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TOP 7 Best Scanner For Graphic Design for EVERY BUDGET

best scanner for graphic design

Hey there designer friends!! I know that you're searching for the best scanner for graphic design because I've been there and I've done that too!! It may not seem to be so important as a detail, but a good scanner is an essential part of the graphic design workflow ESPECIALLY if you're giving your physical/hand drawn designs and drawings life through digital software and media.

 

Why do graphic designers need scanners?? Click Here For The Answer

 

I've been looking out for the best scanner for graphic design and EVENTUALLY FOUND THEM!! I just thought that it would be a good idea to share the results of my research with you guys to save you time because these are probably the EASIEST and THE BEST optimized variants for you to get. You can easily get them from Amazon.com and you may come across great discounts!!

 

By the way: DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR BEST GIFTS FOR GRAPHICS DESIGN ARTICLE by Clicking Here to find great gifts for graphic designers or yourself :))

 

// SIDE NOTE //

For some of these items, there are much more expensive variants but the price/quality difference doesn't make much impact and it turns out that it's usually more effective and better to get one of these specified scanners.

They're GREAT in quality (many graphic designers use worse and cheaper scanners than these and they're extremely satisfied). And there are also models included for a budget which will not break your budget if you're willing to buy a REAL QUALITY scanner.

 

Here is the Best Scanner For Graphic Design List!!

 

** THE BEST SECTION **

Epson V600 - A4 - BESTSELLER!!

Canon CanoScan 9000F - A4 - SECOND BEST ALTERNATIVE!!!!

Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 Color Image Scanner - A4 - BEST BUDGET SCANNER!!

Epson Perfection V800 - A4

 

** PORTABLE SCANNERS **

Doxie Go Smart Wi-Fi Scanner

Epson WorkForce DS40

MSRM Magic Wand Portable Handheld Document and Image Scanner.

 

 

Things To Consider

Each one of us may be working with different setups or goals, like when one of you people reading this article may like a scanner with higher resolution some may like a faster scanning and one with a more user friendly software. That's why you should consider mostly these parameters while choosin gyour scanner: Resolution, size of scanning surface, usability, speed, coor depth, accuracy.

1 - EPSON V600 -THE BESTSELLER!!!!

 

In our article Epson V600 is probably the best one that you can get by paying a little more than Canon CanoScan Lide 220 but it LITERALLY PAYS OFF. Because there are many other options that can benefit your graphic options such as Built-in Transparency Unit which allows you to transfer photo films and negatives to 6400 x 9600 DPI resolution. It's a GREAT scanner and by paying a modest $205 you can obtain it.

Aren't there better scanners?? Sure there are scanners which are higher in resolution and may come with one or two more fancy features, BUT if you want to buy a scanner to fulfill ALL YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGN NEEDS and more by not paying a fortune but still have more than enough firepower under your hands than you should DEFINETELY BUY AN EPSON V600!!!!

 

IT'S THE AMAZON BESTSELLER FOR A REASON!!!!

 

I'll leave here an instructional video for you to get acquainted with Epson V600:

 

 

Let's see what this baby does:

 

  • Create high quality enlargements from film — 6400 x 9600 DPI for enlargements up to 17" x 22"
  • Built-in Transparency Unit - Scan slides, negatives and medium-format panoramic film
  • DIGITAL ICE for Prints and Film -  Remove the appearance of tears and creases from damaged photos and film
  • Windows and Mac OS supported
  • Scan everything from films to photos, from negatives to books and documents
  • Restore faded color photos
  • ReadyScan LED technology allows fast scanning without warm up time
  • Four customizable buttons - instantly cpoy, scan to e-mail and create PDF's.
  • Weight: 9.0 lb, Dimensions: 11" x 19" x 4.6"

It's also a scanner which has received 4 stars out of 5 on MacNN. Taking into consideratin that many graphics designers work with Mac it's a great reason to get to get Epson V600!!

 

Here is a demonstration of real life scans of sketchbooks with Epson V600:

 

source: parkablogs.com

 

You see how detailed these scans are and you are now viewing a qualty reduced versions of these scans due to file format changing. They are much more detailed to real eye!!

Also, here's another gem:

 

Through the software of Epson V-600 you can adjust the scanning mode to reveal the texture of the paper or not to. This is a GREAT FEATURE that can be retty useful for a graphic designer!!

 

 

So, the conclusion is, if you want a scanner that can aid ALL YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGN NEEDS and provide you GREAT QUALITY and will work for your benefit for a long time than DON'T HESITATE AND GET AN EPSON V600!! It's $205 in Amazon and if you're willing to get a great scanner which is Amazon's choice and the #1 Best Seller press the button down below to get navigated to the Amazon page of Epson V600:

 

2 - Canon CanoScan 9000F

Canon CanoScan 9000F is also one of the best budget friendly variants among all the scanners for graphic designers. It's also an "Amazon's Choice" product and has one of the highest ratings among scanners in its price range.

 

This is also a great choice to compare with the lower model Canon CanoScan Lide 220 and if you're willing to pay a little bit more than $78.99 this  beauty can be yours for $175.37 and it's  probably the BEST VARIANT to get among the scanners in this article. If you are not willing to pay more than a hundred dollars for a scanner then Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 is the way to go.

 

Here's a good introductory video to show you how it works. And the quality of this scanner is AMAZING!!

 

 

 

  • 9600 x 9600 DPI (19200 DPI combined) resolution, 19,200 x 19,200 (Interpolated) software enhanced scans.
  • film scanning with a vivid 48-bit color depth, over 281 trillion color possibilities will amaze you with depth of these scans.
  • EZ Buttons: Automate the entire process of scanning with just a few clicks using the seven EZ Buttons. You can create copies, scans, email attachments and PDFs with a single push of a button.
  • Auto Scan Mode: Eight steps have been brought to one simple button.Your photo, document or notebook is automatically recognized and automatically cropped to proper size, scanned and saved in the appropriate format that suits you best.
  • Auto Document Fix: Area-by-area automatic data correction. It makes text and characters stand out, appear sharp and clearer while pictures maintain their color and tones2.
  • My Image Garden: Organize yoour photos easily with My Image Garden. It's aso very fun with all the face recognition, Fun Filters, Calendar Organization, Automatc Layout Suggestions and more features like that.
  • Max Document Size: 8.5-inch x 11.7-inch 
  • Dimensions (W x D x H): 18.9 (W) x 4.4 (D) x 10.7 (H) inches
  • Weight: 10.1 pounds

 

 

One of the advantages of this scanner is that it's available for such an optimised price when compared to other high end scanners. By paying $175.37 you will become the owner of one of the best printers for graphic design that has ever been made available to the public. It's around $ 100 dollars more expensive than Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 and if you're willing to pay the price for it you DEFINETELY SHOUD GET THE CanoScan 9000F because it seriously MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. But if you have a budget I suggest you to get CanoScan LiDE 220.

 

Want to buy CanoScan 9000F?? Here is the button which will take you to the Amazon page where you can check out other real user comments and all details about this awesoe scanner:

Click The Button To Buy Canon CanoScan 9000F:

3 - BEST BUDGET SCANNER!! - Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 Color Image Scanner - A4

 

 

Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 seems to be the best variant for the average and upper range graphic designer due to its price/performance ratio. If you want a high quality graphics scanner which will fullfill all your needs in A4 size template and won't hit your budget, Canon LiDE 220 is your way to go!!

 

I had the ablity to demonstrate it a while ago and all I could say about this machine is that  IT'S MORE THAN SATISFYING!!

 

  • Send to Cloud Feature - you can easily and instantly upload your images to popular cloud services like Dropbox and Evernote.
  • Auto Scan Mode - Adjust your settings automatically by detecting what you're scanning
  • It can scan a letter sized document in 10 seconds
  • Auto Document Fix - automatically corrects the document area-by-area for beautiful, easy-to-view scans
  • Compatible with Windows an Mac systems.

 

 

I also want to give some technical specs about it. Here they are for you to evaluate:

Resolution:

Optical: 4800 x 4800 dpi 

Interpolated: 19,200 x 19,200 dpi

Scanning Mode:

Color: 48-bit internal/48 bit or 24-bit external Grayscale: 16-bit internal/8-bit external

Max Scanning Surface:

8.5 inches x 11.7 inches

 

And here is a live demonstration of Canon CanoScan LiDE 220:

source: parkablogs.com

 

Even the page textures are so clear and here's a detailed close up. Look at how visible the details are.

 

It's much more than the performance you would expect out of a $78.99 printer!! It's AMAZON'S CHOICE FOR A REASON!!!!

 

It's so cheap when you compare it to other scanners out there but the output of this device is pretty satisfying and also pretty close to those scanners which cost hundreds of dollars. But Canon CanoScan Lide 220 is THE BEST VARIANT for the average and upper class graphics designers due to its price/performance graphic. If you are not willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a scanner, GO AND BUY IT WITHOUT HESITATION!!!!

 

After a price limit all of them actually provide an at least minimum satisfaction which is higher than average. But if you want to obtain a higher end scanner with more quality and higher price tag you can check out other scanners that I will write about down below.

CLICK TO BUY CANON LIDE 220

4 - Epson V800 Perfection

 

Epson V800 Perfection is one of the "State of the Art" scanners out there and it definetely deserves all the reputation it has. But I always want to give objective and transparent information to everyone. That's why I will firstly express my personal advice about it.

Epson V800 Perfection is no doubt a GREAT scanner and it will of course make you satisfied without any doubt. But it comes with a price tag of $724.95 and when it comes to resolution and other specifications it's not much different than Epson V600. It just haves a couple more cool features but technical outputs aren't much different from the cheaper models. That's why I advice you to get Epson V600 if you are not willing to spend $724.95 on a scanner which won't make a huge difference. Unless you're after ultra high quality or the best of the best of what's in the market, then you better get an Epson V600 for the sake of your wallet.

That was my personal advice for your own good!! Now let's look at what this bad boy does:

  • 6400 DPI resolution for extraordinary scans with precise color and detail
  • 4.0 Dmax tonal range - smooth gradations & fine shadow detail
  • Exclusive Dual Lens System - selects from 2 lenses for optimum results
  • Operating Systems: Windows and Mac OS X

Dual Lens System

Epson V800 consists of two high resolution lenses one of which is capable of 4800 x 9600 dpi and the other super resolution lens which is capable of 6400 x 9600 dpi. The scanner automatically places the optimm lens in the scanning path dependin on your scanned media and selected resolution settings in order to provide you the best quality.

LaserSoft Imaging SilverFast SE software

Using its high quality software you can control highlights and shadows, gradations, selective and global color, sharpening, descreening and scaling. You can even fix your faded colors of old photos to their original quality using Easy Photo Fix. It also includes Backlight Correction and Digital Dust Removal.

Film Holders

It comes with various types of film orders for you to scan your films and negatives. They feature:

  • Height adjustable levels
  • Twelve 35mm mounted slides
  • Three 35mm film strips (up to 18 frames)
  • One medium-format strip (up to 6 x 20 cm)
  • One 4 inch x 5 inch frame

If these things that described above are what you're looking for than you can click the button below to buy an Epson V800!!!!

CLICK TO BUY EPSON V800

Portable Scanners


Portable scanners are a different concept that has been brought to life and it may seem a little "Sci-fi" but they are great for people who travel a lot and you may be amazed with things that it can achieve for you.

Here are the best portable printers that you can get for your money:

 

Doxie Go Smart Wi-Fi Scanner


 

Doxie Go Smart Wi-Fi Scanner is a scanner which may not completely fit to your needs if you're scanning multiple docments and images together, flatbed scanners are better for that purpose, but if you are frequently scanning single documents or images or bills and etc.. this is a great alternative for you.  It can deliver you crisp and clean scans up to 600 DPI and it's tiny as the volume of a rolled up magazine. It can scan up to 400 pages per charge and store up to 4,000 pages before syncing. Also it comes Cloud Storage Ready!!!! You can easily automatically sync your scan to the cloud.

 

Here's a hands on review of Doxie Go Wireless Wifi:

 

  • Scan anywhere without needing a computer.
  • Portable and can be carried to anywhere.
  • Can scan up to 600 DPI crisp, clean scanned colored images.
  • Included Software
  • Cloud Enabled
  • Award-winning ABBYY OCR technology that recognizes the text in your documents and creates searchable PDFs
  • Rechargable battery and expandable memory.

 

It's pretty simple and EXTREMELY USEFUL!!!! You think you need this in your life and want to get one for yourself?? You can get one for $219.99 and get introduced to the ultimate lightness and comfort of wireless scanning world 🙂

 

Epson WorkForce DS40

Epson WorkForce works pretty much like Doxie Go and it's also one of the most preferabe portable scanners. It also has wireless connection feature and it's pretty lightweight which will provide ease during your trips. Here's what this baby does:

 

  • Go paperless: It can scan your documents and instantly sync them to your phone, tablet, laptop or cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Evernote.
  • Lightweight: 1.1 lb (0.5 kg) weight makes it easy to carry anywhere and portable dimensions make it fit to a briefcase!!
  • Auto document size detection up to 8.5" x 14"
  • OCR Text Scanner feature
  • Auto image type detection
  • Image skew correction
  • Removes punch holes from scanned images

 

 

It's one of the most high quality portable scanner for graphic designers and not only graphic designers but every person on the workforce can benefit from it!!

Here's the button where you can get to the Amazon page to buy one for yourself. By paying $150.00 you can get one of this babies!!

 

CLICK THE BUTTON TO BUY EPSON WORKFORCE DS-40

MSRM Magic Wand Portable Handheld Document and Image Scanner


 

This is probably the most interesting scanner that you can come across out there. It's called "The Magic Wand" for a reason. You just slide the magic wand scanner on the page and it scans the page itself.

 

Do I advice it?? It depends.. If you're travelling and want a portable scanner that will edfinetely save A LOT of space in your bag then you can go for it. It also has wheels in its bottom so it scans pretty straight. Max resolution isn't ultra high as previous flatbed scanners that we've reviewed in this article but if you're going to edit a design and you want to scan only to provide you a referance and a carcass to work on then this can work out great for you!!!!

 

Here is what this baby does:...

  • Scan receipts, business cards, documents, and handwritten notes in seconds. Save your scans as JPEG or PDF format.
  • Lightweight and travel-friendly : easily fits into an average travel bag or suitcase.
  • 3 Resolution Options:
  • Standard Resolution: 300x300dpi (default);
  • Medium Resolution: 600x600dpi;
  • High Resolution: 900x900dpi;
  • Dimensions (W x D x H) : 10.86" x 1.97" x 1.45" (excluding protrusion)
  • Weight 0.6 lb;
  • Requires Micro SD card up to 32 GB;

 

You can click  the button to buy it from Amazon. And it's only $89.99!!!! Here it is:

Best Scanner For Graphic Design - Conclusion


Now you know which one to choose when it comes to best scanner for graphic design. I hope you enjoyed the article and found all the answers you need. If I were you I would choose between Epson V600 and Canon CaNo Scan 9000F. They are the best that you get for the price you pay and they come with great extra options.

If youhave anything to state or any questions to ask please state them at the comment section down below. And don't forget to SHARE THIS POST because SHARING IS CARING!! And don't forget to LIKE AND FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER PAGES!! Click the buttons down below to access them!!

 

6 thoughts on “TOP 7 Best Scanner For Graphic Design for EVERY BUDGET

  1. I’ve used the Canon CanoScan Lide 220 before and this device is very awesome to me. A lot of quality features are added to this scanner and it performs at the most highest potential. I have a small business on the side where it involves me doing a lot of scanning from my all-in-one printer. I want to be able to have a scanner just for scanning and it looks like this Cannon one is a winner. Great site!

    1. Canon CanoScan Lide 200 is definetely a great alternative and does everything a graphic designer needs!! I strongly advise every graphic designer to get one if they can’t afford getting a Epson V600 or Canon 9000F!!!!

      Thank you for your nice words!!

  2. This is really cool. My brother is really into graphic design and actually just started his own clothing line.
    He is still trying to get all the needed equipment so that he can get his gear ready to sell. One of the pieces of equipment he needs is an scanner.
    He has been looking around for some, but it’s just that there are so many to choose from. I am glad I came across this post. I am definitely going to send him this link. Thanks, great review.

    1. CONGRATULATIONS!! I’m so happy for your brother :))

      I’m glad that you’ve found what you were looking for 🙂 And don’t forget to check out our Best Gifts for Graphic Designers article to find soe more awesome stuff :))


      Click Here To Check Out “Best Gifts For Graphic Designers”

  3. Thank you for sharing all this info!

    It seems that the Epson V600 is the recommended way to go, but I don’t understand why its better than the Canon CanoScan 9000F? Seems like the CanoScan 9000F has higher resolution scans (9600 x 9600 DPI) than both the Epson V600 and the Epson V900 Perfection (6400 x 9600 DPI).

    Do you notice a scan quality beyond the resolution? Or perhaps is the Epson V600 more highly rated because of the software it comes with?

    1. The DPI after a limit becomes unimported and both of these brands have a more than satisfactory quality. The software, physical device, and materials quality and user experiences are usually factors that affect the price even if the scanner has lower dpi. As an example, I used to have an HP scanner and printer, which worked fine even with a 150 DPI resolution, but it always had problems with the software and integration.

      Epson is a great brand, trusted by many others and proven itself with its superior quality in all aspects. These are some of the little nuances which makes the price slightly higher compared to its alternatives.

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