Digital Scanners

Digital scanning equipment.
A flatbed scanner (above image) works by the user placing desired piece to be scanned, face down, closing lid of scanner (creating a white opaque background) and beginning scanning, the process of recording the image is created by a bar of light which runs along the length of the image recording all thats in its path, the purpose of the lid is make the image completely opaque so that full quality is achieved without light loss or leakage. Variabilities of filetypes and DPI (dots((pixels))per inch) can be made from the computer.

In order to digitise or reproduce analogue prints, forms and negatives the most apt piece of equipment for accuracy, clarity and convenience would be a computer scanner.

Scanners can be used for many different purposes not only for the use of digitising analogue prints and written forms. 

With any image, originally taken with film, that is digitally manipulated, in order to begin this process, the image has to first be scanned, before scanners, whenever print based images were needed to be replicated, this would be achieved by re-photographing the image. The problem with re photographing an image, was the fact that lighting had to be very carefully calibrated to avoid glare and to maintain as much of the image in its eaxact form, without colour distortion. Another issue would be that the camera would have to be aligned perfectly, so that the image appeared to be in perfect proportion, allowing for no mi-shapes or disfigurements.

Below are 2 images, copies of the same initial images, which is an analogue print.

Image 1 is a rephotograph and image 2 was produced on a scanner. As you can see clarity, vibrance and sharpness are far superior to in the 2nd image rather than to the first.

It is obvious that whenever digitisation or reproduction is needed for an image, the only optimal way to accomplish this is to scan the image, via a scanner.

It is also possible to create images and take photographs with a scanner, although with an incredibly small depth of field, it is completely possible to make astounding images using a scanner as a camera:

 

Above is an image that is part of a series i created using only a scanner, the main benefit of using a scanner for this type of artwork goes much further than the creation of conceptual art, but also giving the ability of such beautiful clarity, colour and exquisite close up detail.

The scanner that i use for my works (including the above image is:

Canon CanoScan LiDE 20 Flatbed Scanner Archived Product The CanoScan LiDE 20 is the ideal scanner for beginners. Slimline, stylish and easy to install and use, the LiDE 20 incorporates Canon’s LED indirect exposure technology, and offers high resolution scans with consistent results. Features Stylish design 600 x 1200 dpi, 48-bit internal colour Three EZ buttons Single cable plug ‘n’ play connection via USB Advanced Z-lid to allow easy scanning from large sources Includes Arcsoft PhotoStudio, PhotoBase, Omni-page SE OCR software Stand allows vertical scanning Canon's unique LiDE Technology achieves power and space-efficiency without compromising functionality or imaging quality Compact performance The CanoScan LiDE 20 measures just 256 x 383 x 34 mm and is finished with an attractive ocean blue coloured lid. It includes a scanner stand as standard, enabling you to store and scan with the scanner on its side—it’s the world’s smallest installation footprint. One-touch scanning The CanoScan LiDE 20 includes three EZ scan buttons that give you access to features you use most. The ‘scan’ button saves the scanned image to file, ‘copy’ sends your image to a printer for automatic output, and ‘email’ saves the scanned files as a specified file size for attachment. Multi-Photo mode The one-pass multi-scan feature allows multiple images to be scanned, making the process faster than before. Connectivity The CanoScan LiDE 20 gets its power from the USB connection, and is compatible with PC and Macintosh. It also offers Fast Multi-Photo mode, and comes with Arcsoft PhotoStudio, PhotoBase and Omni-page SE OCR software.