Monday, April 5, 2010

New scanner!

After a lot of waiting, I have finally managed to upgrade to a new scanner. I found it necessary to upgrade for two reasons: 1) as a budding professional illustrator, I need something than can take quality scans so I can send finished work to clients, and 2) Epson was no longer offering driver updates for my OLD Epson Perfection 1200U scanner, so when I obtained my new laptop back in July I couldn't use my scanner as it wasn't compatible with Windows Vista. Not having a scanner was driving me crazy as I use one not only for scanning in finished illustrations, but also to enlarge smaller thumbnails and drawings. Using a digital camera to take pictures of sketchbook work was just not cutting it. My new scanner arrived this morning and I was absolutely ecstatic to receive it.


I ordered a Epson Perfection V700 which was recommended by a very good friend and former professor, and I have to say I am very pleased. It has great scanning quality. The only downsides are it's expensive (though not as much as the Expression graphic arts scanners---whew!), and its maximum scan area is 8.5" x 11.7". I tend to work small, so it's not a huge drawback for me, plus with Photoshop's photomerge option, I can scan larger works in pieces and have the program put them together, so it shouldn't slow me down. I highly recommend getting one of these if you have the money---it's a lot up front, but it's an investment and well worth it if you're a professional illustrator.

And since I finally have access to a scanner again, I can prove I haven't been slacking on creating new work...


This is a piece I've been working on for the Quiet Use Coalition, based in Colorado. They promote "quiet use" recreation (such as hiking and biking) and work to protect public lands from illegal motorized recreation, which can destroy the serene mountain landscapes and upset wildlife through excess noise. The piece isn't completely done as I plan on adding a color to both the background and the text in Photoshop. I'll post the finished piece once I have it the way I like it.

6 comments:

  1. Yay! That scanner looks great. Would you say it has the same (or better?) quality as the 10000XL scad has? I was considering this scanner. I love your poster!

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  2. Actually..Scanner is looking good one. I am planning of buying new scanner from last 2 months. I need it for my business purpose. It is suitable for my business. I have to take about 40-50 scan copy per day.

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  3. Anna, do you still like this scanner? How does it do with color reproduction (matching colors of original art)? Thanks!

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  4. Hi Anon,

    Yes, I do still like this scanner. My only complaint is that the scannable area is a bit small (around 8.5" x 11" or so). If I need to scan larger I have to do so in pieces and then put them together using the photomerge option in Photoshop.

    As for color reproduction, it's pretty good, but I find myself using Photoshop to punch up the colors if I feel they are not quite spot on with the original art. In particular the black and white in my acrylic pieces appears a lot cooler than it does in real life, but they fared the same when I scanned them with the larger Epson Perfection graphics scanners, so it might just be how this brand of scanner reacts to those paint pigments. I can't say how it would do with another brand (like a Cannon or HP) since I have not used one. I hope this helps!

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