General Category > General Discussion
Scanners, please tell us about your scanner
darwination:
I did a post on picking a scanner recently here:
http://darwinscans.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-scan-pt-1-picking-scanner.html
I use your method of scanning directly into photoshop when using my A3 Mustek, too, BB, as the software that comes with it isn't too great. After a few years of sometime-use, mine has developed a bad spot in the bulb (which is at least only about an inch in), and I'll probably replace it with the same model. I'm tempted to try another make of A3, but the prices are just so high, I'd hate to get it wrong, and most of the reviews for A3s seem to be from artists that probably aren't putting the wear on a scanner that I would. I'm not surprised to hear that Jim likes his Epson, they seem to make very solid machines.
JVJ (RIP):
--- Quote from: Yoc on January 02, 2011, 07:29:08 PM ---Holy Crap that's FAST Jim!!
My HP is about 2mins and that's at bloody 150dpi!
:(
--- End quote ---
Here's some math, Yoc:
Your scanner takes about 1.75 hours more than mine to do a 64 page comic (assuming you are quoting 2 minutes per page not per spread). At minimum wage of, conservatively, $7.50 an hour (U.S.), that's around $13 per comic you're spending in extra time. You can probably get a 15000 on line for around $600-$700. At $13 per comic, you only have to scan around 50 comics to have it pay for itself. AND, you'll be able to quadruple your scan quality at 300 ppi. If, like me, you think you're worth more than minimum wage, the number of comics drops precipitously.
It's your time...
Peace, Jim (|:{>
"One Day at a Time: The Speed of Life."
JVJ (RIP):
--- Quote from: darwination on January 02, 2011, 08:52:04 PM ---I did a post on picking a scanner recently here:
http://darwinscans.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-scan-pt-1-picking-scanner.html
I use your method of scanning directly into photoshop when using my A3 Mustek, too, BB, as the software that comes with it isn't too great. After a few years of sometime-use, mine has developed a bad spot in the bulb (which is at least only about an inch in), and I'll probably replace it with the same model. I'm tempted to try another make of A3, but the prices are just so high, I'd hate to get it wrong, and most of the reviews for A3s seem to be from artists that probably aren't putting the wear on a scanner that I would. I'm not surprised to hear that Jim likes his Epson, they seem to make very solid machines.
--- End quote ---
As you say, different scanners give very different results, darwin. I found that my Epson 15000 doesn't do the best job on material I intend to reproduce in pure b&w (i.e. eventually output as bitmap). I kept my HP 7400 running for over a year or so just to get its scan quality on high resolution line material. I eventually replaced it with an Epson 500 which works GREAT on line stuff but not nearly as well on photos. And I have an Epson multi-purpose device with a scanner in Paris and it is only just adequate when scanning at 400 ppi.
I have no experience with Mustek beyond a short experiment with one of their handheld units about 15-16 years ago. What a trial that was!
Peace, Jim (|:{>
larrytalbot:
Darwin: Thanks for your informative blog on scanners
Twobyfour:
I was updating a scanner project thread and Yoc said the response could just as easily end up over here. Well, my 2 year old Plustek Optibook developed a series of lines in October and I got a new Epson V300 based on a couple recommendations. It started having lamp problems by the 2nd set of raws I had sent to Darwin. I got a replacement a couple weeks ago and everything seems fine. I'm rawing up the last of the huge St. John's box I got from JVJ and Darwins been plowing through them as fast as I can get them to him. I always try and scan covers at a nice 400 - 600 Tiff. The rest of the book I hit at 300 dpi jpg with fairly standard settings. I really liked the raws I would get from the Plustek, I had a series of pre-sets that I loved, I could easily manipulate the saturation and gamma settings so when I went int Photoshop, I really just had to work with some color replacement, cloning and curving to get great results. Now I know editors who want raws with a lot of the work already done, but most of the guys I work with like letting Photoshop do most of the heavy lifting. So as I have gotten more comfortable with Photoshop CS5 I've modified some of my actions, but I still have some pretty clear-cut edits, for modern comics, black and white mags, slick mags and golden age and older comics. So that's my story :-)
2X4
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version