ScanSnap SV600 Document Scanner

I am happy with this SV600 overhead scanner. Max optical resolution of this scanner is 600 dpi. Due to the distance from the scanner to the object, it can be achieved only if the object (book, poster, etc) is really flat and les than 5mm thick. For open book this is not possible (some distortion exists between the open pages). However 300 dpi JPG (compression 2 out of three levels) produces very good results for illustrated book scanning (scanning simultaneously two pages of an open book). The software which corrects middle page curvature, is not very effective for thick books. In such case better press the open book with anti-reflex glass plate. The 300 dpi resolution is almost equal at the middle and the periphery of the object. Having on mind that the object can be a bit larger than A3 size, this is very good. The colours are close to reality, but you have to scan in a relatively dark room (only with low-power side-light). Considering changing of geometry (placing the object close to the scanner head) - this will not work, as the focusing distance has only small variation. Due to the fixed focusing distance the company specifies that one cannot scan a book thicker than 3cm. If the book is thicker defocussing appear and he only solution is to lift the scanner on a small pedestal over the book in order to keep the specific focusing distance. Hope this helps.

Love the ease of use and the quality of scans. Also love the way it can straighten up a page that has been put in slightly off centre!

The SV600 is a fine piece of equipment for those serious about scanning books. Some practice is required to minimise the amount of post-processing. The software that isolates the book opening from the whole image is quite particular about how the book is positioned. I've found that the setting which causes the scan to be triggered by page-turning does not work particularly well; I prefer the timer. Eliminating fingers from the image for any lengthy scan is better done by cropping, e.g. with Acrobat or Preview. Nevertheless the SV600 makes it practical to scan in a small library, book by book. It is expensive but well worth the price.

Great for regular documents but anything more detailed pls get another scanner. It doesn't pick up shading, colour and very fine lines very well.

Good picture quality when used and scans saved

Very good for my daily use

ScanSnap is neat and fast at scanning, a page in a few seconds. However, for photo albums it is poor. It does not cope with pages that are not flat and the image quality is not as good my old Epson A3 flatbed printer/scanner that cost half as much and does a lot more. The images look washed out (see sample)ScanSnap also does not descew the photos.The software is clunky and often very confusing.

This product uses Fujitsu's ScanSnap software Home and Business versions. Both are absolutely awful, Business is worst. There is no TWAIN driver so you are forced to used ScanSnap. The scanner itself is good design and works well however it is limited by the badly supported ScanSnap software. We have the same problem with Fujitsu's S500 series scanner. I notice the more recent scanner products have TWAIN drivers, so maybe Fujitsu has seen the light, unfortunately too late for us and has been a waste of money.