I just KNEW this product was out there somewhere! I kept thinking, "Surely I'm not the only person who has hundreds of photos to scan and can't afford to take weeks to do it!" I kept looking, reading reviews, and looking some more. There was no way I was going to take 5 minutes or even 2 minutes per picture, previewing, scanning, cropping, adjusting. All I wanted to do was get decent, quick scans from old photos, good enough to post on Facebook. This little gem turned out to be perfect for what I needed.
PROS: This model will handle up to 8.5 by 11 inch photos. There is an adjustable guide to help you feed pictures into the slot, but I found I didn't really even need to use it as long as I positioned the photo up against the left edge of the scan path.
Scans are very quick. At the default setting, a 4x6 photo takes approx. 20 seconds to scan and save. Everything is automatic. You put a picture in the slot. The scanner feeds it through fast! When the light stops blinking, you scan another. I sat there watching TV, feeding one shot after another through the unit without a hitch.
One of the best features is that you don't have to be connected to a computer. If you're not connected via the USB cord, photos are automatically saved on the SD card. (The unit comes with a 1GB card, which hold hundreds of photos. HINT: After you install the scanning software from the SD card during setup, you can delete the scan software from the SD card. You'll free up lots of room for more photos. Just be sure to save a copy of the software somewhere, because I could not find a way to download it from the manufacturer's Web site.) You could take this unit to your family reunion, sit at a table with the relatives, and scan in photo after photo. When you get home, you can transfer the photos to your computer, or just pop the SD card into your digital photo frame. (I scanned about 350 photos and had them uploaded and posted to Facebook photo albums in about 3 hours.) Of course, if you'd prefer to connect and scan directly to your computer via USB cable (included), that is easy to do as well.
CONS: You have very little control over the scan settings. You choose either 300 dpi (dots per inch) or 600 dpi. (300 dpi is fine for posting photos online.)
You have no control over how the photo files are named when they are saved on the SD card or on your computer. (They are just numbered sequentially.)
You will need another software program if you need to manipulate the images after scanning (cropping, adjusting colors and brightness, etc.) The software that comes with the scanner does not have any editing functions. I recommend IRFANVIEW, a superb freeware photo editing program
It would have been really nice if the unit could have operated on batteries. Then you would not even have needed to use the power cord (included)! Maybe next model...
BOTTOM LINE: If you need museum-quality scans for posterity or super high resolution scans for enlarging, get yourself a good flatbed scanner and digital photo editing software. It takes a lot of money, time and effort to get scans that good.
But if you just need quick, decent quality photo scans for sharing via email or posting online, this may be exactly what you're looking for.
NOTE: After now doing approx. 500 scans, I have not had any of the problems with lines across the image that some reported. I do use the little cleaning swab (included) about every 50 scans as suggested by the manufacturer.
The first thing we noticed about the PANSCN06 scanner was its small size. The scanner is about the size of the cardboard tube used for a roll of paper towels. The unit is amazingly powerful and versatile considering its small footprint.
We scanned a family album of 50 various size snapshots from the 1950s and 1960s by placing the scanner in front of the keyboard with the usb cord attached to the computer. Then we got going and placed photo after photo into the scanner slot, with the dual rolls of the scanner doing the work by pulling each photo through the front and out the back. The scanning of 50 photos required less than half an hour. Most of the time was spent removing the photos, then reinserting them back into the family album once scanning was complete.
Because we elected to scan directly to the computer rather than the SD card, we got immediate feedback by observing each scan on the monitor screen in near real-time. Thus we could tell if a photo had been scanned to our satisfaction, or needed to be re-scanned due to cockeyed orientation or some other reason.
As others here have observed, there are two scanning resolutions, 300dpi and 600dpi. We have only used the lower resolution, but have no complaints. The scans on the computer screen are at least four times larger than the original photos, which renders detail sufficient to blow us away.
There has been an issue with Pandigital scanners regarding lines appearing in the scanned image. We experienced no such problem after 50 scans. Reviewers on other websites have suggested opening the scanner case to clean the scanning glass of baked-on dirt or debris which cause the lines. We are prepared to attempt this remedy if needed, but only after the warranty expires.
There is one important issue about old photo scanning that needs to be brought to light here. This scanner is proficient at revealing details, some wonderful and some not, which are not obvious in the original photos. Thus, that hairy facial mole on Aunt Matilda's face in 1956 will once again be front and center on your computer screen, even if it was not that apparent in your little 2 x 3 print from the Eisenhower administration.
In our case, we grew up with a large active family that abused photos. Thus, after scanning we found ourselves using the eyedropper and paintbrush in Photoshop to restore images. We removed a wrinkle caused by a puppy teething on a print. We digitally blotted a red raspberry jam stain from my sister Susan's nose. We whitened the image to remove yellowed aging appearance. And so on.
Bottom line: great value, quick way to archive your treasured family moments from yesteryear.
Buy Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter, White (PANSCN06) Now
I received the Panscn06 yesterday. I read the manual, hooked up the scanner to my PC, loaded the software from the supplied sd card, and started scanning pictures into Picasa. I was able to scan photos of all sizes from 3 x 5 up to 8 1/2 x 11. It even took some Poloroids. I have not encountered any problems such as lines in the scanned photos. Today I brought the portable scanner to work and while on break, pluged the scanner into an outlet, scanned 17 photos to the sd card in a couple of minutes, and tonight, I will load them on my home computer. So far, I love it.
Read Best Reviews of Pandigital Personal Photo Scanner/Converter, White (PANSCN06) Here
Bought this about a week ago and have been scanning photos all week. It's extremely easy to set up and operate, and it's quite portable. Initially the scans were flawless, but as the week has progressed, I've begun to notice a huge increase in white lines appearing across the photos I've scanned. It started off in just one location, so I could turn the photo ninety degrees and scan it that way, but the lines are increasing and are now to the point where it's simply not worth using the machine. I'll probably be returning and trying another photo scanner.
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I am a pretty serious amateur photographer with several boxes and bags of old photographs, many (but not all) of which have negatives. Over the years, I have owned and used several flat bed and film scanners. I have a lot of experience with them.
They are all terribly S-L-O-W. And they all require a remarkable amount of attention -if you are going to use a flat bed scanner or a film scanner, you have to load the device, get it up on your computer, scan, and save the file. It takes a few minutes per image, and it's nearly impossible to do anything else at the same time.
Enter the Pandigital scanner. I'm watching the ball game. Or a movie. I plug in and turn on the scanner (the person who said it is about the size of the tube from paper towels is correct). I get one of my boxes of photos, and I start leafing though them. I find a photo I like and hold it up against the scanner's "slot". The photo is smoothly taken from my hands and starts it's progress through the scanner. It all takes about 5 to 8 seconds, and the photo emerges on the other side. Scanning time, and convenience, is about the same, whether it's a 2 by 3 or an 8 by 10, or anything in between (most of my photos are 3-1/2 by 5 and 4 by 6).
About two seconds after that, the light on the scanner stops flashing, and I insert another photo. If I'm watching the terminally slow Boston Red Sox, I will probably start to scan a second photo before the pitcher throws another pitch! One morning, while watching the Sunday news shows, I scanned over 130 photos. Finally, I got to my computer and upload all of my images from the included memory card.
The results -(1) the photos are very squarely recorded; they do not need to be cropped or straightened in order to be usable. (2) The DO need to be rotated. Photos may come in upside down or need clockwise or counter-clockwise turning. Many programs will handle this (I use something called "Thumbsplus" which will do the turning in "bulk"). (3) Some of the photos will benefit from being brightened (I use the same program for that too). The content seems to all be there -after brightening, I still have a great scan. (4) So far, out of just under 300 scans, I had TWO that had lines on them. I do make a point of wiping off obvious grit or dirt on the photos if I perceive that as a problem. (5) I haven't tried making LARGE reprints out of my scans. Certainly, 4 by 6s look great. I suppose that for my finest "artwork", I might do a serious film scan, but for all the old family photos that I want to be digitally preserved, this absolutely does a first rate job.
This is just a GREAT gadget. I have recommended it to everyone I know.
