Scanner advice

[amae]

Does anyone know of any a3 sized scanners that are, um, affordable? I want to return to drawing things by hand but I also like working with big sizes, most that don't fit in a normal a4 scanner. But all the options I've looked at (with the exception of the Mustek brand) have been waaaay over my budget. Anyone know of any cheaper options? Or does anyone have any experience with a Mustek scanner? I'm hesitating about that because it doesn't look like I can easily get my hands on that in Japan. But who knows?

Comments

[naniiebim.livejournal.com]

Hmn

It's probably still cheaper to just have an A4 scanner I think A3s are notoriously expensive as A3 printers are also.- i usually scan in at least 3 parts with an overlap, trim off the edge of the overlap [as that is where the curve of the paper on the scanner plate edge is- and then put them together carefully in photoshop. it's not perfect, but i used to tape loads of sheets of paper together for drawing, and as long as you've kept the edges relatively straight, you can line the edge of the paper against the edge of the scanner plate so as you move the paper along, it's lined up against at least one dimension.
:3 just a suggestion tho, rather than get a large expensive piece of equipment.

[maiteoida.livejournal.com]

It really is starting to look like that's what I'll have to do. That is, until I'm a millionaire, of course. Haha. Though seriously, I'd rather save my thousand bucks for a cintiq. Maybe I should just stick to digital after all...

[lanisatu.livejournal.com]

It doesn't have to line up. Newer versions of Photoshop have an auto align feature which gets you most of the way, if not all the way there for stitching together pieces. Otherwise you can manually align with free transform.

The important thing is that the area around the scanner glass is flat. You generally need to see them in person for this. If you scan thick items, see if the lid can come off without breaking.

The cheap HP all in ones often have some stupid curved crap around the edges which makes scanning in parts near impossible. I hope they haven't messed up their standalone scanners with this garbage, but I haven't looked at scanners in a few years.

I think Epson and HP tend to be common for standalone scanners, and reasonably priced, but I never noticed really large ones.

Something else to watch out for is colour cast. You don't want to adjust colour on black and white images, it's a waste of time. Check on the return policy, to see if you can try and exchange if it doesn't meet your needs. Or if they'll let you try in store.

Hope you find something that works for you and is affordable!

[bettinamarie.livejournal.com]

Mustek is the only one I can think of that is affordable...I personally have one and it's actually really good :D I scanned all of MCL vol.1 with it at 1200dpi (UGH!!! WHY TP!???!!!??? WHHHHYYYY MUST WE WORK SO FREAKIN HUUUUUUUGE!!!>,< UGH!!!) and it does the job really nicely! XD It's also really nice for any large handcoloured pieces as well...again...all covers I've done for MCL and Star Trek manga, as well as any large commission I've taken, were scanned on there as well...though definitely at no larger than 600dpi >,< as it doesn't need it any bigger than that, and even THAT is too big! :P


SO yea...Mustek is a nice reliable inexpensive large scanbed scanner to have ^_^V

[cetriya.livejournal.com]

yeah mustec is the only one I know of and works really well. comes with basic photoshop and I think it scans a little larter about 14x17

I scan in 2 parts with my smaller scanner. the top and bottom then add them up in PS