Minimum set up to scan prints

[Aryel]

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Hello,

I have sold all my digital gear, including film scanner quite some time ago.

I am currently using my phone and controlling the light source to minimize reflections. Looking at a small set up to scan prints, does anyone have some recommendations? Would a flat bed scanner be able to handle glossy paper?

I usually print on ilford mgfb glossy paper (warmtone and classic).

My aim is to share online only, with family, friends and of course on this forum. I am not interested in going back to film scanning for now. Still want to focus on learning the analogue workflow.

Any advice welcome 😊

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[frame-it]

31 minutes ago, Aryel said:

I am currently using my phone and controlling the light source to minimize reflections. Looking at a small set up to scan prints

My aim is to share online only, with family, friends and of course on this forum. I am not interested in going back to film scanning for now. Still want to focus on learning the analogue workflow.

Any advice welcome 😊

something like this ?

https://www.kodakphotoplus.com/products/kodak-mobile-film-scanner

[Aryel]

14 minutes ago, frame-it said:

something like this ?

https://www.kodakphotoplus.com/products/kodak-mobile-film-scanner

No: I want to scan the darkroom prints. Thanks for the input.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Aryel

[onelensman]

I have used a flat bed scanner to copy glossy black and white prints successfully.

Should you wish to copy directly to your phone, the standard setup for flat copy is to use two similiar wattage light sources (eg table lamps) one on each side of the target print pointing at 45 degrees to the print surface and at least one meter away. To ensue even illumination position a white sheet of paper where the print sits, hold a pen or pencil tip touching the paper surface, look at the shadows cast, move one lamp closer or further away to even up the shadow densities.

If the prints are not perfectly flat you may pick up some surface reflections, then position the lamps at a more acute angle, eg 30 degrees

[Aryel]

6 hours ago, onelensman said:

I have used a flat bed scanner to copy glossy black and white prints successfully.

Should you wish to copy directly to your phone, the standard setup for flat copy is to use two similiar wattage light sources (eg table lamps) one on each side of the target print pointing at 45 degrees to the print surface and at least one meter away. To ensue even illumination position a white sheet of paper where the print sits, hold a pen or pencil tip touching the paper surface, look at the shadows cast, move one lamp closer or further away to even up the shadow densities.

If the prints are not perfectly flat you may pick up some surface reflections, then position the lamps at a more acute angle, eg 30 degrees

Thanks a lot. Will try to add a second light and follow your suggestions first.

[Martin B]

Clearly flatbed scanner - I am using my V850 for this purpose sometimes. The print needs to be flat though. If the print is larger than letter size, I scan it horizontally from the side of the scanner in two parts with good overlap area which I merge later in PS. 

[Aryel]

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22 hours ago, Martin B said:

Clearly flatbed scanner - I am using my V850 for this purpose sometimes. The print needs to be flat though. If the print is larger than letter size, I scan it horizontally from the side of the scanner in two parts with good overlap area which I merge later in PS. 

Would you mind sharing a few examples? I mostly print in 8x10. 

I was looking at the v600 but undecided yet: I do not plan to restart scanning negatives for now. I feel I am learning from and enjoying the full analogue pipeline a lot.

[AndreasG]

I use an old Canon LiDE220 for this purpose with good results. Print size up to A4, resolution I set to 300dpi and save as jpg. Dust and scratches I remove in post processing.

[Aryel]

5 minutes ago, AndreasG said:

I use an old Canon LiDE220 for this purpose with good results. Print size up to A4, resolution I set to 300dpi and save as jpg. Dust and scratches I remove in post processing.

Could you share some samples?

Thanks a lot. This could well be enough for me.

[AndreasG]

I only can show you some plain color scans of M6 film photos (size 20x30cm) I made more than 30 years ago, I don't have any B/W prints. The prints have glossy or semi-matte surfaces, I feel, glossy paper gives a better detail resolution.

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[Aryel]

35 minutes ago, AndreasG said:

I only can show you some plain color scans of M6 film photos (size 20x30cm) I made more than 30 years ago, I don't have any B/W prints. The prints have glossy or semi-matte surfaces, I feel, glossy paper gives a better detail resolution.

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Thanks a lot. These look really nice on the phone screen. Look like a good option. I'll check the scanner specs and find out what I can find here.

[AndreasG]

Please note that my Canon scanner is already a couple of years old and probably substituted meanwhile by a newer scanner model. Most probably any flatbed scanner from a reputable maker will do this job easily.

[Martin B]

1 hour ago, Aryel said:

Would you mind sharing a few examples? I mostly print in 8x10. 

I was looking at the v600 but undecided yet: I do not plan to restart scanning negatives for now. I feel I am learning from and enjoying the full analogue pipeline a lot.

Examples of 8x10 prints scanned directly in letter size on my V850 - at the time of these prints and following scans I didn't have yet a hot press to flatten the paper which I now use all the time and makes scanning even easier. 

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[Aryel]

15 hours ago, Martin B said:

Examples of 8x10 prints scanned directly in letter size on my V850 - at the time of these prints and following scans I didn't have yet a hot press to flatten the paper which I now use all the time and makes scanning even easier. 

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Thanks a lot for sharing and for the tip on flattening the paper first. These are beautiful! 

[Stuart Richardson]

While this is a slide, not a print, it gives you an idea of what kind of resolution you might expect on the V850 when just scanning flat on the glass. This is without using a holder, just a slide flat on the glass. A print is scanned the same way, I believe, and with the same lens. The difference is that you choose reflective instead of transmissive. I am not 100% certain on this, as I have not used the Epson for prints yet, but just thought I could give another example. I think this one was at 2400 dpi.

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[Martin B]

55 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

While this is a slide, not a print, it gives you an idea of what kind of resolution you might expect on the V850 when just scanning flat on the glass. This is without using a holder, just a slide flat on the glass. A print is scanned the same way, I believe, and with the same lens. The difference is that you choose reflective instead of transmissive. I am not 100% certain on this, as I have not used the Epson for prints yet, but just thought I could give another example. I think this one was at 2400 dpi.

 

 

This is correct. You need to use reflective to scan documents/paper/prints. I always use the cover plate on top of the transmissive lid side when doing so. It avoids unwanted reflections from glass on the scanner lid. Even it is very critical to adjust for the height when scanning negatives and slides with the V850, you can directly scan prints on the glass surface in high quality as you mentioned. 

[Aryel]

8 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

While this is a slide, not a print, it gives you an idea of what kind of resolution you might expect on the V850 when just scanning flat on the glass. This is without using a holder, just a slide flat on the glass. A print is scanned the same way, I believe, and with the same lens. The difference is that you choose reflective instead of transmissive. I am not 100% certain on this, as I have not used the Epson for prints yet, but just thought I could give another example. I think this one was at 2400 dpi.

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Thanks a lot for sharing these. I am sure this is a great scanner for both scanning film and print. 

However, I do not plan to go back to film scanning( at least for now), sold the film scanner couple of months back. This is why a bit unsure whether it is worth it for me.

Thanks for the input!

On 29/01/2021 at 11:12 PM, AndreasG said:

Please note that my Canon scanner is already a couple of years old and probably substituted meanwhile by a newer scanner model. Most probably any flatbed scanner from a reputable maker will do this job easily.

Found some similar ones. I'll most likely start from there. 

 

Thanks a lot for the help everyone.

[Aryel]

Hello,

Just want to say thank you for all the advices. I went with an epson v39 in the end as I do not plan to go back to film scanning any time soon.

 

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[Aryel]

Scanner received. First test looks like it will be more than enough for now. First test below:

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Thanks again!

[AndreasG]

Nice photo taken at the Shibuya crossing!