The downside? Well, 300dpi is a little stingy. It can be loaded up with 36 prints at a time, and if you set the resolution to 300dpi, it can manage a photo per second. Unlike the budget Plustek ePhoto Z300 above, there's no feeding in individual images with this zippyphoto scanner. One of the best is the Epson FastFoto FF-680W, a scanner designed for speed above all else, as implied by the name.
Photo scanning can be a royal pain in the proverbial, so it's always good to look out for ways to speed it up. Plus, there are some useful built-in image-enhancement features, which can add some zhuzh to faded photos without the need for too much fiddling. Otherwise, if you don't mind this restriction, we think the straightforward interface of the Plustek ePhoto Z300 makes it easy to use. If this concerns you, then you may want to scroll down to our next entry.
If you've got a big archive that needs digitizing, you may want to consider a scanner that can batch-handle photos or you'll feel the precious years of your life ebbing away while you scan each image. Of course, this does come with other trade-offs, namely that photos need to be fed through one at a time. The design is understated and the physical weight/footprint of the scanner is fairly minimal, meaning you can tuck it away in the corner of an office or living room. Its scan resolution is 600dpi, which clearly isn't as good as the likes of the Epson Perfection V600, but, well, that's one of the reasons it's less than a third of the price. The Plustek ePhoto Z300 is an ideal budget photo scanner, optimised for scanning printed photos in decent quality. Also, if you're scanning documents to sign, see our guide to the best e-signature software. Take a look below to see our selection of the best photo scanners available now, and if you're also planning to print hard copies of your scans, see our guide to the best home printers. We've based our evaluation on each device's specs, such as resolution, as well as customer reviews and value for money (we've included options for a range of budgets). If your archive is a large one, you'll probably want the former, as otherwise you'll be sitting around in front of the scanner for hours.īelow, we outline our selection of the best photo scanners available now.
Some scanners will be able to batch-scan, while others will require you to feed in the photos one at a time. If so, then you'll want to look for a scanner with dedicated holders to keep the film in place. You may be scanning more than printed photos, such as film negatives or slides. It depends on what you want to do with the scans – if you're planning on making new prints, then you need as much resolution as possible. On scanners, resolution is measured in dots-per-inch (DPI) – if you want a decent, clean scan of your photos then you should be looking for something with at least 600dpi, but many scanners go considerably higher than this. Different models offer different advantages – some are designed for speed and batch-scanning, while others are much slower, but will scan an image at much higher resolutions. However, it can be tricky to figure out which scanner you need.