Best Scanner to scan autographs?
 

hey guys,
i was wondering is there a Flatbed scanner that you recommend that i can scan more than one card at a time. im trying to scan multiple cards but my scanner (epson nx230) doesnt scan more than one card at a time. its like watching paint drying on a wall, there must be a faster way to scan multi cards? i know every flatbad has the potential to scan 9 cards at once, thats not what im looking for, i need a scanner that if i put lets say 5 baseball cards on the flatbed that it will scan 5 different cards seperatley in one pass.or let me crop multiple cards from one scan.any help? any scanner you would recommend that would accomplish this? thanks

It's not so much your scanner that is the problem. You need different scanning software. If you are not opposed to spending a little, RansenScan does a decent job of "batch scanning" multiple objects on the scanner bed. It's $29.99. I own a copy, and the creator is still actively updating it and is responsive to suggestions for future updates. Basically it lets the scanner make a single pass, and then the software either automatically picks out the different objects, or you can do it manually.

http://www.ransen.com/RansenScan/Default.htm

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it. Ill go check them out. thanks

Almost any basic photo editing program can take a scan of nine cards and allow you to crop out each card individually. I use Irfanview for this job when I scan cards.

The ransen program looks pretty interesting as it appears to be able to take one scan and cut it into sections automatically. That looks pretty cool.

As far as scanner is concerned, the most important feature is that you get a CCD sensor scanner. The CCD element does a much better job with depth that CIS scanners. It is especially important if you scan anything slabbed. The link below is an old discussion, but post 16 really shows what I mean about depth scan clarity. If you ever think you might buy a photo negative, you may also want to consider one that can scan negatives.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=121505

Good advice. In layman's terms, if the lighting element is an "old school" type bulb, it will effectively scan a slab or any object that is suspended slightly above the scanner glass, like a slabbed card.

The newer LCD lights that "flicker" will only sharply scan an object directly on the glass. If it is slightly suspended in a slab, it will be fuzzy.

i just crop out each one individually with irfanview and save it under a different name and then go back to the original saved scan and crop out the next one., etc.

I do the same Travis, but it appears that the software above might actually do that for us. It would be time saving if it does.

Your using an Epson, your epson software that came with the scanner should be able to do it. Don't use Full Auto Mode and you shouldn't have any problems.

Jeff,
I just got an Epson and am happy with it.
What mode is the best to use to accomplish this, there are three other options.

My Epson is 13 yo, but should be similar.
Pretty sure home mode works for it. What you want is the ability to bring up a preview scan then box select the places you want scanned.

I have an Epson, but I don't think the Epson software can scan them all separately all at once. I think you still have to scan each item separately which is time consuming. If the scanner could make one pass and break apart the image automatically into multiple images that would be ideal.

I will be trying the Ransen software tonight and will report back what I find.

Jeff,
Thanks for getting back to me.

OK. I just tried the Ransen scan and it was pretty impressive.

I placed 6 cards on my scanner. When I hit scan, it found 6 sub images on the scanner and separated them on the right side. By double clicking on the images on the right I was allowed to edit each sub image independently( the bottom photo).
The second button from right(along the top) is save all sub images. Another window pops up(the second photo below) that allows you to name the folder and the image. Once you finish that, you can either save just that photo and move onto the next for different setting or save them all with the same name except for a number added to the end of the name( see third image).
Very fast and very easy. Trial version puts a watermark on photos(photo 4).

I don't think my epson software can do this.

If you go into Tools > Settings, there is an option to rotate all of the scans, which is very handy for scanning sports cards. I think the software was mostly created with photos in mind, hence everything being scanned "sideways" from the perspective of the typical collector.

Thanks Jason. I looked around in the settings a bit and saw that, but didn't try it out yet. Nice call on this software. It looks really functional for card scanning.

Oops, my bad. Thought this was 'Best Scammer to scam autographs' - I had a couple Roaches in mind.

Any idea if / how well this software would work for negatives and slides? (Using an Epson V700, so having the full scanner bed available for scanning transparent media).

I can see the scanner only having to travel the length of the scanner bed once to produce multiple scans being a huge time savings when scanning lots of small items.

Thanks for the link to this software. This program is really awesome!!

With slides, I think it would work fine. It might have a little more trouble finding the edges with negatives due to the bracket you have to mount them in for that scanner. Worth a try, though. My Epson 9000F only accommodates one negative strip at a time, so I haven't had much opportunity to test it out with more than a few images at once. I suppose if you put the negatives directly on the platen, you could fit a lot more. Then you just have to deal with picking them up off the glass when you're done.

Lance,
You can download a trial version to try it out.

Good one. :D:D

Just checking in to see if everyone still likes the Ransen Software.

I downloaded the demo and it looks great.

Before I purchase I just want to make sure all are still happy.

Thanks

Shawn

I'm still using it and love it. So much faster and easier than anything else out there. Just the fact that you can lay 8 or 9 cards on the scanner flatbed and hit scan and it grabs each card individually is really helpful.

I downloaded the software and am having trouble scanning index cards.
The Oeschger index card came out heavily toned and in real life is barely toned.
The Schmeling index card is signed on the unlined side but the lines show through from the back of the index card. The Oeschger card is unlined on both sides which is why there are no lines showing.
Anybody have a similar problem?
Anybody know what I can do to correct this?

Richard,

That is odd and not sure why it is doing that. The Billy Herman is a cut and the toning looks spot on. Here is a Bunning signed on the non-lined side of an index card and the lines are not showing through at all. I scan at 300 dpi. I also scan with the lid up.

Thanks for giving me a possible solution.
I scan at 300 dpi but I scan with the lid down.
I will try with the lid up.

This is what happens when I try with the lid up.
Maybe it is my scanner?
Epson XP-420

Best Scanner to scan autographs?
 

I am guessing here that all the replies on this thread are for PC's and not Mac's?

PC here.

The ones I posted above were scanned from my Canon 9000F Mark II. Here are two more scans now from my Epson workforce 630 All in one. So it looks like it is a scanner thing.

Attachment 218114

Attachment 218115

Greg,
I really appreciate you taking the time to scan those autographs for me to show me it is my damned scanner's fault :).
This would have been really nice software for me.
The next time I get an index card collection I will be thinking of this software and how I could be saving some time if it only worked with my scanner :(.

No problem, glad to be of help. There are some pretty cheap CCD element (<$50 used on ebay) scanners out there that folks have bought that would work out well.

I purchased the software.

WOW it is so much easier than what I was using before.

Multiple cards at the same time and I do not have to break up the scan. Auto cropping.

Awesome so far.