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Thread: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

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    Registered User Miss Flicts's Avatar
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    A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    I desperately need regular access to an A3 scanner but there is a big problem.

    They cost upwards of £1000, which I can't afford.

    There is one oddball Mustek model which is only £100, but every review of it says it's a waste of space - most can't even get the thing to work and if they do then they might as well not have bothered because it's so awful..

    So what do I do? Should I try to buy a second-hand one? That seems very risky. Are there places where one can hire the use of a big scanner, like a photo shop or something? Please help if you have any ideas....

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    Commercial Operator StokeBloke's Avatar
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    Cool Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    Have you tried image stitching software? Scan in two parts then.... stitch them together. Bit of a cludge.... but....

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    Registered User Miss Flicts's Avatar
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    Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    Have you tried image stitching software? Scan in two parts then.... stitch them together. Bit of a cludge.... but....
    No, I haven't heard of that - it might be the perfect solution. Can you tell me a bit more? If you just give me an idea what sort of thing then I can google it and do a bit of research.

    Thanks !!!!

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    Papa Smurf
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    Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    what resolution do you need? take a pic with a digital camera But open office draw would work as simple, and free, imaging stiching software. set the page size to A3. Still need to print it though - i assume you have an A2 printer

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    Commercial Operator StokeBloke's Avatar
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    Cool Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    Quote Originally Posted by Miss Flicts View Post
    No, I haven't heard of that - it might be the perfect solution. Can you tell me a bit more? If you just give me an idea what sort of thing then I can google it and do a bit of research.

    Thanks !!!!
    Maybe have a look at this page, at the bottom you'll find RasterStitch.
    "RasterStitch is a utility for putting together multiple raster images (stitching). Use this program to create a panorama of several photographs or scan and join fragments of a paper document, which dimensions exceed the scanner workspace. For example, you can scan a draft of the A0 format with a desktop A4 (21x29 cm) scanner or scan a map case of 50x50 cm by individual fragments and then join them to create the whole picture. The stitch line is created by setting two pairs of common points on the next images. That allows even a newbie to accomplish a great result quickly and easily"
    There's a free trial you can download, you can make sure it does what you need it to before you part with any cash ($35 is quite a saving over £1,000)

    Hope that's of some use to you.
    Stokie

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    Registered User Miss Flicts's Avatar
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    Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    what resolution do you need? take a pic with a digital camera But open office draw would work as simple, and free, imaging stiching software. set the page size to A3. Still need to print it though - i assume you have an A2 printer
    I need it to scan artwork (double-pages of sketchbooks and art journals). I do actually take photos sometimes (because gold/silver don't scan well) but the straight lines get distorted and it never looks quite perfect even when corrected in PSE. I don't need to print - it's for online use.

    The image-stitching software sounds ideal. What do I need to do? Is there an obvious function to click to do the stitching thing? Will it then be stored/upload etc as one file? Why didn't I know about this before?!! More info please!!! Thanks so much! Ooh, and happy new year.

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    Registered User frodo's Avatar
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    Re: A3 Scanner - I need access to one

    Quote Originally Posted by Miss Flicts View Post
    I desperately need regular access to an A3 scanner but there is a big problem.

    They cost upwards of £1000, which I can't afford.
    There is one oddball Mustek model which is only £100, but every review of it says it's a waste of space - most can't even get the thing to work and if they do then they might as well not have bothered because it's so awful..
    I've had the old SCSI version of the Mustek scanner for over 10 years. Apart from the USB being tacked on it looks identical - An ancient design, but in the absence of competition I guess they've no reason to update it.

    One potential more modern replacement I've come across is A3 all in one printer/scanner/copiers, which are likely to have a wider market.

    http://www.trustedreviews.com/printe...ion-Printer/p1

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