grainy scans

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I just recently bought a (cheap) HP scanner (okay, so I was bored on a Sunday afternoon and decided that I needed a new toy, only I was feeling poor at the time so I got the cheapest one they had). All my scans are turning out really grainy. A dust & scratches filter helps a bit but still doesn't do the trick. Is there anything I can do to get rid of the grainyness or is this a problem with the poor quality of my scanner?

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

could be the scanner, something you could try.
scan your images at the biggest setting there is (if there is one)which should be about 3mb (bmp) and then resample (or resize) to size and this should cut out more grainyness

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

How much is cheap, Megan? I bought an Astra Firewire Scanner a few months ago. It is tremendously fast and gives good scans. I paid around $149US for it.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

It was on sale for $85 (Canadian). I shouldn't have bought an HP in the first place since I've had bad experiences with them before but it was on sale so...

taff's picture

They have: 956 posts

Joined: Jun 2001

I have an HP ScanJet 3300C and have been quite happy with it. I don't know where it falls on the cheap scale but it was under CAN$200 about 2 years ago.

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Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Mine is a ScanJet 4300C

Any other ideas??

mjames's picture

They have: 2,064 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

I have a Microtek scanner and it is okay, but the software it uses freezes often when I'm using it like water in a Canadian pond in January. Sticking out tongue

I'm not really sure what to say besides checking HP's support web site or calling them. You get what you pay for, at least in this case.

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