Best Scanners For Home Use (2024 Update)

A desktop scanner with a relatively small footprint that is a move away from the flatbed models of some years ago. This relies on a foldout document feed mechanism rather than laying one out flat on a glass plate. Unusually, the Brother ADS1200 Document Scanner Compact PC Connected Desktop is not only USBconnected but can also be USBpowered mains power connection is possible via the provided lead should you wish to use or need to use it see below. A wireless model with otherwise similar specifications is an alternative. When not in use, the feed element can be folded back out of harms way, and kept dustfree.There is also a dedicated feed slot for smaller items such as a driving licence, ID, credit and debit cards that bypasses the automatic feeder. While its document feeder will automatically feed typical paper weights of office stationery up to 128gsm when USBpowered, heavier weights such as cardstock of up to 250 gsm will need to be fed manually, one sheet at a time, but you will then also need mains power.Although not described as A4, the maximum document width is slightly greater but it can scan documents of 80 cm in length should one ever be encountered. Additionally, it can scan both sides simultaneously where required and optionally in colour or BampW. Via the feeder, it will accept a stack of up to 20 individual documents. Scan speed is more than acceptably fast, offering up to 25 pages per minute at 50 inches per minute of printed matter. Its scan resolution is 600 x 600 dpi, adequate for its copying texts and graphics as a personal or office document scanner. It does not offer the higher resolutions needed for photos etc.A driver disk is not provided not every PC now includes an optical drive and they are also lessoften used. Its software packages are available via Brothers web site Mac OSX, and Windows 7 and up only, easily found by inputting the model number ADS1200 in the Product Support Page Search Bar that includes its drivers and scanning software, OCR functions scan to editable text, document and PDF management software versions of Nuance. The combined size of all packages excluding its online documentation is circa 500MB if downloaded individually but a combined installer is much smaller, all of which were quite recently dated when checked. Further software updates may be available in due course. Be aware that the PDF software is Trial only and registration and activation authorisation is US179The scanner has sometimes exhibited functional issues, not least with folded or flimsy paperwork. Being a rollerfed scanner rather than a flatbed, feeding issues will be common.As a longterm user of Brother laser printers, personally and in the office, a reputation for quality and reliable performance was established. Unlike brands such as Canon, Epson and HP, Brother is best known for its printers and MFPs standalone scanners did not feature in previous product ranges. Major usage problems are not anticipated but, if ever required, support services are very good and UKbased.POSTSCRIPT 102020 Although working adequately with normal correspondence, statements etc, I was later asked to copy a laminated document for a neighbour but it proved impossible as it was too stiff to pass through the scanners 120degree or thereabouts feeder system a flatbed or direct feed scanner would be needed for anything thicker or stiffer than 120gsm paper. Consideration may be given to purchasing another suitable portable scanner should such a need again arise.Mr G J

I purchased this scanner as an upgrade to the previous mobile scanner I purchased a few months ago. *I will say, if you have it have had a Previous Brother Scanner, you'll have to update and remove the previous device Before this will work. Set up was reasonably simple. After I synced this device with my laptop, I scanned a sample doc, and this was Super Fast. One thing I Will mention – there is Nothing along the bottom to hold outcoming papers upon passing through the scanner, you must have it on a table, or have your hand ready to catch them as they pass through. Also, make sure Everything scans. At times, pages will pass through together and you'll have to run the ones it missed again… One great advantage, it has a 20-page capacity automatic doc feeder and you can add pages/docs in 20-page increments to your scans. This is great considering my need to scan large packages, sometimes, 100 pages or more, at a time. One small con: counting pages into 20-page increments to feed so you don't miss any pages to be scanned. All in all, it's a good, economical, Portable device that works well for me as a Signing Agent and Mobile Notary.Arris

First thing I noticed about this Brother ADS1200 scanner is how fast it is. From the time you press the button to the moment document is scanned and saved to your USB stick or computer, it is about 56 seconds… And it does scan both sides of the document at the same time and saves it neatly into pdf but you need to have in mind you need to place documents upside down and back to front, not as pictured on the product images. If you place document facing you the way it shows on the product images it will be scanned upside down. There is no mention of the scanning method in the instructions booklet, but this is something easy to figure out by trial and error method.If you are getting Brother ADS1200 there are only two scanning options to the USB stick or to the computer via USB 3.0. Sadly, scanning to the computer via the network with the Brother ADS1200 is not available.Scanning to the USB stick is super easy, no set up is required. The only minus for me is the fact the USB plug socket is on the back of the scanner so I have to lift it and move around every time in order to connectdisconnect the USB stick, which is a bit annoying. I would prefer the socket to be on the front.Scanning to the computer via USB 3.0. is a brilliant idea as the scanner can be also powered with this connection so this would be very handy if you need to take the scanner to the library or another place away from home or office but First of all, the USB 3.0. cable is not provided, you need to have your own that will be long enough to connect the scanner to the computer. And if you find the right cable, setting up for the scanner to see your computer is not that easy either.As soon as I connected the scanner Windows asked me to add a new scanner, it went all smoothly but for some reason, the scanner does not seem to see my computer and when I press scan to computer button it does blink for a while but then it stops and nothing happens. It could be the cable fault so I need to get a new USB 3.0. cable to check if that was the issue. Until then I will have to scan to the USB stick.On the positive note, the scanner is very compact, great for travel, especially with the USB 3.0. connection that can double as a power source and Kensington lock socket.Mr. D E P

I love having this portable scanner. I need to fill out documents and send them to school. This is much easier than purchasing a whole new printer with a scanner. And a full-size scanner would be inconvenient when I am studying/handling school tasks away from home. My only issue with it is that sometimes it shows it's connected, and the light brightens when the paper is inserted correctly but will not scan when I press the button.Becky

If you want to see the scanner in action check out this demo video I put together: https://youtu.be/yX5_ZLXQgGI For the size of the scanner, I am super impressed by the speed and quality with which it scans documents. The only bad thing that I can say about it is that the software is a little clunky, but once you get used to it the software is handy. It comes with a bunch of different programs and drivers but the two useful ones that you should know about are document capture and FineReader Sprint. Document capture is basic you press the scan button and it scans the documents on the scanner, then it has some easy to use tools that let you rotate and rearrange pages (the clunky part of the software is when you go to the save dialog using a mac it feels outdated, but once you figure it out it’s just a minor nuisance). The FineReader Sprint software that comes bundled with the scanner is more full featured and can convert documents not only into a searchable pdf but also into a word excel or HTML file. Having it create a searchable pdf is super useful because then you can find things easily in the document and anyone that you send your pdf’s to will be able to go through the document more easily. (Protip: The FineReader Sprint program can also take pdf files from your computer and turn them into other kinds of files or make them searchable.) The hardware of the scanner is nothing short of amazing, it is super small but folds out do have a document feeder that is the size of much larger scanners. In the box, you get the scanner itself, a USB cable and a power cable. In the instructions, it says that the scanner can be powered using just your computers USB port so I just did that because why would you want to plug in the AC adapter if you don’t have to. When I started scanning, it was kind of slow, the pages fed at an ok speed and there was a couple second pause between pages. For a small scanner, I thought this was an acceptable speed but it wasn’t anything impressive. Then on a whim, I plugged in the power cable and scanned a document. WOW, it goes so fast, I guess it can’t power the motors fully using just your computers USB power but once you plug it in it shoots through documents. I’ve only had it jam once and it was because I loaded the documents wrong. I’m very impressed by how it takes in the documents and doesn’t take too many at a time or get them misaligned. Overall I would recommend this scanner to anyone who is looking for a small scanner for their desk, or a scanner to take with them on the go! This is a review for the Epson ES-200 Portable Duplex Document Scanner that I received free of charge to do a beta test and review.Zach

Purchased yesterday, scanned about 50 pages thus far and very pleased. Needed something immediately and it was in stock at my local store However, for a couple dollars more, you can get the WiFi enabled ES-300W which I think also has a battery. If I understand correctly, you can charge the 300 and use it completely wirelessly. That said, this scanner blows away my old Fujitsu in speed. At 25 pages a minute (I haven't timed it, but I believe it) it is pretty quick and the scans are accurate. I am going to return this and get the ES-300W only because of the wireless capability. And the lack of a 5th star is specifically for that reason. I would be very satisfied with this otherwise, and have no hesitation recommending it.Whazzup

The Epson WorkForce ES-50 is an excellent option for an ultra portable scanner option. The small size (can easily fit into a laptop bag or be carried around separately since it weighs just over 1/2 lb. Out of the box, the Epson ES-50 feels more durable and sturdy that other scanners I've owned. I also like that it is black since white can tend to get dirty over time–especially being handled as much as this scanner would. One thing I would've seriously appreciated is an auto document feeder or sheet holder. The ES-50 is a single sheet fed scanner so you'll be required to manually insert each page. Performance wise, the ES-50 performs well for a very compact and portable scanner. However, I would've appreciated duplex scanning capabilities and some kind of automatic document feeder–even if it could be purchased as an accessory. The scanner scans a full page at about 1 page per 5-6 seconds which is pretty slow for a scanner, but it is very small and portable so it's expected that some performance would be sacrificed. Scanning quality is good and on par with other sheet fed scanners with a 600 DPI optical w/ software enhancement up to 1,200 DPI. The ES-50 comes with Epson SmartScan software which helps you make the most of your scanner. Especially important, is the ability to scan separate pages (remember, no ADF) and combine them into one document. One of the best features of the Epson ES-50 is that it doesn't require a separate power source. Simply connect the ES-50 via the included USB and your computer provides all the power necessary. This will drain your laptop faster than usual, but shouldn't be an issue unless you have a particularly large scan job. In that case, you will probably want to have your laptop plugged in. In conclusion, I think the Epson ES-50 is a good portable scanner, but it does lack some very helpful features that I wish it included like an ADF or duplex capabilities. While you may not need duplex capability each scan, you will likely need to scan more than one page almost every scan and an ADF would be very useful. For those reasons, I can't give the ES-50 more than 3.5 out of 5 stars. Pros: *Ultra compact design *Good scan quality *Powered by USB via computer *Price Cons: *No duplex scanning *No Automatic Document Feederabl001

Sufficient for documents, total garbage for photos. Easy enough to set up. I use a MacBook Pro. No problems. I called Epson a few months ago regarding the problem of lines being put onto my photo scans regardless of how many times I cleaned and calibrated the scanner. After 40 minutes of not helpful trouble shooting the solution was to send me another scanner. After about 20 photos the new scanner started doing the exact same thing. Highly unlikely I'll call support again as it wasn't helpful the first time and I'll just hang on to this scanner for homework scanning for a child of mine since it works well for that. I need a scanner that works just for photos so I'll be buying something different and hope it is much better than this scanner.CinnaPatty

I travel quite a bit for my job, which means I have expenses and receipts to deal with. Additionally, we like keeping track of spending, and bills at home. I already have a home office printer/scanner with a document feeder on it, as well as a photo quality flatbed scanner. That said, this little scanner has it's own place in my arsenal, and should be quite useful. In the box is a pair of quickstart guides to get you going in several languages, a micro-USB cable to get connected, a calibration sheet, and the scanner. Getting setup with the guide takes about 5-10 minutes, and that includes installation of the drivers and software. Setup also includes a test scan, and after that you are good to go. Scanning is quick and quiet, with the only real noise being paper moving through and over the rollers. Though it's fast, it produces a decent quality image. I wouldn't use this for scanning in photos or high DPI images, since it doesn't support high DPI, but for receipts, bills, and other similar documents, it does a fine job. The footprint while doing so is also small, as the length is just shy of the length of a sheet of letter paper. Depth and thickness are also low, in the 2-2.5" range, so it doesn't take up much space. When operating, you just need to keep the area behind it clear, as the sheet feeds from the front through the back. The OCR software works well, but does take some time to let run, especially when compared to a simple scan. However, I found it accurate and useful for several documents I scanned in. I also like that I can plug it in, insert a document or receipt, and press the button to scan on the scanner itself, and it will launch the software and scan. I have had other portable scanners that required me to launch the software first, and that gets annoying after some time. It's lighter than a typical laptop battery, and about the same as a laptop charger. They manage to keep it so light by building the body out of plastic, which is great, but does create the single concern I have about it: body flex. Because I travel, something like this gets tossed into my laptop bag. It has it's own "space" in the bag, but it's not surrounded by a rigid shell or protector. Once all my items are in the bag, there is a good chance something could press on this. When you squeeze the top to bottom in the middle, it flexes quite a bit, and that has me question the longevity of it. It might be that it flexes just enough to give and not be brittle, instead of flexing just enough to break. I haven't had any damage or broken parts, yet, but it is something worth noting as a concern. Overall, however, I like it. I wish I got the model with the WiFi built in, as that would be a great option for getting scans wirelessly to my phone or laptop when I am on business trips, but I also don't know how much I would use that feature. Because of that, I think this is a great portable scanner for my needs.Daved

I have started on my project (30-50K images) starting with prints from the 70’s. Getting good quality scans, only regret is I considered the 12000 series flatbed scanner, and considered the price went with the V850. Downside is the limited number of prints that I can place on the scanner at one time. As noted in previous reviews there is a tendency to crop the image if it is place at the edge of the glass. As such depending on the print format I can only scan 3-8 images at a time. Hopefully will start on transparencies within 2 months (most of my archive is 35mm Ektachrome and SFW with a fair amount of 4×5). Software bundled with the unit is not usable for 2020 Mac, obtained drivers from Epson (be careful what you download, Epson has an issue with OS11, calls it 10.15 in some instances, X-rite software not supported but call to them got me a download of the current color calibration software. Have not used Silverfast, have yet to figure out how to get a download base on what shipped from Epson. Currently scanning with Photoshop/Lightroom and hope to use VueScan once I start with transparencies. All in all happy with unit but in retrospect the larger scanner would have made my workflow easier, and that will be an option for the future.Thomas

I bought this to scan 50+ yr of 35 mm and 4×5 negatives, and transparencies. Additionally will also preserve family snaps. I bought this because it will handle 4×5 and 12 35mm at time. So far I have used it for reflective prints only, good quality scans. Have not yet started with transparencies. Capacity may prove to be an issue with the amount of images I will be scanning. Limitations: Does tend to cut off images placed at edges of platen, able to scan 4-7 commercial lab prints at a time, depending on format. SOFTWARE is supplied on CD, not usable on 2020 iMac. Downloaded drivers from Epson, make sure you load proper (11.1) not 10.15. X-rite color calibration (i1) no longer supported, call to X-rite got me hooked up with download of current version. Have not figured out how to get Silverfast, using Adobe Photoshop and will be using Vue-Scan. Have not yet used negative or slide holders, will update after I use them if possible. Satisfied, but in retrospect given the size of my project. probably should have gone with the 12000 series profession flat bed. Considered a dedicated slide scanner but several hundred 4×5 images required a flatbed scanner.Foxtrot2

I bought the Epson Perfection V850 in 2014 almost exclusively for scanning medium format negatives, but also as a scanner for general use. Overall, it has performed very well. I use it with the supplied Epson software for general use, and find that entirely adequate, but limitations with the bundled SilverFast software led me to use VueScan for negative scanning and the combination of both works well. The quality of reproduction is good, not up to drum scan standard, but completely satisfactory for most uses. I have not tried the wet scan method that is likely to enhance the scanning performance of the V850. I do not as a rule use any of the noise and dirt reduction systems available with this scanner's supplied software as I find they are too broad in effect, preferring to scan as clean a negative as possible with minimal processing and do spot repair of specks, scratches and dust with Photoshop. The equipment is reliable as shown by several years of use, constructed to good consumer standards. Like some others have noted, I do find the negative holders for 120 film to be poorly designed with some difficultly loading and aligning 120 strips, although once properly seated the scanning process works well. The plastic film holders do attract dust and require a clean with a lens wipe or a good blowing between uses to keep the dirt to a minimum, but are fine with those provisos. Apart from the seating issues with 120 negative film (not present for other film sizes), I find the negative and slide holders to be easy to use and all are well adapted to the scanner. They are of adequate construction, all plastic. Paper and printed photograph scans also work well. Black and white and color reproduction is good if you pay attention to the scanning software settings and choose the best for the type of film you are using. You will need to spend some time to master the best settings for this scanner, although immediate use results are probably good enough for most people. Resolution is good too, with lots of options for bit depth and hence resulting file size. I've not tried other scanners in the Perfection series so I cannot compare, but I do use a dedicated Plustek 35mm negative scanner for that type of film. The V850 simply cannot match the quality of the Plustek, although it is far faster to operate and can scan multiple sets of 35mm negatives at once, a point in its favor. Overall, a very useful piece of equipment to those of us photographing with film.RichardtheScanner

This is an excellent scanner, easy to set up and scans super quick on both sides of a paper doc. Its very convenient as we don't need to keep the copies all over. We can scan the docs, receipts, warranty info papers or any documents that needs for future reference and shred the hard copies. Less clutter in home or office. It connects through WIFI or through an Ethernet cable to network. Easy to configure the scanned docs to be sent to an email, move it to an USB drive or store in to Raven cloud where it can be organized for accessing from anywhere. We started liking it a lot but only one point is it is little expensive compared to the All-in-one printer that comes with a scanner. Honestly we shouldn't compare these two because this Raven unit doesn't need any computer to manage the scanned documents.rambo

My husband questioned why we needed a scanner when we had one in our printer. After explaining how quick this machine works and that it connects to Google Drive he was understanding but still did not completely understand. Now that it is setup he thinks it is the greatest thing for our 2 businesses. He loves that it scans quick into a file on Google drive and he is able to attach it to an email in seconds. He says he will never go back to the scanner on the printer and that takes way too long. This is great for small businesses that have a lot of paper and need to get in online quick or even to stay organized without saving all the paper. Would recommend this to everyone…. totally worth the money.Aphillips

Every small business and home office needs the Raven Scanner Pro! I’m just average at technology and the Raven Scanner Pro was taken out of the box, set up completely, and running in under 10 minutes! The compact footprint is great but don't let the size fool you. This machine is a giant! It connected seamlessly with my WiFi but also comes with an Ethernet cord, if needed. You can have the scanned document(s) sent directly to any email address, faxed, or posted to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Quickbooks, USB, and other destinations. There are options to choose the DPI quality from 200 to 600, color/B&W/grayscale, and sides. The adjustable paper tray will accept even a 3”x5” photo. I didn’t have anything smaller to test but the photo scan was beautiful. What a great way to preserve and share memories. As an initial scan test, I put in a two sided document. I no sooner hit the scan icon than the paper shot out like a cannon with both sides completed in color. Within seconds it appeared in my email inbox. Raven thoughtfully included a self-inking rubber stamp to provide an organized way to mark and date the scanned document. Thanks to Raven, I’m actually looking forward to tax season! It will be a breeze so prepare for our accountant.HappyinFL

I own a small online baby boutique and I often times I need to scan my documents and receipts. I was using a bulky machine to do this and the ADS-3100 is by far a game changer for my business. You can scan straight to your computer or even to a USB which I love the idea of that option so I can just hand over the USB to an accountant. The images are extremely clear and the best part, it’s quick, too! I love having a clean, neat, well decorated office space and this machine is sleek and a great addition to my workspace without taking away from the decor and design. I would give this 10 stars if I could!Shana1217

This is a great scanner for small businesses and home use. I have 2 small businesses and need a scanner that can keep receits separated and in files. It works great! And to keep my home stuff in a whole nother file. This cute little scanner does the job well. Thanks Brother for creating this scanner.Tmsweety

I love this product! This scanner is easy to use with cool functions. The Brother iPrint & Scan app enables you to select how and where you want your scan to go. It allows you to edit the pages you want to keep, as in deleting the 2nd page of a front and back scan if it happens to be a blank page, or it's just not needed. You can select the size of the document, choose if you want jpeg, pdf, etc; and prepare workflow functions for even easier future scanning jobs that are similar in nature. I also love that it's portable and lightweight, so I can move it to where I need it instead of trying to move an all-in-one product that's bulky and heavy.CurleyLee

Setup instructions are rather vague and not very helpful. There is no actual program that installs on your computer, rather you have to download the files, save them to a folder, and then create a shortcut to run the .exe program every time you want to use it. The scanner itself feels like flimsy plastic. The lid flexes and it does not feel very durable at all. There is no power cord and the supplied USB cord is short. But, the scanner is so small it is easy to move and setup when you need it, or even stash in a drawer when not in use. Tried a couple scans and it seems to work fine. I guess you can't expect much more for the price range.lapstraked

I have a Canon 9950f which I have had for a number of years. It has been a work horse and still functions well. So why a Canon LiDE 400? Simply, I wanted a second scanner for everyday scanning but more importantly for quick easy scanning of the many totes of photos from my film days. I still use the 9950f for special, more professional scanning of certain photos and/or negatives; sometimes with SilverFast ai Studio, sometimes not as it came with very good scanner profiles. Now, about the LiDE 400. First off, it's $90. It's not top of the line or a professional scanner. It should never be reviewed as such. Having said that, the LiDE 400 scans photos at pretty much equal quality to the 9950f. Notice I said photos, meaning prints which is reflective scanning. There are really 2 things important to the general quality of a scan; resolution and dmax (optical density value). You definitely want more resolution. The more resolution, the more pixels which allows not only for sizing flexibility but for more reproducible detail. At 4800 x 4800, the LiDE 400 has more than adequate resolution for any of your needs with this type of scanner. Dmax, the optical density determines the ability to capture shades of grey (camera sensors see grey too). The number of shades of grey and the smoothness of the gradation determines the dynamic range and fine detail. This becomes more crucial if your doing transmissive scanning (slides or negatives). For prints, the native density of a photographic print is around 2.0. By contrast negatives are around 3.5 – 4.0. If a scanner lists a Dmax value in its specs it is for transmissive scanning. Most, if not all, reflective scanners will have a Dmax of at least 2.5 which when applied to prints is more than sufficient. From a purely equipment stand point, the LiDE 400 is entirely capable of providing a very good photo print scan. However, the software / driver are other factors. Anyone previously using a Canon scanner will be familiar with the driver. I have found it (on the 9950f) to be very easy to use and powerful enough (in advanced mode) to accommodate most scans for whatever purposes. It is pretty much the same now. They've made some changes mostly in the cosmetics of the interface but it functions the same, which is good. You can enable 48 bit scanning (a must for after scan editing), determine color management (profile use), and image manipulation (levels, curves, etc) based on the color management scheme. What is new is the IJScan utility. This is the launch pad for all scanning unless you are scanning directly from an application like PS or Word etc. Here you select what scan you need from PDF to Photo to ScanGear (driver access) but what is really good, it is here that you determine through the settings the parameters of each type of scan. This includes the location to download image, the file format, and any application you want to associate (like Lightroom for example). What is also good for me, is the ability to launch the ScanGear driver from the utility and work in advanced mode. This was not available in the older application. Also you can perform a 48 bit scan from the utility through the driver without launching from a specific 3rd party application (like Photoshop). These 2 things were a perpetual issue for me. Not anymore. The last thing was installation. I have installed the utility, driver, and scanner on 2 Windows 10 systems. One is Win 10 Pro, the other Win 10 Home. Both are at OS Build 21H1. The installation went smoothly without issue and the systems easily recognized the scanner. The Canon LiDE 400 operates without issue and very efficiently. Also I might mention since it may be important to some; the scanner has a small footprint for a scanner. It is thin and light weight. Ok, it's not perfect, Right? No, but these are not issues of such magnitude to reduce my rating since 2 are documentation flaws. Firstly, the profile provided by Canon is good but seems to be a bit biased red and a bit over-saturated. Now, that is a very subjective point. I tend to scan and shoot more neutral. Canon and other companies generally boost things a bit with their cameras, scanners, and printers if allowed to use default color management. The 9950f did not but with the LiDE 400 I just scan without a profile in play. As to documentation… I don't have clue how I would scan a photo print in the vertical position. Maybe a letter size document would work. There is no documentation on this. Nor is there any reference to the photo stich function. I may experiment in the future but its not a priority. Hope this helps… Bottom line; read the headline. That says it all.Stanley

Like: USB C, no power adapter needed. Dislike: not all of the glass area is captured, absolutely dumb stand for upright orientation. I use this scanner weekly or more often. It is supported in Linux as a PC hosted scanner (EndeavorOS Artemis), no known way in Linux to configure the buttons on the scanner itself. Some tutorials hint it is possible to configure buttons in Linux. Decent for the price, if you accept the capture limitations. But, why offer glass which is not scanned? Document headers/footers get chopped up by this.Spuffler

A lightweight, good scanner. Simple to set up on one of my computers, I used the online software download instead of the CD. I love that there's only 1 cord and turning it on/off is as easy as plugging it in/out of your computer. I had a problem downloading the software package onto my other computer, so I called Canon's IT support and they helped me install it through their website. I haven't used the scanner for it's intended purpose yet–a huge genealogy project–but I've used it a couple times to test it and it works well. I'm looking forward to using all the options in ScanGear to get really good digital pictures and PDFs! It is a little noisy, not something you'd notice in a room with background noise, but a little loud in a quiet room. As far as the delivery goes–I liked how securely the scanner was packaged in 3 boxes, and thank God it was because the outer box was dented and tape ripped. So much so that you could lift the lid of the box on 1 side and reach inside! Ironically the tape said Caution: if this tape is broken or covered check for hidden damage and concealed loss in the presence of carrier. Note all facts on receipt, but the carrier did not ring my doorbell or notify me the package was delivered in any way, so he wasn't even there when I found it on my doorstep damaged!! No wonder, with the shape the box was in. Seriously not cool, but thankfully the scanner was in fine condition in the innermost box and everything was inside. So 1 start off for terrible delivery service, and if I could, half a star off because it was a hassle to download the software onto my second computer.Leona

Easy to setup. Software is helpful: rotate image, change order for multiple page scans, append other scanned pages. I've had trouble with the "Copy" button on the device. It will scan and send to printer, but the printer (HP M255dw) prints a blank page. I have to scan and print from my computer as a work-around. The manual is interactive and online only which is a little hard to navigate. I would prefer a downloadable, searchable PDF file. Manual defers to printer support for these type of problems which wasn't very helpful. Overall, I'm happy with the scanner. Many don't work with Windows 10; this one does. I'm keeping it and will put up with its idiosyncrasies.RICK

I bought this to replace an oversized inkjet printer/scanner on my desk. This model is small enough to put out of sight on the shelf when not in use, and since it only requires a single USB cord for both data and power, it's easy to hook up when needed. It's compatible with Windows' built-in scanner software, so it doesn't need any additional software, but the Canon software is more powerful. Its scan quality is also great, of course.Chad

Pros: Fast and well built. I owned a previous version of this for 10 years, and only just upgraded – this is a worthy successor, and just as well built. Cons: Sadly you don't get the Mac edition of Adobe standard. Although apart from that it works well with a mac.James

I am using it to archive many thousands of pages. It scans the pages faster than I can remove the staples, so I am the bottleneck. There is no reason for me to have a scanner that goes any faster than this, for my purposes. I don't have to worry about jams or multifeeds. The OCR is very good, but can take a while on larger, more complex jobs. This is an excellent scanner for archiving files in an office.Drew E.

We have purchased 15 or so of these for use in a medical office. We have used Panasonic's as well in the past. These scanners just keep working day in and day out, the Panasonic's are fine, but seem to require more maintenance than these. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a solid scanner.Kirk J.

I replaced an ancient HP flatbed photo scanner with the Epson Perfection V600 photo scanner, primarily for genealogy research and photo copying. This scanner is also excellent, better is some ways and worse in one or two, and overall I am quite pleased with it. It has a couple of quirks that I can live with, especially as the price is not ruinous for an amateur like me. I love that it can scan color and b&w transparencies and slides, up to medium-format film, and that the process is pretty easy. (I have found ways to scan larger negatives as long as I am willing to crop the sides significantly.) The included pdf user's manual gives surprisingly good instructions. I also like that included software does a decent imitation of Adobe PhotoShop Elements – it's not quite as capable, but generally it's good enough for my purposes. I just wish it had a spot remover in addition to general de-noise, and the scratch remover seems to be an automated whole-image function rather than something that lets me select a specific line or area. Scratch remover also isn't available on all my scans, despite using identical scan settings, for unknown reasons probably having to do with image size. De-noise works really well for some images and blurs others a little too much – mostly it works well. Color transparency scans are excellent in detail and color accuracy. Color print scans generally are corrected quite well with one-touch color correction to fix color fading/shift on old prints. B&w transparency scans have good detail but do not have the deep blacks and bright contrasts of original prints from these negatives – the images look fine until you compare them to the originals, so they're not bad, just lacking punch. I have to use the software to darken the image significantly to get strong blacks and then increase the contrast by roughly the same amount to restore the whites. Also, the default b&w negative scan setting includes compensation for backlighting, which lightens the image even more, so I turn that off. I started out using the automated scan function, but it does not scan the top and side 1/4" of the image, so you can't line up the photo along the edge of the glass. It also gets confused by photo mounting/framing or other attached components. Switching to manual Home scanning mode fixed these problems – the user defines the scan area, which CAN go to the edge of the glass. The default scan setting, at least for Home, is for multiple Thumbnail images instead of Normal. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out why my photos were being chopped up into multiple images until I read more of the (long) manual and realized I simply needed to click the Normal tab to define a single image. One quirk for which I have not found a solution is that old sepia/browntone photos often come out with browns that are too dense and sometimes with red and gold tones (disconcerting around eyes/faces), especially when some of the editing corrections are used. These images look very good if scanned in grayscale, but sometimes I want to keep the brown/beige tones for historical feel. As brownish photos must be scanned in color mode, sometimes discolorations also throw image appearance off, in many of my cases giving a pinkish cast to some areas. Overall this is a very good scanner. Set-up was easy, and instructions are good. It needs almost no warm-up and can be turned off when not in use, and with LED lighting energy consumption is low. Scans are much faster than with my old HP – fast enough for me, although I'm used to slow scanners. My attitude is that photo scans need a little more time to pull out the details, so I don't expect the super speed of an office-grade copier. I recommend this scanner for purposes like mine (don't know how it would work for a professional photographer, even though there is a Professional scan mode), and I would buy it again. I'm giving it 4 stars overall for the brown/sepia quirk and the lack of contrast in b&w negative scans, even though I'm giving it 5 stars in the areas of overall quality, value, and ease of use.Forestmom

I wanted to scan in a diverse collection of family history: photos, 35mm slides, film negative strips, and documents. I read lots of reviews and decided the V600 would allow me to create personal archival quality scans of all the media. I am please to report it has lived up to expectations. The provided software was very usable, and the free optical character recognition (OCR) software was good enough for casual use. Can you purchase a dedicated film scanner and slide scanner – sure, but you will not get better results unless you spend at least 4x the $$ and you have super high quality material to work with and you are willing to purchase 3rd party software and you are going to save HUGE files with fine adjustment of settings for every scan. My advice on settings to use, based on internet research and experimentation: For negatives and slides, scan at 3200 bpi and create a 48-bit TIFF file for future editing (manually set levels to capture full tonal range, no sharpening, color adjustments only if there is severe color cast ), PLUS scan a 2nd time to create a JPEG file for casual use/reference (UnsharpMask set to LOW, Auto adjustment option for levels work reasonably well, and you can tweak from there if you feel the need). If you edit the TIFF in post production, you can replace the JPEG file with your more refined results. For printed photos, same as negatives/slides except scan at 600 dpi instead of 3200. 300 dpi is probably good enough, but 600 provides some insurance. For printed documents, scan at 600dpi to JPEG with 16-bit greyscale or 48-bit color, PLUS do a second scan at 600dpi to PDF (if you install the OCR software it will automatically recognize basic text as part of saving to PDF). The JPEG will act as an archival copy allowing any future editing. You could save to uncompressed TIFF instead of JPEG but unless you need museum quality (large files) that is overkill for scanning printed documents. Some additional notes: 1) If you are looking for great results, use only the professional menus of the Epson Software. 2) The automatic detection of borders has limitations, and I was not willing to let it crop off edges of the original slides/ negatives/ prints/ documents, so I manually set the borders. 3) Set JPEG to lowest compression level (it defaults to higher compress). 4) the free ABBYY OCR software is not available as a download so you will need a CD reader (it comes on a CD provided with the scanner). 5) Don't use automatic dust removal or the HW assisted ICE dust removal – they sometimes make bad corrections. Better to invest in a Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large and use a bright LED flashlight to check for dust on the scanner glass before each scan (shine the light across the surface of the glass and the dust will be obvious). EVERY time you load new material, use the air blaster to remove dust from the scanner glass and from the slide/negative/print. This is more reliable than auto-correction software and avoids the need for extensive manual editing in post. 6) for black and white material, scan in greyscale (not Line-Art which is Epson Software nomenclature for black&white). You can always convert greyscale to black and white later (if you scan directly to black&white, you will never be able to change the threshold level unless you rescan the original material).Steven

I had an Epson V550 scanner for a few years. Recently, while it would turn on & off, it wouldn't scan anything. Since it didn't serve its one and only purpose, I decided it was time for a new one. I researched a few different scanners from various companies. One requirement I have is that it is able to scan 35mm slides. I have several thousand slides from my father & his parents, that I have been scanning for the past few years to digitize & preserve. This scanner works as well as the V550 for that. No, it is not a "professional" level scanner, but for the price, it works just fine in my opinion. I don't use the automatic photo enhancing/repair features. I just prefer to do my own work in Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop, where I have more control over the process, rather than leaving precious photos in the clutches of an algorithm. I do all my scanning in the Home mode. It doesn't offer as many options as the Professional mode, but does well for my purposes. I have never used the fully automatic mode, so I can't comment on that feature. I haven't scanned any printed photos yet, but if this scanner performs the same as my (previous) V550, I expect that will go well, too. Overall, a great photo scanner.photogal

Recently purchased a new Dell PC with Windows 11 so finally, goodbye to my old (& I mean old) Canon scanner because Windows 11 simply would not support it and Canon never did an update (built-in obsolescence ). So, I purchased this new Epson scanner. It works GREAT but here is the rub. With Windows 11, at first, it appeared it simply would not work and I was going to return it the BB. But, I decided to call Epson Support and here is the fix or work-around. They are having some combability problems with Win11 so what you have to do is to boot up your Win11 PC, plug in this Epson Scanner, then (drum roll) reboot your PC. Yes, this is not a typo. Reboot you PC and then, and only then, does the PC and the Epson software you have to download btw, recognize the scanner. The service people said they will soon have a permanent fix which will enable Win11 to immediately recognize the scanner and software without the reboot but until then, you must do the reboot. I, personally, can live with that and I love this scanner. You will too. Oh, if you have any other operating system other than Win11, you should not have to do the workaround. Did I mention that I LOVE this scanner?CALIFORNIAguy

This is the cheapest decent scanner I could find. If you are using it for artwork like I was, or anything not 100% flat, you will need to put weight on the top. If the paper is buckled at all it will not scan well without something weighing it down (I use a very heavy art book on top). It needs whatever you are scanning to be right up against the glass to get a clear image. But, if you do weigh it down it works really well! I'm impressed with the quality. Using 600 dpi I can make smaller art but have it scan in at a quality good enough to print at a larger size than I initially made it. It's also super lightweight and easy to move around. Nice for someone like me that doesn't have a dedicated room or space to art.Brittany

I run 64bit Windows 10 professional or whatever the version is that isn't the Home version on my PC. This scanner scans fast… at 200dpi. If you set it for anything higher it warns you that higher dpi cause larger files and encourages you to choose something smaller. Sorry, my goal with purchasing a new scanner was to get one that could do better than the 600dpi in my all in one printer scanner copier. Choosing a higher dpi (I wanted to scan old photos to share with family members attending a funeral in a few days) results in the computer crashing after every three pictures scanned in. The scans are full of artifacts and thus unusable. The time estimates given for scans… 71 minutes, 38 minutes or whatever are laughably bad. None of the half hearted scans took nearly that long before the scanner decided it was done with the scan. Downloading the software from Epson was the easiest part of using this thing. I'm returning it and running as fast as I can toward a different brand even if it means that friends and family attending the funeral will have to wait for the new scanner to arrive some time next month. I chose this one because it was in stock locally but it was a total waste of my time and efforts. I included the last attempt to get a good scan of a picture of my mother and her sister back in 1963. ALL the scans had a line above which nothing lined up with anything below it. Unacceptable.Amherst

This is the quintessential small/home office scanner. I work from a home office on a regular basis, so having devices like this that are small, compact, but high quality is very important. Especially if the device can be used for personal reasons as well, and the Brother ADS-1700W fits that bill perfectly. Setup — Basic setup was very simple, you will want to install the Brother Scanning software, the link to which is in the quick setup guide. If you are going to use local usb for connectivity, you just plug it in, follow the onscreen steps, and you are good to go. Where this device really stood out for me was just how functional it was beyond that. I was able to setup my wifi info and put it on my home network in a matter of a few minutes. Using the Brother Software, or by going directly to the devices web page, Customization – The Brother 1700W is able to scan to a directly attached usb device or pc, which is great of course, but it can also scan to a file share, FTP location, or e-mail you the file. For the slightly more tech savvy – I was able to connect my personal email account to it, select scan to email from the main screen, pick my address I entered from the address book I had created, and within a minute my 600 DPI resolution scan was in my inbox ( watch your spam folder too just in case! ) I added my work email, personal email , as well as a few family members – making this incredibly convenient for home personal, and home office use! Quality – there are several settings for picture size, or an auto detect feature, and it can scan up to 600 DPI – ( the file size generated was around 6MB) I was able to scan a double sided 10 page document in about 30 seconds, with perfect quality. On the home side of things, I found an old picture sitting in a box, and you can clearly see the quality of the scan and the vibrant color it was able to capture. In short this is a compact heavy duty device, that is easy to use and setup, can handle both high quality and reasonable size scan jobs, and has a multitude of ways to interface to it based upon your personal preferences. I am very pleased with the quality and functionality of the Brother ADS-1700W and look forward to using it more! I also included a screen shot of the web admin page where you can configure customized settings for address books, file quality defaults, file naming conventions, and so forth. This can all also be done from the software or the screen on the device, I just found the web page to be the most convenient.Tbeetles

I purchased this scanner to replace an all-in-one ink jet printer with document scanning capabilities. I'm using this with a Mac, and if you are a Mac user, you know how easy it is to get started with multifunction printers and scanners. it literally takes 90 seconds. That's what I was expecting when I got this device. Unfortunately, it cannot be installed using Mac OS' Printers & Scanners preferences. It seemed to take an unusually long time to get this going (maybe 20 minutes, and I'm pretty fast at setting this stuff up). I really wanted to like this scanner, but it scans blurry when using the 300dpi grayscale setting. If you use Color or Black & White, or Grayscale in 600 DPI or higher, the scans are clear. I thought that I would just use the 600 DPI option for scans. However, this creates file sizes that are just too large for archival purposes. The Brother scan software doesn't allow you to use the high compression PDF option unless you use….. 300 DPI. It just seemed like a waste of money to pay this much for a scanner that can’t make quality grayscale scans for documents. The scanner also has flimsy paper support, so the documents sometimes scan with a slight slant. I ended up returning this scanner and I’m going to pay a little more for something that actually works well at scanning documents.Jonson

The scanner took some getting used to. I almost returned it over the bulky automatic naming of scanned documents, but then I began using all the functions and found that the bulky naming (date plus time – perhaps that's a 16 digit name when all I wanted was 1, 2, or 3 etc. But the more I used the workflow functions and other programs on it, I slowly began to love it. It only gets 4 stars because set up is taxing, the download instructions, the manual instructions, and the instructions on the scanner are all different. Luckily at this point one can set oneself on auto pilot and get the thing installed. When scanning individual photos, you name it afterwards. Then you decide if you want it to be a pdf, jpeg, or OCR. You can make it all three without rescanning. At first I thought the simplistic format left out many necessary features, but eventually I found everything I needed. I had to contact technical support a couple of times, the answered promptly and professionally, there was a small snafu, because of problems in the manual, but they settled that to my satisfaction. It does not scan 25 pages in one sitting. I do max 10 or 12, and always fan out the paper, front to back and sideways. Then after they are complete, there is button aptly called "add a page" that allows you to continue. There are no carrier pages for torn or fragile documents. It auto corrects crooked scanning quite effectively. I would recommend it for home use, but I don't think people are happy with the cloud function, I don't use it. I expected top of the line OCR technology, but it is just ordinary.DONNA

None of my chargers can charge this scanner. The Anker charger didn't work on this thing. My uninterrupted power supply also can't charge this scanner. The battery only charges when it's connected to the USB port on my Wacom pen display. This is a very frustrating situation. I don't understand why this scanner doesn't work with my chargers when everything else charges just fine. Another annoying thing is the connection. Its physical data port is the same one you can find on one of those old portable hard drives. It's not even a MicroUSB port. So, don't lose the data cable. This thing would be much easier to use if it had a USB C port. The scans all have rows of thin straight lines across the entire scan. The lines aren't visible in darker areas but they can be seen in the lighter or white areas on the scan if you zoom in on the scan. As we all know, Brother's drivers are a hit or miss. They might work. They might not work. It depends on your operating system and version. Mine doesn't want to work with my Macbook Pro on wire connection. The only way to access the scanner from my Macbook is to use it in wifi mode. Horrible user experience. The driver can detect the scanner in the scanner selection menu. But, when it comes to actually scan the document, the software suddenly says it cannot detect the scanner. Go back to the scanner selection menu, it can still detect the darn scanner! Why Brother? It's like you've ordered your food at McDonald's. The staff gives you your tray, then take the burger away and tells you they are out of burgers. Why???Marcus

There are a LOT of times when an app-based scanner just doesn't cut it. Whether it's lighting or shaky hands from too many coffee meetings, it helps to have a dedicated, wireless scanner that you can have with you. Let's get really clear: the scans from this device are high-quality, color-accurate, and FAST (faster than similar Brother scanner models by a few seconds of processing time). The DS-940DW is about 5 pounds, so not light enough to carry with you in a computer bag daily, but easily able to be brought with you in your car. In terms of form factor, the buttons are pretty clear on the top to switch options (color/b+w, 1 or 2 sided, pdf or jpeg output), along with a power button and a start/stop scan button. Since you can do most of these things via the Brother iScan+Print app, you may never use these physical buttons, but the scan-to-SD feature means you're *ultraportable* with no computer required at all – and that's a great thing for places where it's just too risky to take your computer, but you need a scanner. On the side, there's a "scan to" switch that lets you select either SD card, USB connection to computer, or WiFi connection. The slightly-odd thing about setup here: the scanner generates its own WiFi network that you can connect to… it's on by default whenever the "scan to" switch is set to WiFi. The TL;DR version of what I'm about to say: you're gonna need a geek to help you get this set up the way you'll probably want to use it (wirelessly). In order to connect the scanner to your own WiFi network, the included documentation is woefully sub-par (there are a number of hoops to jump through: connecting via USB, installing and updating the Brother software, then turning on the scanner's WiFi connection, then finding the browser admin tool password in the Brother online documentation – because this info isn't on the QuickStart or PDF manuals, then finally connecting the scanner to your wifi… and then shutting off the internal broadcast network). The USB cable included is USB-A, so if your computer is USB-C only, you'll need an adapter for the initial setup, but it does make finding a charger pretty easy. A slight irritation: the scanner is front-load rather than top-load… which is fine if you only have a page or two to scan, but if you have a stack, it's not optimal and requires extra effort to avoid a mess at the top. Because of how the "cover" sticks out, you can't just set it on its back to make it a top-load… this is an odd user experience for something designed to be ultraportable. Overall, the DS-940DW gets 4 out of 5 stars. It's a must-have if you're on the go and need something better than your phone's camera app to scan documents.NickAtWTF

This is the best document scanner I've ever owned, and I've owned several (flatbed and sheet-feed). It does a great job of cleanly feeding each document and auto-straightening. Razor-sharp! But, don't expect much from the "bundled" software. When you install the software package from the Brother support website it gives you the option of downloading and installing other apps like PaperPort. But, PaperPort will only download to 99% before you get a network connection error. Fortunately, I just want images of my documents, so the Brother iPrint & Scan app lets you do just that. And does it very well. As I said, great scanner. Just skip the bells and whistles and stick with the iPrint & Scan app.LivingIn905

I replaced an ancient HP flatbed photo scanner with the Epson Perfection V600 photo scanner, primarily for genealogy research and photo copying. This scanner is also excellent, better is some ways and worse in one or two, and overall I am quite pleased with it. It has a couple of quirks that I can live with, especially as the price is not ruinous for an amateur like me. I love that it can scan color and b&w transparencies and slides, up to medium-format film, and that the process is pretty easy. (I have found ways to scan larger negatives as long as I am willing to crop the sides significantly.) The included pdf user's manual gives surprisingly good instructions. I also like that included software does a decent imitation of Adobe PhotoShop Elements – it's not quite as capable, but generally it's good enough for my purposes. I just wish it had a spot remover in addition to general de-noise, and the scratch remover seems to be an automated whole-image function rather than something that lets me select a specific line or area. Scratch remover also isn't available on all my scans, despite using identical scan settings, for unknown reasons probably having to do with image size. De-noise works really well for some images and blurs others a little too much – mostly it works well. Color transparency scans are excellent in detail and color accuracy. Color print scans generally are corrected quite well with one-touch color correction to fix color fading/shift on old prints. B&w transparency scans have good detail but do not have the deep blacks and bright contrasts of original prints from these negatives – the images look fine until you compare them to the originals, so they're not bad, just lacking punch. I have to use the software to darken the image significantly to get strong blacks and then increase the contrast by roughly the same amount to restore the whites. Also, the default b&w negative scan setting includes compensation for backlighting, which lightens the image even more, so I turn that off. I started out using the automated scan function, but it does not scan the top and side 1/4" of the image, so you can't line up the photo along the edge of the glass. It also gets confused by photo mounting/framing or other attached components. Switching to manual Home scanning mode fixed these problems – the user defines the scan area, which CAN go to the edge of the glass. The default scan setting, at least for Home, is for multiple Thumbnail images instead of Normal. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out why my photos were being chopped up into multiple images until I read more of the (long) manual and realized I simply needed to click the Normal tab to define a single image. One quirk for which I have not found a solution is that old sepia/browntone photos often come out with browns that are too dense and sometimes with red and gold tones (disconcerting around eyes/faces), especially when some of the editing corrections are used. These images look very good if scanned in grayscale, but sometimes I want to keep the brown/beige tones for historical feel. As brownish photos must be scanned in color mode, sometimes discolorations also throw image appearance off, in many of my cases giving a pinkish cast to some areas. Overall this is a very good scanner. Set-up was easy, and instructions are good. It needs almost no warm-up and can be turned off when not in use, and with LED lighting energy consumption is low. Scans are much faster than with my old HP – fast enough for me, although I'm used to slow scanners. My attitude is that photo scans need a little more time to pull out the details, so I don't expect the super speed of an office-grade copier. I recommend this scanner for purposes like mine (don't know how it would work for a professional photographer, even though there is a Professional scan mode), and I would buy it again. I'm giving it 4 stars overall for the brown/sepia quirk and the lack of contrast in b&w negative scans, even though I'm giving it 5 stars in the areas of overall quality, value, and ease of use.Forestmom

I wanted to scan in a diverse collection of family history: photos, 35mm slides, film negative strips, and documents. I read lots of reviews and decided the V600 would allow me to create personal archival quality scans of all the media. I am please to report it has lived up to expectations. The provided software was very usable, and the free optical character recognition (OCR) software was good enough for casual use. Can you purchase a dedicated film scanner and slide scanner – sure, but you will not get better results unless you spend at least 4x the $$ and you have super high quality material to work with and you are willing to purchase 3rd party software and you are going to save HUGE files with fine adjustment of settings for every scan. My advice on settings to use, based on internet research and experimentation: For negatives and slides, scan at 3200 bpi and create a 48-bit TIFF file for future editing (manually set levels to capture full tonal range, no sharpening, color adjustments only if there is severe color cast ), PLUS scan a 2nd time to create a JPEG file for casual use/reference (UnsharpMask set to LOW, Auto adjustment option for levels work reasonably well, and you can tweak from there if you feel the need). If you edit the TIFF in post production, you can replace the JPEG file with your more refined results. For printed photos, same as negatives/slides except scan at 600 dpi instead of 3200. 300 dpi is probably good enough, but 600 provides some insurance. For printed documents, scan at 600dpi to JPEG with 16-bit greyscale or 48-bit color, PLUS do a second scan at 600dpi to PDF (if you install the OCR software it will automatically recognize basic text as part of saving to PDF). The JPEG will act as an archival copy allowing any future editing. You could save to uncompressed TIFF instead of JPEG but unless you need museum quality (large files) that is overkill for scanning printed documents. Some additional notes: 1) If you are looking for great results, use only the professional menus of the Epson Software. 2) The automatic detection of borders has limitations, and I was not willing to let it crop off edges of the original slides/ negatives/ prints/ documents, so I manually set the borders. 3) Set JPEG to lowest compression level (it defaults to higher compress). 4) the free ABBYY OCR software is not available as a download so you will need a CD reader (it comes on a CD provided with the scanner). 5) Don't use automatic dust removal or the HW assisted ICE dust removal – they sometimes make bad corrections. Better to invest in a Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large and use a bright LED flashlight to check for dust on the scanner glass before each scan (shine the light across the surface of the glass and the dust will be obvious). EVERY time you load new material, use the air blaster to remove dust from the scanner glass and from the slide/negative/print. This is more reliable than auto-correction software and avoids the need for extensive manual editing in post. 6) for black and white material, scan in greyscale (not Line-Art which is Epson Software nomenclature for black&white). You can always convert greyscale to black and white later (if you scan directly to black&white, you will never be able to change the threshold level unless you rescan the original material).Steven

I had an Epson V550 scanner for a few years. Recently, while it would turn on & off, it wouldn't scan anything. Since it didn't serve its one and only purpose, I decided it was time for a new one. I researched a few different scanners from various companies. One requirement I have is that it is able to scan 35mm slides. I have several thousand slides from my father & his parents, that I have been scanning for the past few years to digitize & preserve. This scanner works as well as the V550 for that. No, it is not a "professional" level scanner, but for the price, it works just fine in my opinion. I don't use the automatic photo enhancing/repair features. I just prefer to do my own work in Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop, where I have more control over the process, rather than leaving precious photos in the clutches of an algorithm. I do all my scanning in the Home mode. It doesn't offer as many options as the Professional mode, but does well for my purposes. I have never used the fully automatic mode, so I can't comment on that feature. I haven't scanned any printed photos yet, but if this scanner performs the same as my (previous) V550, I expect that will go well, too. Overall, a great photo scanner.photogal

Okay, I admit it. When I read other people's reviews about the speed of this thing, I kept thinking who cares? I never once looked at my ix500 and wished that it was faster. But the ix1600 not only has a very handy LCD screen, it really is noticeably faster. And now that I have it, the ix500 is dead to me. Also, this thing is very forgiving when I accidentally try scanning things that have staples. I do my best to remove staples, but I occasionally miss one and it has a fairly nice process for restarting mid-scan.Matthew

I have had Scan Snap products for years–like 15 years. I had a 500 and then a 1500. I used Rack 2 Filer with them, as well as scanning to various folders. This product is way to complicated for a scanner. You have to set up icloud just to scan to Evernote. The old scanners you just picked Evernote and it scanned there. You have to also use the little screen on the front of the scanner instead of a program you can see on the computer. Really disappointed with this updated model. It took hours to set up instead of minutes. Go back to the 1500 model and it's easy and all you need.Mary

I have had a number of scanners over the years (Xerox, Epson, etc.) and this unit is really terrific. It is quiet, scans quickly, is small, includes duplex (two sided) scanning, and it's automatic mode handles most cases (color selection, removal of blank pages). You can reprogram the touch screen to set up custom buttons (a black & white, one sided scan, for example). The documentation is non-existent and you must rely on trial-and-error and web searches to figure things out. For example, if you look at the photo of this product you will be under the mistaken impression that you place your documents facing you. This is not the case. Documents are placed facing the tray. In the past couple of days I have scanned about 1000 pages of old files and quickly created flawless PDF files. It handles all shapes and sizes of paper even without the dedicated receipt holder. While the hardware scans fast, the software speed is very much dependent on your computer hardware since that is where it is running. The scanner includes a license for Nuance KofaxPower PDF software from 2019. The software is full featured and is helpful if you don't have Adobe Acrobat Professional for editing PDF files. Also included is a version of ABBYY OCR software. A high quality scanner (Fujitsu is a quality brand) that is well worth the price especially when on sale for around $400.GEOFF

Setup was easy. Software is very intuitive, at least for me. After reading other reviews I was all set to immediately buy VueScan software but I Don't really see a need Even though I have mostly been scanning negatives. The quality has been quite acceptable. I don't expect perfection from 35 yr old film. At 2400 dpi with certain corrections on it takes about 2 minutes per picture, with the capability of up to 10 frames per session, just set it up, do a preview then scan. It will take up to 20 minutes so just walk away. The negative holder works well enough with some fumbling but when you find a bent or twirled negative it can be placed in there with some difficulty but the results are usually as good as everything else. Slide holder holds 4 so you only have about 8 minutes at 2400 dpi. I have done 9600 to check it out and you can sharpen up the image nicely in the other software. So far only scanned a few 4×6 but that is good quality also. All in all I'm very glad I bought it.pocomo

Excellent color scans. The user interface is a bit clunky. My older HP and Epson scanners were easier to use. But new stand-alone scanners are apparently no longer being made. Among the existing ones this Canon is a good choice. I had to avoid Epson because my V550 (an otherwise sweet scanner) turned out to be incompatible with Windows 10 when I upgraded.fatherhonda

An amazing CCD Scanner! Way better than my previous CIS scanner which needs everything to be flat to scan well. Great for scanning my sketchbooks! Love it!ceciliax

I purchase this scanner directly from Epson and it acts as if it is a used scanner. the document feeder constantly jams on the first page forcing me to use the glass scanner and I can't figure out how to do multiple pages that way. Also it has streaks going done the pages every time I use the auto feeder from scan one and I haven't figured out how to fix that. I shouldn't have to do anything when it comes out of the box. If I would have purchased it from a local store I would have returned it day one. Now I am stuck with it.unhappy 987654321

This scanner is incredibly fast. Easy set up. But I do prefer the older Epson Scan Software that I already had installed. But the new scanner would not run on the old software, so I had to download the newer version. No problem, I just found the older version easier to work with.Thomas

The DS-1630 is mostly a great product with 2 major problems. The first problem is that the automatic document feeder (ADF) has a thin clear plastic sheet just above the platen glass. When paper goes through the ADF, the paper rides above the plastic sheet. After 2 weeks of use, the plastic is noticeably scratched across the entire width of the ADF. One particular portion seems to be either dirty or scratched to a point where I cannot scan with the ADF, without getting a vertical line running the full length of pages. The user manual recommends only cleaning with a dry cloth. If the problem was dirty glass, a person could try more powerful cleaning products. If you inadvertently run paper through the ADF with a little gunk or wet ink, you might scratch or coat the plastic to a point where the ADF is functionally unusable. The plastic sheet is permanently adhered to a large piece of solid plastic, so if Epson ever decides to sell a replacement part, it probably won't be inexpensive. The second problem is that the background color of the ADF is grey. If you scan an 8 wide piece of paper using the color setting and the paper width set to 8 ??, then the electronic scan will have a ?? grey line on each side of the page. The lines will appear black if you are scanning using the black and white setting. This problem can be resolved by setting the scanner to scan a width slightly less than the actual paper width. However, then you lose any information near the edge of the paper. I have owned a few Epson products and very much liked them all, except for this one.river Bill

Easy to set up and use, very smart software, wide range of functions, although the printed user manual is not very helpful.1657davidp

Bought this as a gift for my wife. Had a couple of minor issues installing the software but it all worked in the end. FastFoto software is really easy to use for scanning photos. On the coarsest setting (300dpi) each photo scans in under a second. 300dpi is very good, but 600 and 1200dpi is also available, but the scans take a few seconds longer. FastFoto automatically cleans up old photos, even thos really old, yellowed ones. Not perfect but it does a good job of bringing out colours. It also improves contrast and brightness and removes redeye. And you have the choice of making the schanges to the original, or to a copy, soo you have both. It even scans the back of photos, so if there are any notes on the back, they are captured for posterity. What a great feature. For documents you need to use ScanSmart, which is also blazingly fast and does double sided scans in a single pass. It also discards any blank pages automatically. I scanned a 10 page document in just a few seconds, and the quality was great. I would recommend this scanner to anyonne who has a lot of photos or documents they want to scan. A bit pricey, but well worth it if you have the need.Ron V

I've scanned hundreds of photos with this so far with mostly good results. My comments below: * Quality is good but not as good as a flatbed, especially in dark areas which will be rather noisy. There is a lot of room for improvement here. Also, you may lose a small amount of the photo around the edges (probably due to auto-cropping) that you probably wouldn't lose if using a flatbed scanner. There might also be some visible vertical streaking in dark areas. All of this is unfortunate and the main reason why I am deducting 1 star. * In case anyone is wondering, I used a Windows 11 notebook computer with a USB connection using the included SuperSpeed USB 3.0 cable. I have not used the wireless features of this scanner. * The software auto enhancement makes things better maybe 80% of the time but it really depends on the photo. I recommend you have the scanner save an "original" scan of the photo and the "enhanced" scan and then either keep both or manually choose which one looks better. Sometimes the "enhanced" photo blows out details you want to keep or is over-aggressive and makes the photo look like crap so don't assume the enhanced version is always better than the original before enhancement. I use ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate to speed up the process of picking which photo is better as well as deleting scans of the back of the photos that I don't want to keep. * It's great that it (optionally) scans both sides of the photo at the same time in case there is some writing on the back. It has some options here to try not to generate images of the back of photos that are blank, but some photos have strong logos or dot-matrix print or something so the scanner may think there is something there that needs to be saved when there isn't. That's OK… you'll have had to delete the back images if you don't want them. Again, using ACDSee makes this pretty quick for me. * The scanner saves tons of time which is the big reason to buy this and a big reason for my good rating (even though scan quality is less than flatbed scan quality). Even at 600 DPI (which is recommended for archiving) it is still "fast". Anything higher than 600 DPI is interpolated and personally I would avoid. * The Epson FastFoto software seems adequate but there is still some room for improvement. For one, it does not seem to let you select the level of JPEG quality to use when saving…. there are some other quirky things that could be improved but overall it does get the job done. * I tried scanning a thicker photo and it would not go through. It was too thick and the scanner thought it might have misfed 2 photos at one time and reported that or that it jammed. This was only one "special" photo that I had out of hundreds/thousands. One review mentions rotating the photo 90 degrees when scanning to try to address this and I will try that the next time this happens. * I noticed some people complain that the rollers damage the photos and I believe I have noticed this on some of my photos as well (when you look at them at certain angles). If you are concerned about having absolutely no photo damage then use a flatbed or at least put the photo in a photo carrier sheet (at least one is included but I have not used it) to help protect the photo while it runs through the scanner. * As for feeding the documents it does a pretty good job most of the time but it's not always perfect. Make sure the photo stack is a nice stack that is even on all the sides so it feeds without issue. Most photos have fed through fine for me. However, sometimes there can be a gray bar at the bottom of the photo because it did not feed through or auto-crop perfectly. You can either crop it away manually using a photo editing program or re-scan the photo. Carefully loading the photo stack into the scanner, making sure the stack is even on all the sides, and adjusting the guides can help reduce feeding issues.CommonSenseAl

I've had it for a day but I love this scanner already. Having a lifetime of photos to scan, I was looking for a photo scanner with a document feeder. At the intermediate setting, the file size is about 4Mb, and takes about 3 seconds per photo, and this afternoon I did about 100 photos in less than 10 minutes. The Setup allows you to generate an exact copy of the original and/or an enhanced copy. I started with both but eventually changed the setting to automatically accept the enhancements as the images are much sharper and brighter than the original photo. The image generated does not need cropping or editing, and the clarity is amazing. With a bundle of photos in the feeder, it jammed a few times but this was because of turned edges on the photos or uneven original photo sizes. Feeding them one at a time resolves this, but even in this mode, having to click 'continue' for each photo is still way faster than using a flatbed. I've used the Epson GT1500 document scanner (at about $500) for years and it was time to replace it but for an extra $200, this one does everything the GT1500 does so the photo scanning is almost a bonus. All the reviews I read were correct and I can't recommend this machine highly enough.DerekM

The scanner is tiny. It does a great job and does not need any downloaded drivers in windows 7 as long as you do not use the front buttons. To use the front buttons you need to download "MP Navigator EX Ver. 2.03" from the Canon web site. The Navigator program gives you MANY additional features like save as PDF, auto scanning which allows you to scan a text doc and a photo at the same time and it saves each separately and in the proper format! The Navigator program layout is a bit crowded and not to intuitive but after a bit of time you will figure it out. Back to the scanner, no power cord is a plus. I wanted a scanner that just works and this one does. I think you will like it too!buyfromnance

Will run on Mac with Snow Leopard despite reviews to contrary, at least if using MacBook Pro, 10.5.8 and VueScan software (highly recommended). I did have to re-start the software a couple times before sucess, and re-plug in the scanner, but since then no problems. Perhaps Canon software has bug that VueScan can overcome with the right Canon driver. I found this scanner gave as good, sharp an image as Epson 4990 Photo scanner, and it is one-third the size and one-fourth the price (though it does not scan slides/negatives like the Epson does). I found slight color shift to green in my scanner but not bad enough to return it. Also, your scanned item must be FLAT against the glass or it will be out of focus (very limited depth of field here); if needed, use a piece of mat board or similar firm flat object to flatten items better than the scanner lid can do. I found this a minor inconvenience and still like the scanner a lot for "location scanning"!Paul H.

I previously had a Canon Flatbed Scanner. It connected to the computer through a parallel port. I bought a new computer and it has USB ports and rendered my scanner useless, so I bought this one as a replacement. I have found scanners to be very finicky when installing their software and trying to get them to work. I had problems getting this one to install. It took me 4 tries before I was finally successful. I had to remove all of the software for the previous scanner, plus jump through some other hoops before I was able to get this one to work. But once I got all that done, it works just fine. I might add that Canon's web site was helpful in getting this properly installed.jwieber