Legal Size Scanner thread.

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Hi all,

 

Been following this thread for a while. It seems like most of the suggestions are around getting second-hand scanners. I haven't tried these models but I'm glad they are working out for folks. What I'd like to know is if anyone has ideas "if money were no object" - i.e. professional imaging equipment, high-end scanners etc.

 

Took a slab to an imaging studio in Manhattan and they wanted to charge me $30 an image - did not do this but I wondered if anyone knows what type of machines they would likely be using?

 

I've been taking mine to Staples to have them scanned and they come out fairly good. One Staples in my area just got a new machine (Xerox) and they are coming out even better.

 

Again, curious about more expensive solutions just out of curiosity - what does CGC use, does anyone know?

 

If money weren't an object i'd still get an HP 8300. When it came out a few years back it was a $500 MSRP scanner. Now you probably pay more for shipping than the scanner itself. I scanned a negative with it as well and the result was f-ing amazing in my opinion. I'll post some sample scans and settings in a bit.

 

Thanks.

 

To contribute to the thread, here is Staples' Xerox machine, charging sometimes $2 an image, sometimes $2 for the first only and pennies for subsequent images:

 

Maybe I should start charging for color adjustments

Add some Black!! Like I did

 

 

That looks really good, though for some reason the settings on my computer are limited and don't have a black level option (or it does and I'm just not seeing it). Guess I'll just have to email you every one of my scans for you to adjust.

So I upgraded to Maverick. Sigh... Apparently if you have a Mac and upgrade to Maverick the HP Scan utility won't work anymore. They may fix it but who knows. Just a heads up so if you are getting funky looking scans when you save you are not alone.

 

Link to the HP site.

 

It's not free, but worth it. VueScan solved the problem for me.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I picked it up and it works. Now I just have to get used to using it. Getting all my settings right. Looks much more washed out than my HP Scan did.

 

 

This one came out good ~

That does look much better! (thumbs u

BTW, a year or so ago a way to remove glare produced by waves in the inner well was recommended to me. It works, but you must be careful. Applying light to moderate pressure on the back of the slab (while the book is being scanned & in the approximate area where the glare appears on the front) will usually eliminate or greatly reduce area hot spots in the image.

Again, be careful because applying too much pressure may result in a cracked slab. If you have doubts you might want to practice with an inexpensive book first. Slabs are tough and can take a moderate amount of external pressure, just don't get heavy handed about it. I've done this dozens of times and only cracked a slab once, and that wasn't serious enough to send the book back for re-holdering. Easy does it usually works. My

HP Scanjet 8300 (300 DPI resolution) ...

 

 

Used standard Photobucket tools to crop and color fix...

 

 

Don't know how this looks on anyone else's screen, but the scan looks pretty good on mine. (thumbs u

 

It looks good but has a glare on the top 1/4 of the slab that makes the colors look a little washed out- have you tried scanning it with a piece of solid color cardboard behind it. overlapping all sides of the slab and see if that eliminates at least a portion of the glare? Due to black background I assume you arescanning with no cover/lid.

I've tried this and it usually makes little or no difference. This sort of glare occurs more frequently in thicker slabs (early GA books), when the label is at a slightly recessed angle and catches more light when the scanning carriage is in motion. And yes, the scanner's cover was open in low room light.

The one thing that does work (occasionally), is switching ends for the scan and then rotating the image later. When that works it's great, when it doesn't, the bottom of the book catches the scanner glare.

 

It looks very nice, but I was just wondering if this scan was made using the 'Extreme' setting? I tend to use that setting on my 8300 and it really makes the image "pop".

Extreme setting wasn't used. Minor tweaks were done after the book was scanned, using Photobucket tools. The first image is the original HP scan.

The only adjustments (to make the image pop, as it actually looks) were color fix, slight brightness boost and nudging the contrast. To my eye it now looks very much like the slabbed book in hand (minor glare notwithstanding).

I don't use photoshop at all, I use a mac and right click the image and adjust the contract to darken it, bring up the sharpness and add a little brightness to it.

If anyone wants a color adjustment, just PM me your scans. it takes me 3 seconds to do it.

With the 8300 is there a way to set the color and lighting ahead of time if scanning 100+ comics. I don't want to have to do that after the fact if I can help it.

With the 8300 is there a way to set the color and lighting ahead of time if scanning 100+ comics. I don't want to have to do that after the fact if I can help it.

Good question! That is something I'll find out when I get my new (used) scanner in mail tomorrow.

I love these boards.

After reading through this thread, I picked up a Scanjet 8300 off ebay. This is my first scan without any adjustments.

Anyone have any experience with the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus. I've messed around with the setting but having issues scanning. If I copy something it comes out great, but opening it and using the flatbed part the image is pretty fuzzy.

Any help would be appreciated.

Got my new scanner - HP 8300 today. Bloody hell, this is a monster! Didn't expect it to be this huge. Tomorrow gonna have find a USB cable to fit in and get it up running for some tests.

Enjoy your HP 8300! I love mine. Great piece of kit.

Anyone have any experience with the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus. I've messed around with the setting but having issues scanning. If I copy something it comes out great, but opening it and using the flatbed part the image is pretty fuzzy.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Post a scan here so we can see it but the issue might be it's the newer version of scanner and you will not be able to get rid of the blurriness.

Anyone have any experience with the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus. I've messed around with the setting but having issues scanning. If I copy something it comes out great, but opening it and using the flatbed part the image is pretty fuzzy.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Post a scan here so we can see it but the issue might be it's the newer version of scanner and you will not be able to get rid of the blurriness.

I'm almost certain it's the newer version, my 8500A doesn't scan properly either.

We know 8300s are fine, I will look through this thread today to see where the list of slab compatible scanners is(unless someone can find it before me!).

unless someone can find it before me!

Ok, my new scanner is set up and plugged in. Run my first scan as-is without any modify. This is "Earth X" variant bagged. How does the scan look to you?

Number 2 - scan test. Trying a comic book in raw without bag. How does that look? No modify in there.

So now the 8300 is the beast to get?

Does anybody have any advice on what setting to put on a HP Photosmart 6520? It works great on raw books, but when I try to scan slabs it gets blurry, and a little dark.

I think I got it figured out. I found out if I use "auto fix" on color - it seems to get the correct color and shade just like how the comic book look like in my hand. Here is the test #3 on "Richie Rich Mystery" #2.

It does look good to me.

Does anybody have any advice on what setting to put on a HP Photosmart 6520? It works great on raw books, but when I try to scan slabs it gets blurry, and a little dark.

Look up CCD vs. CIS. You're never going to get a good scan of a slab with a CIS.