Flatbed Scanners

We Offer...

...the best of class in flatbed scanners, from entry level to production-grade. Easy ordering, fast delivery. While we do offer cost-effective scanners, we don't sell cheap ones. Life is too short for our customers to have to deal with annoying scanner problems.

Why Flatbeds

We also offer a varity of pen scanners, some being line scanners and some being full-page scanners. Most of those are portables. They're great for a lot of things, but when you have high-volume scanning needs or you need to scan full pages frequently (and don't need portability), a flatbed is your best choice.

Benefits

Speed. A flatbed scanner is much faster than a portable. That's because it doesn't need to accomodate a small, light size.
Quality. The resolution and color fidelity of a flatbed is generally higher than that of a portable, for the same reason the speed is better.
Ease. For many types of scanning, a flatbed is easier to use than any other kind of scanner. You just plop the paper down on the bed and press a button. No manual dexterity required (with pens, it's minimal dexterity but still a challenge for the very young and the very old).

Typical Features

The typical flatbed scanner has these features:

Fast scanning.
Easy setup and use.
Some kind of software for editing or other purposes.
Image adjustment controls.
Very high optical resolution, even higher interpolated resolution.
16-bit gray, 24-bit color. (Note that it is much higher for some scanners and lower for others; for most situations, 8g/16c is ample).
Some kind of touch button operation.
Handsome styling (not the old beige boxes of yesteryear).
USB connectivity (pretty standard today)..

Size

Flatbed scanners typically are oen of two sizes:

Letter size. The active scanning area accomodates standard-sized paper (8.5x11 or a little larger), and the body of the scanner fits around that. So these vary from around 10Wx14L to 14Wx16L and the height will be a few inches.
Legal size. The active scanning area accomodates legal-sized paper (11x17 or a little larger), and the body of the scanner fits around that. So these vary from around 12Wx18L to 18Wx22L and the height will be a few inches.

A document feeder usually won't increase the contact area (known as the footprint) but will typically require more room around the scanner plus additional height.

Media Type

Plain paper.
Photo prints.
Some can also accomodate film and negatives.

Comes With

The typical flatbed comes with a power adapter, software, and user manuals. Don't be intimidated by the manuals, there really isn't that much involved in using a scanner.

Scanning Tips

Scanning is easy, but a few tips will help you do a better job.

As a scanning aid, keep a small flat object near your scanner. An old CD, for example. Where a paper starts to curl, place this object on that paper before closing the scanner cover. This prevents things from moving around or being bent backwards. You can also keep an old flat ruler around for this purpose.
Never have the lid up when you scan; that scatters light everywhere and reduces the sharpness of the scan.
When saving the scan, remember that you are saving a file. This is not any different from saving a paper file in a folder, except you're saving it electronically. So save to a smartly named folder and give it a meaningful filename. For example, Finance/BankStatements/2012/Statement2012-01-28. Don't use spaces in folder or filenames.
Clean the scanning glass occassionally. Just a plain facial tissue (not one that has lotion in it) works well. Don't use harsh cleaners. Usually, just breathing on the glass and wiping right away is sufficient.

Scanning Devices > Flatbed Scanners