reference collected some useful information's you can use both before you buy your first scanner and when you start too use it.

You might also get some hints from one of the scanner newsgroup like comp.periphs.scanners or alt.comp.periphs.scanner

The myth about 72dpi scans for the web images!!

How do you store your images after scanning? Probably at least your grandchildren are interested that you keep your digital images safe and in a good shape! I am myself strongly in favor of the Tiff format for archiving of digital images!

Word of advice 1: In a newsgroup I read the following question: I've read somewhere that printed photos (positive / regular size) can't contain more information than 300dpi. If this is true why should I buy a 1200 dpi (optical) flatbed scanner (or even a 600 dpi) ?
I can understand that people get confused when the scanner manufactures still insist in specifying scanner resolution in dpi instead if ppi, pixel per inch. If you are going to output your image to an inkjet printer scan with 1/5 to 1/3 of the printer output resolution. Why this? The printer resolution is referring to addressability of the ink-dots, and not the resolution of the image. In modern inkjet printers several print head ink dots are required to make one image dot. This means that the printer's image resolution capability is much less than the advertised dpi numbers. Does this make sense? Lars Ekdahl

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Today's all-purpose and Photo printers offer impressive quality and speed, whether you are printing photos, homework or just about anything

All-Purpose Ink Jets

TIPA Awards: 2008: Best Multifunction Photo Printer: Canon PIXMA MP970Photos and more besides! The flagship model of Canon’s multifunction inkjet printer range combines high grade photo printing capabilities with advanced scanning and copying features. The multifunction device uses 7 inks in separate cartridges for natural colour rendition, and Canon’s 9600x2400 dpi FINE printhead ensures superb photo quality in terms of colour reproduction, detail and sharpness. The scanning function offers a maximum resolution of 4800 ppi, and the MP970 connects to printers via USB or an Ethernet network. Users can also take advantage of direct printing from cameras via PictBridge or from a memory card, and the 3 inch colour display and the Scroll Button offers convenient control in operation.

Photo Ink Jets

TIPA Awards: 2008: Best Expert Photo Printer: Epson Stylus Photo R1900The Epson Stylus Photo R1900 is an A3+ printer for the demanding user that features 7 separate colours. It produces prints up to 13 inches wide and 44 inches long on a broad variety of media types including gloss, lustre, matte, canvas and fine-art papers. The 1440 nozzle print head allows a maximum resolution of 5760x1440 dpi. Epson's new UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 ink system gives a wider colour gamut for natural skin tones in portrait subjects, and the smooth gloss finish with the extra gloss optimizer ink renders a superb look and feel to prints. The additional red and orange inks contribute to an improved colour vibrancy, and extra features include options for CD/DVD printing and roll paper support for panoramic prints.

- TOKYO, Japan, March 27, 2007 - Epson Develops a Next-Generation Inkjet Print Head Using an Original Thin-Film Piezo Element That Has the World's Highest Degree of Distortion

Epson seems to be on a crusade to make printing on CDs and DVDs a standard feature for ink jet printers. The three models, Epson Stylus Photo R200, R300 and R800 have this capability. And doing so easy. The R200 is the choice for a tight budget. The R320 fills a gap in their line between the R200 and R800. Its output quality comes close to matching the R800.

HP Photosmart Pro B8850 Printer. HP has taken an excellent professional level printer with top quality output in the B9180 and modified it to make it accessible for the photo printing enthusiast who does not have the need for Ethernet connectivity and printer control through an on-board readout. The printer is aimed at the hobbyist market, and I am sure that it will be very popular especially if the street price is lowered. HP have another potential winner to add to their repertoire.

Epson US has announced today the Stylus Pro R2880 printer. It is a replacement for the popular 2400 model, Read more at The luminous landscape about the new printers 2400, Stylus Pro 4800, 7800 and 9800. Epson's specs on the 4800 / 7800 / 9800.

The fine-art landscape photographer Alain Briot was one of the first people to take delivery last month of Epson's latest large-format archival inkjet printer, the new Epson Stylus Pro 9600. This printer uses the same new UltraChrome inks as the also just released 7600 and 2100/2200 printers, so there's worthwhile information here for those interested in these new models as well. I hope to have my own review of the new 2200 printer online within a week or so.
Barry Haynes has been having a great time working with his new Epson 7600 24" wide printer ( the larger brother of the 2200 ) which uses the new Ultrachrome pigmented inks. This is a great printer and appears to have greatly reduced the amount of Metamerism effect that he was having with the 2000P. Metamerism makes your prints look very different depending on the color of the light source. The 7600 prints he have made on the Epson Premium Luster paper, can achieve very saturated colors and a quality similar to that on my 1280 using dye based inks. He seems to be very happy with this printer! For more info about the 7600, check the Latest Tips area of his site

The Canon Pixma Pro9500 is the first model in the Pixma series to utilize pigment inks and 10 color ink cartridges. Why pigment inks you ask? Well pigment ink is considered to be the industry standard for commercial output of photographic and fine art prints. In fact, Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. , a company that conducts research on the stability of traditional and digital color photographs, rated prints from the Pro9500 as lasting 100 years when stored under archival conditions. Read more at steves-digicams.co .

The PIXMA MP970 Photo All-In-One Printer is Canon's top-of-the-line multifunction photo printer. With a MSRP of $299, it lists for $100 more than the closely related MP610. All PIXMA Photo A-I-O devices provide print, copy and scan capabilities in one machine. So let's examine what you get for the extra $100.

Epson Stylus® Photo Series Ink Jet Printers

Photo Printers Plus according to PC Magazive January 2008. With hot competition in the dedicated photo printer market, manufacturers are adding valuable extras to entice customers.

The photographic printer market has been dominated by Epson for most of its 12 year history, and especially since 2000 with the introduction of pigment-based inks. But no marketplace can remain secure for just one vendor for long. Earlier this year we saw the introduction of the first of a series of pigment printers from Canon, the iPF 5000. Though announced in the spring, HP's entry, the B9180 has now finally started to ship as well. The in depth review of that company's first challenger, the HP Pro B9180, is now online at luminous-landscape.com.

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Learn about the frequently asked questions from a printer newsgroup! What to buy? Clogging and print head problems! Running costs?

Vilken upplösning skall jag skanna in ett foto för för att få bästa utskriftskvaliten? ( Only in Swedish for the time being)

cppFAQ.com is an other knowledge source. cppFAQ.com is a official comp.periphs.printers website that hosts user posted questions and answers (FAQ) retrieved from the comp.periphs.printers usenet newsgroup by Worldwide Imaging Supplies, LLC, as well as ratings, tips, and bug reports regarding various brands and models printers, copiers, and fax machines, and printer related software, posted directly to the website by visitors.

Making Great Epson Prints without a custom profile? Go to "New Epson 1270 and 2000 information" and scroll downwards!)
Epson — The Next Generation. Interesting reading!

Anyone opening the Epson printer driver for the first time can't help but ask which option is best. The documentation doesn't exactly give any clear advice on how to produce good quality prints other than to say - "choose Automatic". This short step-by-step should give the new/novice Photoshop 6 user some better guidance.

Word of advice: If you are printing exclusively to a desktop inkjet printer, it is generally best to use a resolution of between 200 and 300 dpi. You will rarely notice any improvement with higher settings.
If you are doing prepress work (which I know very little about) I will simply quote Len Hewitt from the Adobe's Photoshop User to User forum. He knows what he's talking about.
" When you halftone an image, the best resolution you can get is the frequency of the halftone screen. So if you use a 1:1 over sampling ratio, your image resolution, (at 1:1), should be that of the halftone screen. 100, 120, 130, 150 ppi. However, this is only going to work really well if the halftone screen is aligned with the pixel grid. If it's turned at an angle, you'll get dropouts and really bad averaging. So you need to get between 1.16 and 1.18 pixels per dot as a minimum to get good averaging and to compensate for screen angles. You can improve the quality of output on any image to an over sampling ratio of about 1.25:1. Problem images, (herringbone tweed, for example), can require as much as 1.4:1. Beyond that, nobody can tell the difference. "
Michael Reichmann at luminous-landscape.com says March 01, 2002 :
Make a print at 240 dpi, 280 dpi, 300 dpi, 320 dpi etc, etc.
Sit down and look at them, by eye and with a loupe. I believe that what you'll see is that below 240 dpi there is a visible degradation and above 360 dpi no visible difference can be seen.
Motto of the day... Test things yourself and trust your own eyes!

The "Printer Repair Board" will keep you on top of the nuts and bolts in the industry. Technicians from around the world post collective answers on the toughest printer problems out there. Response is anywhere from immediate to 1 business day.

Pixels, Dots, and Inches: How Big Can I Print It Go to "Printer" and then " Getting Started " and you will find this document!

Making fine prints from negatives or slides in your digital darkroom by Norman Koren. In this tutorial he will share his techniques for making fine museum quality prints, both color and black and white, starting from negatives or slides. This part tells you what you need to get started. Part 1A tells you how to calibrate your printer with your monitor, part 2 discusses scanning and part 3 discusses image editing. You will learn a lot from here. At least I did

This issue presents a visual comparison between the various print outputs produced by Canon, Epson, HP, Kodak, and Olympus photo-quality inkjet and dye-sublimation printers. Most of these printers have the identical parts used in other models, usually wide-body version of the regular width printers, and all printers in the same line have the same print quality.

Color-Accurate Inkjets Made EZ Three software programs claim to bring the power of high-end color science to desktop inkjet printers. In this exclusive hands-on review, Bruce Fraser, creativepro.com contributing editor, put them to the test . Also this is an interesting article. "Proofing with inkjet printers How to get high-class color out of low-cost printers "

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