Scanning old photos

[SeanTater]

I have thousands (I have not counted) of old photos that have been baking/freezing in a attic for about twenty years. They are well preserved for the weather, excepting the ones that have curled..

What I want to know is this: What's the best scanner for this?

I have an all-in-one scanner that has quite a bit of noise, 600dpi, and strange white spots.
I was going to use it, but I ended up doing so much despeckling that it just replaced noise with blur.

Right now, I'm looking between sheetfed scanners and flatbed scanners. Sheetfed scanners have a reputation for not making excellent photo scans. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I have the patience to want 2 minutes to scan per photo, hours and hours on end. Is it worth the difference in quality? Or is there a better alternative?

[phaed]

I don't know much about scanners viz Linux, but I use a digital camera to get old photos onto my computer. With the right lighting and such, it works quite well.

[Polygon]

honestly i have a 6+ year old scanner that is ancient, and it makes pretty good scans.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3232/scans004ph4.th.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scans004ph4.jpg)

now, if a scanner that is cheap and 6+ year old can scan that well, im sure any moderately priced flatbed scanner can scan like 2-3 pictures at a time and have acceptable enough quality.

[wolfen69]

get an HP if you get a new scanner.

[hansdown]

get an hp if you get a new scanner.

+1.

[kitili]

step1: get all your images together that you want to scan.
step2: turn your computer on
step3: get you scanner ready
step4: get your car keys
step5: go to kinkos
step6: tell them to do it.
step7: pay them.
step8: go home
step9: surf the internet till kinkos is done.

[SeanTater]

My last scanner was HP, but despite being a flatbed, it's not as good as I
had hoped.
I'll still look into it, however.

Kinkos would probably be just as good, but it gives me no excuse to buy new
hardware.. :)
As for the digital camera, I think I would be better off sticking with my
old scanner.

Thanks for the scan! It's much more objective than the reviews I've found. If anyone has more that would be appreciated, (especially color).

[Daveski]

I have an all-in-one scanner that has quite a bit of noise, 600dpi, and strange white spots.
I was going to use it, but I ended up doing so much despeckling that it just replaced noise with blur.

White spots are probably dust. Give the glass a really good clean, and hope that the dust is not on the inside. Also the photos need to be clean before scanning, and don't use automatic despeckling tools - you should manually clone areas around the spots to remove them.

[Chilli Bob]

1. Buy new GOOD quality flatbed. (the best I've used was a Canon that would not work on Linux, dammit)

2. Pay some niece/nephew/local urchin a couple of cents a scan and let them go nuts for the weekend.

Don't try it with a cheap plastic all-in-one. You'll just be disappointed with the results and do it again.

If you have access to a good (10+ Megapixel) SLR, professional lighting and suitable tripod/stand, this can work surprisingly well. I've done hundreds of slides this way by putting them on a light box and photographing them from above. Much, much faster than scanning.

[voteforpedro36]

step1: get all your images together that you want to scan.
step2: turn your computer on
step3: get you scanner ready
step4: get your car keys
step5: go to kinkos
step6: tell them to do it.
step7: pay them.
step8: go home
step9: surf the internet till kinkos is done.
step10: ???????????
step11: PROFIT!!!

Fixed.