Hello.

Am getting ready to purchase a Flatbed scanner for digitizing 4 yearbooks / annuals. I've read Beverly Collins' pdf. Helpful. And I've checked out her Canon 8800. But want to get the latest recommendations from this group as a whole. I have an HP flat top on a multi function printer. But the laying out the books is cumbersome. And not best for the books.

Need to capture full pages and individual photos on the page laying the books out so that the binding is not stressed. Would like to buy from Dell and keep the price under $400. Do I need an 11 x 17?

Any recommendations other than the Cano-F8800?

Thanks.

Jesse Skip Collins

I saw just recently a wand scanner..just scan the page using a bar type scanner. Was 99 dollars at BED,BATH AND BEYOND. It is made specifically for pages in books.

Been using an Epson Perfection V200 scanner for 2 years (new model out now V300, I think)--my brother in law just bought the new version to do his classes' yearbook--still under $100, lots of versatility, good built in software, including OCR. I bought mine at Best Buy, not sure where B-I-L bought his.

Good luck--I couldn't live without my scanner. My "all in one" printer/scanner was too slow and didn't give me the options of doing documents, books, and photos. I used the V200 to scan in my entire family's photo and document history from 1900 to present, over 17,000 images on this scanner.

I use a Brother 11"x17" printer/scanner.
Big plus is that I had an after-market ink supply system added that allows me to buy each ink color in 8oz bottles for $20@ and refill the four containers added to the side of the printer. Small hoses 'pipe' the ink to the individual cartridges. Makes for low cost color prints.

We used YEA to scan for us.

The YEA, a non-profit organization, has five currently active YEA teen businesses. We worked with one of them, ScanWorks from the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Allston, MA.

ScanWorks gives deaf teens the chance to work and learn how to run a company, an opportunity generally unavailable to this special population. For many Horace Mann students, this is the first time they have held a job, and the sense of self-confidence and personal possibility unleashed by the experience has been transformative.

We were the first to have a yearbook scanned by them. I suggested that they create a price list to get other reunion business.

Here is their Price List for Yearbook Scanning (a lot cheaper than buying a scanner).

There is a $40 minimum charge for scanning a yearbook. ScanWorks guarantees your yearbook within 3 weeks of accepting your order. The basic charges are as follows:

Scanning $0.20 per page

CD’s $5.00 per CD

Web Upload $15.00 – please note that the upload is in PDF multipage format.

Rush orders Add $10.00 for every day under 3 weeks.

Other Requirements

1. The client must have a yearbook that can be permanently disassembled for scanning. This requires breaking the binding, so the yearbook cannot be restored to its original bound state.
2. YEA requires a disclosure statement from the client stating that they have authorization to scan the yearbook.

If you have any questions or are interested in their services, please contact Jin Ho Kim at (617) 835-5126 or email jinho.kim@yeaworks.org.

Tell him I sent you.

Ken

Here is our yearbook online that they scanned for us:

The Blazer

Our classmate used the following procedures to capture yearbook pictures and digitize them. Hope this helps anyone reading this forum.

________________________________________________

I tried scanning with a Canon iP 6700D scanner and then tried photographing the yearbook. I got better results photographing. It may be worth performing tests to compare your scanner and camera.

I used a Nikon D-80 (lower-end digital SLR camera) with a Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G lens (a good macro lens) set at F/4 with a 1/8 second exposure and no flash. The camera was on a tripod and I used a remote release to avoid moving the camera when I snapped a picture. I cropped the image and made a few edits using Nikon's Capture NX 2 version 2.0 editor (a friendly editor for non-professionals.) I photographed two senior pictures in one camera shot and then used editing software to separate the image into individual photos. Both scanning and photographing required editing to straighten the image. I also used cropping, curves, auto retouch brush, sharpening, etc. on some images. The most challenging yearbook photos to edit were those where friends had written something across their picture.

Thanks, Jim for the excellent advice. the V300 is on sale for $56.64 and no tax or shipping at this linkbhphotvideo.com

We've done "camera" business at this place before and they are service oriented and believe in the customer! Excellent recommendation! Can't beat the deal and even those places that "guarantee" to meet the price, will not meet this price!
Thanks again! (and my husband thanks you! We saved over $50.00! and we already have a scanner, but this one looks "sweet" and the price can't be beat!) It is greatly appreciated!
I need to "create" our Memory table photos/etc ASAP, so i thank you sincerely!
Thanks for helping me "think outside the box"!

Thanks ,Jim!
Scanner arrived and it's amazing! What a sweet deal...it takes a yearbook page and scans each picture individually (without being asked!) Very amazing! Even Photoshop-like in it's many abilities!
It even scans slides and negatives! Compact,sleek and very user friendly! Thanks so much! Our reunion is two weeks away but this is just short of a miracle! Thanks! And only $55!
sign me...scanning away!
Thanks again!!
kris

Thanks ,Jim!
Scanner arrived and it's amazing! What a sweet deal...it takes a yearbook page and scans each picture individually (without being asked!) Very amazing! Even Photoshop-like in it's many abilities!
It even scans slides and negatives! Compact,sleek and very user friendly! Thanks so much! Our reunion is two weeks away but this is just short of a miracle! Thanks! And only $55!
sign me...scanning away!
Thanks again!!
kris