What’s a scanner good for these days?

Scanners are so "passé". We all shoot digital, so what should you keep a scanner for anyway? Have you considered throwing out your trusted Epson V700, HP, or whatever photo scanner? You might want to reconsider, because with a good scanner you can "shoot" 3D objects. OK, so you can't scan every object that has three dimensions and get the same results as in a photograph of that object, but for some projects, a scanner can do a better job than any digital camera. Consider the "shot" I took with my V700. I used SilverFast 8 to brighten up the red of the pouch. You can't see the detail in the below image, because it's a small JPEG, but if you want to see how detailed the scan of these items really is, do right-click on the image link below and save the 12.6MB TIFF file to your desktop so you can see for yourself. I could have made it even more detailed by using my scanner's full resolution capability, but I think this 300dpi image says it all. Download the TIFF here. By the way, I scanned this using the "reflective" option of the scanner. I will try it out with the "transparency" option as well, and see what gives and if it's any good, I'll let you know.

Scanners are so “passé”. We all shoot digital, so what should you keep a scanner for anyway? Have you considered throwing out your trusted Epson V700, HP, or whatever photo scanner? You might want to reconsider, because with a good scanner you can “shoot” 3D objects.

OK, so you can’t scan every object that has three dimensions and get the same results as in a photograph of that object, but for some projects, a scanner can do a better job than any digital camera. Consider the “shot” I took with my V700. I used SilverFast 8 to brighten up the red of the pouch.

You can’t see the detail in the below image, because it’s a small JPEG, but if you want to see how detailed the scan of these items really is, do right-click on the image link below and save the 12.6MB TIFF file to your desktop so you can see for yourself.

I could have made it even more detailed by using my scanner’s full resolution capability, but I think this 300dpi image says it all. Download the TIFF here.

By the way, I scanned this using the “reflective” option of the scanner. I will try it out with the “transparency” option as well, and see what gives and if it’s any good, I’ll let you know.