Canon CanoScan LiDE110 Color

OVERVIEW

278 of 284 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars A Great Little Scanner, October 8, 2010
By Stoney (Miami, FL) See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) This review is from: Canon CanoScan LiDE110 Color Image Scanner (4507B002) (Electronics) SUMMARY
With some caveats, this is a great little scanner. The best part is that it really fits in my Targus computer case WITH my laptop. It weighs only 2 3 pds, and runs off USB power no converter brick to haul around. Scans are sharp and fast. The auto settings work well for almost all common originals (old photos, business letters, receipts, etc.). In spite of many shortcomings, the price and exceptional portability may make this series of scanners the choice for scanning books because books which have to be scanned are frequently non circulating things in libraries or archives.

SHORTCOMINGS
Unfortunately, the specific design of this scanner (and all other LED based scanners) is that (unlike most fat desktop scanners) it can not scan 3D objects. Any part of your document or image which isn’t in complete contact with the glass patten will be blurry. The raised frame raises the edges of any original which doesn’t fit on the glass patten, causing the edges of scans to be blurry. This is especially a problem when scanning books. Nor can you just press down harder that warps the glass causing blurriness elsewhere on the page, and may jam the scanning system. But, these problems can be overcome using the strategies discussed below.

The cover is non removable, which means that you can be out of luck if you have to scan part of a big object. The software is multi layered, confusing, and hard to configure to your best use. Caveat, I have used at least three brands of scanner software, none of which were well intended. From the oddly named “MP Navigator” I propose checking the box, “use the scanner driver” for access to the “Advanced Settings” or better still, scan from your graphics (photo editing) program.

NEVERTHELESS
Even though the frame is a problem, it’s lower (1/16″) and narrower (3/8″) than most other scanners, and scanning books etc. Is LESS of a problem than with most other scanners.

CHOOSING AMONG THE MODELS
The hardware and “Advanced Settings” part of the scanning program of all LiDE models (at least models 90 to 210) appears to be same. The big differences between the models is 1) enhancements in the auto scanning functions, and 2) the rated scanning speed (which is seemingly software controlled). In spite of the statistics, there’s little practical difference in scanning speed between the models. The “slower” models are only somewhat slower, but are quieter. Since I use only the “Advanced Settings” (never the auto settings), the 110 is my preference, despite of price. Canon CanoScan LiDE110 Color Image Scanner (4507B002)

The 210 can be best for kids and other users who will never learn how to use the “Advanced Settings”, since it claims to have superior automated scanning. The 210 is somewhat faster. Canon CanoScan LiDE210 Color Image Scanner (4508B002)

If you plan to scan books and if you don’t plan to carry the scanner around much, you may think about a Canon LiDE 700. It has two big benefits. The right edge is really flush with the glass surface (hurrah!!) albeit there’s still an excessively large margin. The cover opens 180 degrees, so you may be able to scan portions of a big object albeit there’s still an “edge problem” for the other three edges. Canon CanoScan LiDE 700F Color Image Scanner (3297B002)

SCANNING BOOKS
It is easy to scan books which have at least ” of margin between the print and the spine. Place the right side of the scanner at the edge of a table, so that the book hangs open at 90 degrees when placed on the scanner. Place a average weight over your original (such as a 1″ thick book). If you have to press down with your fingers, press at the edges of the glass area (or better, at the corners), not the center. If you can not quite get in tight enough, place a 1/16″ sheet of inflexible cardboard directly behind each page before scanning it is a ache, but it works.

SCANNING CREASED OR FOLDED ORIGINALS
The bubble “pressure pad” in the cover is a bit too soft to insure that many originals (such as inflexible letters or receipts which have been folded) are pressed sufficiently flat (even with a book over the lid). If you notice this problem, then place a inflexible cardboard sheet (or a thin book) directly over your original, and close the cover.

SCANNING TO A movable COMPUTER
The scanner draws power only when scanning. But, at least with my ThinkPad scanning to a movable running on battery power increases the scanning time by at least 50. Plan on having your movable plugged into an AC outlet if you’re planning to scan more than some pages.


OTHER REVIEWER’S COMPLAINTS AND EASY SOLUTIONS
The auto settings force different restrictions on the maximum selectable resolution, maximum file size etc. Which can all be superceded using the “Advanced Settings”. In spite of the information, it isn’t essential to shut the cover, but it’s needed to avoid bright light from shining into the scanner. I use my black microfiber cleaning cloth (folded) to cover any exposed portions of the glass patten when scanning in a bright room with the cover open. The maximum selectable resolution is 1200dpi. If you want to scan at, say 2400dpi, you must type the value in manually in the resolution window. But, such scans are slow, the files are big, and I have found no real improvement in resolution (detail recorded). The USB cable is almost 5′ long longer than needed for a movable scanner. Longer substitute cables, or extension cables are cheap, <$5 if needed. Do not panic about the scary “unlock the scanner before using” notice in the information. If you attempt to scan with the scanner locked, it’ll tell you, “unlock me”. If just unlock it.

PRODUCING PDF papers
The direct to pdf choice isn’t suggested unless quality is unimportant to you and you’ll only be scanning single pages or short papers to pdf. The reason is that you can not make any corrections to the scanned document. What could happen if you scan a 50 page document, , then oops! page twelve is too dark? You’ve got to rescan the complete document. For best quality and flexibility scan to 1200dpi tif files, change the pictures with your graphics program, , then change (and assemble) the files into a pdf document using Adobe Acrobat (or other pdf editor). Beware that any scan, of text, is an “image” (not real text) and is probably to be downsampled when converting to pdf, unless you exactly disable downsampling. When using a pdf editor to change to pdf, choose “highest quality” OR a particular dpi (1200dpi) OR disable “downsampling”. Perfectly adequate graphics programs and pdf editors are available free if that’s a concern.

OCR
OCR means to change a picture of text to real editable text. Unless you totally need real editable text to copy and put into a document, you don’t want to OCR. Unless the original is perfect and in a big common font, the error rate will be high, and you will loose formatting, graphics, and everything else than text. Usually, a much better solution is to use Adobe Acrobat (or other pdf editor) to add an invisible OCR ed level under the image level. Such a document looks exactly like the original including photos or another graphics. You can not edit such a document, but you may be able to search the document, and copy real text from the document.

OTHER SCANNING alternatives
The “Advanced Settings” offers many alternatives like auto tone, unsharp mask, descreen, dust and scratch reduction, fading correction, grain correction, and others. I recommend AGAINST using ANY of these alternatives, because usually most will degrade your image, you won’t know that it’s degraded, and you dont have control over the degree of sharpening, or color modification, etc. “One size doesn’t fit all”. It’s better to scan with all of the alternatives off, using only the tone curve to change the light and contrast. Then use your graphics program to sharpen, descreen, decrease dust, change color saturation etc. As necessary and you will be able see the changes, and undo mistakes.

GETTING THE BEST SCANS
Admittedly, the auto settings work well under most situation when scanning “typical” originals (and it’s the only part of the annoying scanning program that the Canon geeks make any try at improving). But what happens when the auto settings don’t produce good results? You’re stuck with crappy scans or you must use up half a day learning how to use the “Advanced Settings”. My recommendation use the “Advanced Settings” for routine scans. You will become a scanning wizard in no time far better than any “automatic” program. It only takes some more seconds for fine tuning per scan once you know what you’re doing. You have most likely already learned how to use your graphics programs to enhance your photos why not use those expertise to enhance your documents?

The best scans are made by using the “Advanced Settings”, and setting the tone curve manually, with all of the different alternatives “off”. Pre defining tone curves and other setting for your specific project makes the procedure easier. Unfortunately, you must “summon” your pre defined settings for each scan. Note that you must define things in a specific order, or the defaults reset very annoying.

Don’t count on scanning with the auto or default “Advanced Settings” , then fixing things. Read more ›

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62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Love this scanner!, October 31, 2010
By Gina See all my reviews () This review is from: Canon CanoScan LiDE110 Color Image Scanner (4507B002) (Electronics) I scrapbook and transitioned from manual scrapbooking to digital. I had tons of pictures that required to be scanned into my laptop (thousands). We looked at the small picture scanners that scan hundreds of pictures in an hour or so. Decided against them because though fast, the quality of the scans were grainy and you had to use sleeves for the pics. They did not get good reviews and were double the price of this scanner. This was one of the cheaper full sized scanners we found on Amazon, we decided that the Canon name had to be good for the price. IT IS! it’s SO easy to use, nothing complicated at all. The software was easy to load and user friendly. I discovered I could scan many pictures at a time and the software could separate them into their own files so there was no messing around with trying to cut and paste to do multiples at one time. It’s really light weight and basic. The quality of the scans is great, they looked as good as the original picture. I could recommend this scanner to anybody. You typically get what you pay for, but we were more than pleasantly surprised at the quality of this Canon scanner.

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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Easy to set up, professional results, November 1, 2010
By M. Francis (Los Angeles, CA USA) See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) () This review is from: Canon CanoScan LiDE110 Color Image Scanner (4507B002) (Electronics) I newly bought the Canon CanoScan LiDE 110 as a substitute for an older LiDE 30. This LiDE’s most vital features is that it’s matched with all variants of Microsoft Windows, as well as Windows seven 64 bit (the older variant isn’t matched with 64 bit variants of windows) and the fact that it’s powered through the USB 2.0 cable, meaning no power supply to carry around or finding a place to plug in, a plus for use with a notebook computer.

After following the directions for installation, installing the drivers before plugging the scanner into the computer, everything went flawlessly, and the 1st time the scanner has been plugged in, after rebooting, the hardware was found and driver installed.

While this may be used as a stand alone flatbed copier, it may also scan to PDF files right from a button on the front of the scanner, meaning you will not have to have a full shown PDF creation program to create PDF files. A button may also be configured to send a scan straight to your e mail program, though I have not tried this feature.

If you use this scanner in a photo editing program, like Paintshop Pro Photo, or Photoshop, after the driver software loads, I could recommend clicking on the advanced button, as it gives you more control over the details of the scan, which is vital when scanning photos. If you have not used a scanner before, then let me recommend that you choose 600 dpi as your default scanning resolution, instead of the 300 dpi selection you will see the 1st time you use it. Also be aware that jpg files at 600 dpi may be quite big when in color, if you’re scanning a black and white photo or document, you are better off selecting Gray Scale instead of Color. In the advanced mode, changes like DPI and color will show up the next time you use the software. If you use the basic mode, and make changes, this isn’t the case. That is why I generally recommend using this in the advanced mode.

If you are looking for a scanner to scan 50 page papers, this isn’t the scanner to purchase. You need one with an auto sheet feeder, or an All In One with a sheet feeder. This flat bed scanner is best used for scanning photos and books.

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