Even in this era of the digital camera, devices for scanning old photos and documents continue to improve, making it easier to turn printed material into digital images that you can enhance, resize, and share. These advances have come without a price hike, so you get more scanner for the money than you did a year ago. The models we recommend sell for $100 to $180.

For serious scanning, especially of film and slides, a separate scanner remains a better choice for most users than an all-in-one printer that includes a scanning function. (See our Ratings of all-in-one printers, available to subscribers.) Dedicated scanners typically have higher resolution than you’ll get on an all-in-one, plus other features that translate into better, easier scanning.

Most scanners are general-purpose flatbed models that can scan both prints and transparent originals – that is, film and slides. But some higher-priced models come with special features and more extensive software that allow greater control and flexibility when scanning film and slides. Our tests have shown that the best flatbed scanners are more than adequate for most user's needs. That’s no small accomplishment, reflecting improvements to the resolution that new scanners deliver and better accessories to hold film strips or slides securely for sharp, accurate scans.

Stores such as Costco and Wal-Mart will scan negatives and slides onto a disc for less than 30 cents per image. But you’ll give up the control you have doing it yourself. Also, the cost of scanning 15 rolls of 24-exposure negatives at Costco runs about $100, what you’d pay for a scanner.

HOW TO CHOOSE

Consider how much resolution you need. If you scan only printed graphics, text documents and original photos (to the same size), the most you'll need is 1200-dpi. (You can always lower a scanner’s setting to the resolution required—and you should, to keep scan times short and file sizes small.)

For enlarging photos or graphics, or scanning film and slides, 2400-dots-per-inch (dpi) is the minimum you’ll need, but you’ll get better results with 3200 dpi and up. The higher resolution allows you to capture more detail when enlarging a 35-mm original or zooming in on a portion of an image. In our film and slide tests, we got the best (very good) performance with a 6400-dpi model. But the best 4800-dpi models produced good results, and prints from those scans would look much the same as those from better performers, providing they were printed only as 4x6s. If you plan to print images larger than 4 by 6, however, consider a model with higher resolution. Color-bit depth is another spec to watch if you’re enlarging prints or scanning negatives or slides. The greater the color-bit depth, the better the scanner can differentiate among subtle gradations of shading; 24-bit (8 bits per color channel) is basic, 48-bit (16 bits per channel) is better.

When comparing specs, focus on native optical resolution. “Interpolated” or “enhanced” resolution comes in handy only for scanning line art.

Resolution isn’t everything, however. As with a camera’s megapixels, a scanner’s resolution is only one component of performance; sensors, circuitry, and other design also comes into play.  In our recent tests, performance tracked roughly with resolution, but one 3200-dpi model outperformed some 4800-dpi scanners.

Choose quality and speed that suit your needs. Most of the tested scanners did very well at reproducing a color photo at 300 dpi. Those judged good produced decent but less crisp scans, with less accurate colors. Fewer models did well with film.

Speed matters if you expect to be scanning regularly. In our tests, the fastest took about 11 seconds to scan an 8x10-inch photo at 300 dpi, while the slowest took about 30 seconds.

Don’t sweat the software. All the scanners we tested came with software for scanning, image editing, and optical character recognition for scanning text into a word-processing program. Some have software for making digital photo albums or other projects.

Automated buttons let you perform frequent tasks, such as scanning an image for e-mail, with one touch. You can handle other tasks, such as adjusting brightness or contrast, through the software.