I've had HP scanners as well as my current: a Visioneer. These are fine,
and affordable, and come with PaperPort, a useful program for storing
scans as well as performing some basic manipulations on them. My latest
scanner cost $79 and features 600X1200 resolution. THe only drawback
compared to a more expensive HP is that they are a tad slow. But who is
in a hurry?

I periodically help scan specimens for my friend Tom Rice (his Sea and
Shore museum is just a few convenient miles down the road from me) and
his publications, and we tried something new the last time we scanned
some shells. This was to arrange the shells on a piece of white
cardboard. In the case of a large specimen, molding compound (like
Playdough) can be used to support the specimens. Then we placed wood
blocks around the perimeter, and placed the scanner glass down on these
supports so that the scanner was essentially scanning upside down.
Worked like a charm.

The only problem is that the white background then comes out grey. Some
sort of backlighting helps, especially with contrast. So eventually, I
plan to set up a simple light table that will provide this. In the
meantime we were able to take most of this grey out with Photoshop. The
results of this can be seen on the cover of Tom's latest magazine.

Casey
--
Casey Burns - Wind Instrument Maker and Occasional Paleontologist
9962 Shorty Campbell Road  Kingston WA 98346 USA
(360) 297-4020

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