2024 the best picture scanner review


Price: $529.99 - $499.99
(as of Nov 15, 2024 14:55:18 UTC - Details)

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Preserve what’s priceless with the Epson® FastFoto FF-680W — the World’s Fastest Personal Photo Scanner (1). Scan thousands of photos — as fast as 1 photo per second (2). Easily restore, save, organize and share photos, postcards, panoramas, documents and more. The convenient mobile app (3) enables you to capture the voice of loved ones and create slideshows, so you can easily share stories about your photos right from your smartphone, from a firsthand perspective, for generations to come. Plus, FastFoto brings old photos to life with auto enhancement, color restoration and more. Offering the ultimate in versatility, it includes a variety of format options for quick sharing, archiving and enlargements 1. As compared to other personal/consumer photo scanners, generally defined as photo scanners priced under $1,000 USD (MSRP). 2. Based on average speed from start of scan to end of feeding, scanning thirty-six 4" x 6" photos at 300 dpi in landscape orientation. Results may vary based on processor speed, memory and operating system of the connected computer. 3. Requires Epson FastFoto app download (data usage fees may apply), compatible mobile device and FastFoto FF-680W (sold separately). 4. Interpolated resolution is the doubling of the optical resolution using a software algorithm to increase dpi. 5. Based on letter-sized scans at 300 dpi in Black-and-White, Grayscale or Color Mode, using the USB interface. 6. Internet connection and active Dropbox or Google Drive account required. 7. Wirelessly scan to the cloud, PCs or Mac® with Epson FastFoto software and Epson ScanSmart software, installed on the connected Windows® PC or Mac; wirelessly scan to smartphones or tablets (Android™/iOS® devices) via the Epson FastFoto app. Internet connection required. 8. Check for convenient and reasonable recycling options with us 9. SmartWay is an innovative partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that reduces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants and improves fuel efficiency.
World’s Fastest Personal Photo Scanner (1) — scan thousands of photos as fast as 1 photo per second at 300 dpi (2); batch-scan up to 36 photos at a time
Preserve Your Priceless Photos — restore, organize, protect and share photos; scan Polaroid photos, panoramas, postcards and photos up to 8" x 10"
Share Stories for Future Generations — use the Epson FastFoto app (3) to add voice and text over your photos or create slideshows, right from your smartphone
Perfect Picture Imaging System — bring new life to old photos with auto enhancement, color restoration, red-eye reduction, de-skew, crop and rotate
Single-step Technology — capture both the image and any handwritten notes on the back of a photo in a single scan
Flexible Scanning — offers a variety of format options for easy sharing (300 dpi), archiving (600 dpi TIFF) and enlarging (1200 dpi (4)); handles multiple sizes in one batch; mobile (up to 600 dpi JPEG)
Powerful Document Scanning — includes Epson ScanSmart software with optical character recognition (OCR), which converts scanned images into readable text; scan documents up to 240"; scan speeds up to 45 ppm/90 ipm (5)
Easy Auto-upload and Backup — instantly share your memories as you scan via Dropbox and Google Drive(6)
Easy to Connect — includes both USB and wireless connectivity (7) for flexible placement; easy Wi-Fi setup with the Epson FastFoto app
SafeTouch Technology — for worry-free scanning of delicate photos; carrier sheet included, plus microfiber cloth to lightly dust photos
Reviewer: Ailis
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Need to scan a lot of inherited photos?
Review: I inherited several large 20+ gallon totes full of family photos when my last immediate family member passed away several years ago. My ultimate goal was to scan all the photos in so that I could have a digital copy of them and do *something* with all the totes of physical pictures. At first, I picked up a flat bed scanner off Craigslist but that turned out to be problematic and cumbersome. In order to get a several scanned in, I'd end up adding 30 minutes total to one scan because of all of the post photo editing that is needed to crop photos and re-adjust etc. After several hours and only managing to scan in maybe 50-100 photos, I gave up and put the totes aside until I could figure out a better alternative.I researched photo scanning services and with as many photos as I have, it would not have been feasible. The most "economical" package I could find was to scan 200 photos and the cost would be in the ballpark of $500. Considering I would have well over 200 photos to scan, I could not, in my right mind, justify paying this much $ to have my photos scanned.In one of my late night, "my brain won't slow down enough to fall asleep moments." I started researching "auto-feed" scanners and if something like this would be possible. This is how I came across the FastFoto 680W. I read the reviews on Amazon as well as other websites not related to Epson, I saw the pros and cons and decided that it would be worth investing in this scanner in order to get these numerous totes of photos scanned in.The scanner arrived and I had issues setting the scanner up on our wifi. I followed the steps as instructed and still had issues setting up the scanner on wifi. Having the scanner setup via USB wasn't the best idea due to space on my desk and location of my computer equipment in my office. After uninstalling/reinstalling, coming across random "bummer" errors and just no luck, I called Epson and had them assist. Not sure what it was, but they had me walk through all of the steps I performed and re-performed and it set up just fine.Once the scanner was setup, I was able to start scanning photos. I sorted through the photos and stacked them in similar photo sizes and time frames (or at least rough time frames). For the most part I haven't run into any issues scanning photos. Some of the photos I have from the 50's are are on thick card stock which will not process through the auto-feed scanner and will need to be scanned another way. I haven't specifically counted, but I've placed a stack of more than 30 photos and it ran through without issue. So far, I've scanned over 1000 photos in. Periodically, I will get a notice on my PC to clean the scanner and have noted a few photos come through with lines on them but nothing too major.I really like the auto-correct feature that comes with the photo scanning software. I have it set to where I can select which of the 2 scans look better and delete the one I don't want. What is really cool about the scanner, is the smallest pictures I've been able to scan so far. The card the image is on is maybe less than 2" by 1" in size, so the image is super tiny. When the photos are enlarged in the software, you can see all the details that you couldn't see (without a magnifying glass at least) on the original image. The quality and age of the photo comes into play here, so the output of what you scan really depends on what is on the original photo. I've never seen photos before of my grandparents from when they were younger than their 40's. Finding these photos has been fascinating and to be able to see them like this... :-O I've had luck scanning photos from WWII era, all the way back to the early 1900's if not before.I've used the scanner to scan documents as well. The scanning process for the most part has been super easy, I've used the double-sided scan feature in the Epson ScanSmart software. I've run into a couple of errors where it scans the front of a document, shows it in the software but after you save to PDF, it is missing the front that you just scanned. Haven't quite worked out the details on that.My 2nd run in with Epson tech support wasn't as great as the first one. The first one, I felt like I was being talked down to and like I was wasting their time. It may have been the accent, I'm not sure but the 2nd time was most definitely worse than the first.I was scanning stacks of documents in using the ScanSmart software one night and haven't had any issues. Everything was scanning fine, I was using the double-sided scanning option in the software. Then we had a power surge and everything in the house shut off and some things came back on (like they would when something like this happens). When I booted my PC back up to start scanning again, I was now missing the double-sided scanning option and could not get my scanner back online to continue scanning. I had the option of single-sided scanning and the option for the trial to scan receipts and invoices but my double-sided scanning option was no longer there. I performed several actions to troubleshoot the problem, including uninstalling/reinstalling the ScanSmart software, unplugging and plugging back in the scanner (finally got that back online and it would scan photos but NOT documents to PDF), uninstalled drivers for OCR and PDF, a myriad of other things in the correct steps needed to be taken. I finally gave up and called Epson. The first guy I talked to had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned the double-sided scanning option in the software, played it off like I had no idea what *I* was talking about and was just in general incompetent. I finally got transferred to a manager who also talked down to me and because apparently it was right before their end of shift/end of day, told me that he would email me a document on how to remove a "core folder" for the software within 5 minutes after we got off the phone call, only to be hung up on and lied to. I ended up using the contact support feature on the epson website and told them everything and it wasn't until after I submitted that, that I got the instructions I was promised before that I didn't get. Long story short, I ended up figuring out how to fix the scanner issue that required a lot of digging through program files on my PC, temp files and other places. Any average person would probably not have been able to figure this out on their own.My experiences with Epson have been LESS than stellar. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being excellent, 1 being the worst, I'd rate them at a 2 or 3.The scanner itself works great. There are flaws, you will/may run into issues. Being able to scan in all these photos has been a relief to finally be able to do. Be prepared if you have to call Epson though as you will probably get the same level of service I received.

Reviewer: Andrew W
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Definitely does a good job with photos
Review: Got it today 10/08/2024 early in the afternoon and I've been scanning photos and documents randomly. I'm really impressed with the quality of the photo images.Opening the box was a little awkward. I caught the instructions on how to take it out of the box on the flap but laughed cause, surely, I could just pull it out like I do with all electronics. Nope. The Styrofoam started cracking. I plopped it back in, followed instructions and everything came out in one piece.Packaging was done really well. Lots of tape around the machine itself to prevent things from opening in transit. Once I got that done, I started flipping through the instructions, which is really just 3 steps, and got rolling.Download the software first, install and then it'll ask you how you want to connect. Save yourself some time and just connect it via the USB cable first and let it configure your wifi that way. Takes about a minute. Once that's done, you're pretty much set.The software is easy to get around but the UI/UX is pretty plain. Gives you the usual scanning options for docs and photos.Once that was done I went wild. All the photos I scanned so far were from the 1960's. They've been in the albums since then and, even with the dried up glue bits on the back, the scanner didn't have any issues. Everything came out really well but, just a disclaimer, my old scanner is a 3 in 1 brother laser printer. Perhaps my expectations weren't all that high. I'm pretty happy with it and hope it lasts at least 5 years.On a different note, I don't notice the white line or streaks that several people have mentioned. Maybe it'll show up after a few more scans but, so far, so good.

Reviewer: Joseph Alexander
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Works Flawlessly -- By Far the Best Scanner I've Ever Used
Review: This scanner completely lives up to its billing as "the world's fastest personal photo scanner." I had thousands of old photos that, because we're moving, I wanted to store electronically while throwing out the paper copies. After doing a fair amount of research, I landed on the Epson FastFoto 680W. It's pricier than some other scanners but well worth it. In two days, I scanned more than 4,000 photos without a hitch -- the scanner worked flawlessly across all different sizes of photos. It even enhanced the quality of the photos as I scanned them. One caveat: keep in mind that the super-fast scans (no more than a second per photo) produce photos that are 300 dots per inch; if you want to scan at a higher dpi, the scanner is a lot slower. As a result, I decided to keep copies of a handful of very special photos, while still being content to keep only digital versions of at least 95% of them. After scanning several thousand photos, I switched to document mode to scan hundreds of paper files that I also wanted to get rid of and it was even faster than it was for the photos because it scans even two-sided documents in no more than a second. My days of paper copies are finally over. In fact, I'm keeping the scanner on my desk so that every time I get a document that I want to save, I instantly scan it and then discard the hard copy of the document. Overall, this is one of the best products I've ever purchased and definitely the best scanner I've ever used.Unfortunately, after I wrote that review, and for no apparent reason, the scanner suddenly stopped working with my computer (a fairly new iMac). The computer simply stopped recognizing the scanner and nothing could get it to work, even after I uninstalled and then tried to reinstall the software several times. The software won't re-install unless the computer recognizes the scanner, which it won't. And the Epson customer support people were no help at all. So, while this is a magnificent piece of hardware, the software seems like it's still a work in progress.I'm updating my review to increase it to five stars. After the computer suddenly stopped recognizing the scanner, I finally tried replacing the cable connecting the scanner to the computer. Presto, the computer recognized the scanner again. So it wasn't the scanner that went bad; it was the cable that I was using. The scanner truly is phenomenal.

Reviewer: WasabiK
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is one of the few scanners that has a auto feed to scan stacks of photos at a time. Much faster than using a flatbed scanner. Therefore I bit the bullet and bought this. Turns out it's worth every penny!- Scans BOTH SIDES of photos at the same time. If there are notes on the backs of the photos, they will be scanned.- The quality is excellent. I scanned the same set of photos on my HP all-in-one printer/scanner and this scanner. This scanner captures much more detail from the photos especially the shadow areas.- Files can be saved in lossless .tif format (or lossy .jpg format)- FastFoto app can apply auto adjustments to pictures (colour, brightness, and redeye), and save these adjustments in a SEPARATE file, preserving the original scan in case you want to edit it later using more "advanced" apps like Photoshop.- Scanner itself is compact and folds up for storage. It's sitting on my mom's desk right now, and it takes up less than half the space than the flatbed scanner she had.- It is FAST. Takes a few seconds to scan each photo at 600dpi. (there are also 300dpi and 1200dpi options)- Files are automatically put into folders and numbered. When adding more files to the same folder, the numbering continues from the last picture.- File numbering corresponds to the order you load the photos (with the front photo being #0001). It actually scans them in reverse order but the file numbering will be correct after scanning. Helps with my OCD making sure that photos are in the order taken.- Can scan documents as well as pictures.I did notice some etching of glossy photos like some reviewers mentioned. The etching results in some streaks in the scans, and those get blown up by some AI photo editing tools. I would say this is a minor annoyance because the image quality is so much better than flatbed, and it's so much faster to scan hundreds of photos. I don't plan to keep the originals and I will look into removing the streaks in the editing workflow.

Reviewer: Alaniz
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Lo único que le falto es digitalizar credenciales !!

Reviewer: Bazzamataz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I’ve only had the printer a couple of days but have already uploaded a couple of thousand photos to the cloud. I am very happy with the quality and its ability. I am scanning at 300dpi which takes 3 seconds per photo however the actual loading of the photos takes a lot longer.For someone like me with so many photos accumulated over 40 years I am just happy to have them out of the box and on the cloud from where all my family can view them. Are the photos perfect? For what I need they are.

Reviewer: S Rogers
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I bought this scanner to clear up some storage bins of photographs after my mom passed away, and it has been worth every penny. I'm SO glad I invested in this because it has allowed me to save a HUGE amount of photographs from years and years ago, preserving precious memories that might have otherwise been lost.The picture quality is outstanding, capturing even the smallest details in both photos and documents. It's incredibly easy to use, making the scanning process quick and efficient. I've also started scanning my kids' drawings, so I can save them forever too.The accuracy of the scans is almost perfect, with just the occasional minor adjustment needed. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase. If you have a lot of photos or documents to digitize, this scanner is a fantastic choice. Highly recommend!

Reviewer: Clive
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An example of you get what you pay for.At $650 (or there abouts) worked extremely well.The document printing is quick and is of good quality. Default res is 200dpi , I found 300dpi much better at the cost of being slightly slower in processing.Photo scanning is also good. Very quickly scanned all 36 6x4 prints. One thing to note, disabled auto correction for colour/brightness levels; does a terrible job. Best leave post production to apps like Photoshop.

Customers say

Customers like the speed, ease of use, and picture quality of the scanner. They mention it's a huge time saver, the software is friendly to use, and the organization system is convenient. Some also say it works fantastic and produces great looking scans. However, some customers have mixed opinions on the scanner's quality, value for money, and software quality.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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