Top Epson Photo Scanners

Whether you buy an Epson photo scanner, a Canon scanner or something else even, here are a few tips to help you with scanning your photos.

1. Read the scanner manual.
If you have a new scanner or have never scanned a photo before, take a few moments to read through your scanner's manual. I know, it isn't terribly exciting, but familiarizing yourself with the scanner and how it functions will make the process easier in the long run.

2. Clean your scanner and photos
Just a little bit of dust will be easily picked up when you start scanning, so make sure you clean off the scanner's glass before you start. Never use a paper towel and Windex! You want to use a lint-free cloth and just wipe gently in one direction.

Same goes for your photos. Wipe them off gently with a lint-free cloth to remove any dirt and dust. Compressed air will also work.

3. Test your scanner
Before you run off and start scanning 50 photos in a row, do a few test runs and see if you are happy with the results. If you are unsure of what resolution to use to scan your photos, try scanning one photo at 3 to 4 different resolutions and see if going higher makes any difference (300 dpi is a good starting point).

The higher the resolution you use to scan, the larger your file sizes will be and the more time it will take to scan. So less is more within reason - you still want good scans.

4. Batch scan if possible
Most photo scanners will allow you to scan multiple photos at one time. If so, do another test run to see how many photos you can place on the scanner bed at once without the scanner merging pictures. Scanning in batches will save you some a fair amount of time.

5. Organize your files
Make sure you save all your scans to a particular folder. Even better is to save the images into subfolders based on the time period or subject in the photos. This will make future retrieval easier.