[Athen] Any ideas on a good Flatbed scanner?

[Xanth King via athen-list]

Hey chris,

You should get a Plustek Optibook A300 Plus
<https://plustek.com/sa/products/book-scanners/opticbook-a300-plus/>. If a
book has small text, you'll actually need to go to 400 or 600 DPI or you'll
waste hours correcting OCR results.

They run about $1,500. Ours has been providing good, speedy results for the
last 15 years.

Alternatively, if you are able to remove the spine with a guillotine
<https://plustek.com/sa/products/book-scanners/opticbook-a300-plus/>, then
I recommend a high-speed CanonIMAGEFORMULA production scanner
<https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/business/scanning/production-scanners>.
This is a standard recommendation for higher education.

New they will cost from $5,000 to $20,000. We are currently using a DR-X10C
<https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/imageformula-dr-x10c-ii-production-document-scanner>.
It is an older model, but aside from some minor servicing (replacing
worn-out rollers and pads) it has served us just as well as the Plustek
these 15 years.

The advantage of high-speed scanners is that they can scan both sides of
the page at once. The IMAGEFORMULA line is extremely fast and provides
high DPI.

We re-bind our books with a Fastback 20
<https://mypowis.com/blog/portfolio-item/fastback-20/>.

If you get either of these scanners, I can provide some information on
their best use if you'd like.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Have a good one!

*Xanth King*
Accessible Formats Technology Specialist
Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs
Disabled Students Program
Creekside Center/Dwinelle Hall Annex


On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 6:53 AM chris Coppess via athen-list <
athen-list at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> Folks

>

> I don't know if anyone is using flatbed scanners these days for scanning

> books, but we are going to start looking around. Does anyone have a flatbed

> scanner that they like? Looking for one that scans at least 300 DPI and has

> a fast scan speed.

>

> Thanks

>

> Chris Coppess

> coppessc at westerntc.edu

> Access Services

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> athen-list mailing list

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