While an increasing number of artists are taking advantage of digital painting, the majority still use traditional techniques for various reasons. However, many artists will want to share images of their artwork online, which leads to the question as to what the best art scanner is.
Having a high-quality scanner can be vital for many artists, as it will allow them to share the best images of their artwork online. Despite this, it could be difficult to find the right one, as there are a few things that you’ll have to consider.
We’ve looked through quite an extensive number of them and compared various features, including image quality, tray size, and much more to find the ones that are worth the investment. A notable few stand out.
8 Best Scanners for Artwork:
1. Epson Perfection V39 Color Photo and Document Scanner
Picking the best flatbed scanner for artwork is a challenging thing to do, although the Epson Perfection V39 stands out significantly from its competition. There are several prominent features that you’ll be able to use, including a removable lid for larger pieces of art.
Secondly is that it has 4,800 dpi, so it should be able to produce crystal clear and high-resolution scans of your artwork. With the V39 having a significant amount of portability, it has several features that make it quick and easy to set up and use.
For example, the scanner can simply be plugged into the majority of computers and start scanning your artwork within minutes. The V39 can also connect to Google Drive and several other storage services, which can make it much easier to save and share your artwork.
The majority of these benefits can be felt by small studios or student artists who might want a more budget-friendly option. This is where the Epson Perfection V39 shines, although it does lack in a few features that it’s more expensive counterparts may have, such as a tray and transparency unit.
These limitations are what a few previous buyers have suggested could be its largest drawbacks. If you’re not going to be looking for these features in the near future, however, then this mightn’t be an issue.
- Lid can be removed for larger artwork.
- Quick and convenient to set up & use.
- Large dpi for producing high-resolution scans.
- Lack of tray & transparency unit can limit usage.
Conclusion
Choosing the right budget scanner for artwork may be difficult, although the Epson Perfection V39 is a highlight among the competition and is worth a significant consideration.
2. Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo Image Film Negative and Document Scanner
The Epson Perfection V600 is a high-resolution scanner for artwork that offers several prominent features to capitalize on. While this is one the slightly more expensive side end of the market, it does provide a host of benefits to justify this price tag.
First is the 6400 x 9600 dpi that it offers, which means that the Perfection V600’s resolution can rival that of even more expensive options. Alongside this is an energy-efficient light that provides a few notable benefits. First is that there’s almost no warm-up time, so you should be able to scan your artwork in seconds.
The light also means that scanning should be much faster than others, with this using up less power than its rivals. However, this could depend on the resolution that you’re scanning at, with higher ones typically taking slightly longer, although this shouldn’t be too noticeable.
The Epson Perfection V600 also comes with some high-quality photo-editing software. While this mightn’t be used by many artists, it can be great if you want to add some last-minute digital touches to the art.
Some past buyers have noticed that initially setting up the V600 can be quite confusing, which is one of the scanners only drawbacks. While this will take some time, it’s something that you should only have to do once, so it shouldn’t be a large problem for many people.
- Large enough dpi to rival more expensive options.
- It comes with high-quality photo-editing software.
- Energy-efficient LED light removes warm-up and scan time.
- Initial setup can be confusing.
Conclusion
The Epson Perfection V600 is a scanner that you should think about buying if you want a large amount of clarity with your images without too much fuss.
3. Canon CanoScan LiDE220 Photo and Document Scanner
The Canon CanoScan LiDE220 is a compact scanner that offers a lot of style for any work top, which some artists may look for. This compact design makes it one of the smaller scanners available, although this doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few prominent features.
The fact that it doesn’t take up too much space will be the most obvious benefit, although there are several more. For example, you’ll be able to quickly and securely upload the scanned images to several cloud storage services with the click of a button. This should be automatic once you initially connected the scanner, which makes this quite quick and easy to do.
There’s also an Auto Documentation Fix which uses area-by-area correction to ensure that the scanned images are as high-quality as possible. There are a few issues here, with the largest being that its portability has meant a sacrifice on resolution quality.
Because of that, your artwork mightn’t come out as clear as you may want it to. While this can outperform some cheaper models, it’s below average for those of a similar price. Some previous owners have also complained about the lack of a transparency unit.
Alongside this is that it lacks a tray for scanning slides or 35mm film negatives, which can be a large disadvantage for many potential buyers.
- Compact design means it doesn’t take up much space.
- Easy to upload scanned images to cloud services.
- Auto Documentation Fix allows for high-quality, easy to view scans.
- Sacrifices resolution for portability.
Conclusion
This Canon CanonScan is a high quality art scanner for a relatively affordable price, which makes it an excellent option for many artists and is worth considering.
4. Epson B11B207221 Perfection V370 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner
The Epson Perfection V370 is a large format scanner for artwork that provides several benefits for users. The majority of these are seen through the relatively unique design of the V370, which allows it to scan art and images of various sizes and shapes with ease, which is enhanced through a lid which can tilt 180 degrees.
This makes it one of the standout scanners for larger pieces of art. A tray is also built into the device, so you’ll be able to scan both slides and 35mm negatives. While this may not be a large focus for many artists, it’s something that a few could take advantage of.
The tray is also something that you mightn’t see with many other scanners, which is another reason that it could be quite beneficial.
The Epson Perfection V370 also includes a ‘Scan to Cloud’ button that makes it quite easy to share your artwork online. Though you’ll initially have to connect to any online storage services you have, uploading to them can be done quickly after this.
As some buyers have pointed out, however, the imaging sensor with the V370 is about average at 4800 x 9600 dpi. Though this is higher than some cheaper models, it’s relatively low compared to many similarly priced models, which could be a drawback for some artists.
While the resolution of scanned images is still decent, if this is a focus for you, then you may need to consider a different scanner.
- Lid has a 180-degree tilt for larger artwork.
- Can scan slides & 35mm negatives.
- Quite easy to upload to online storage.
- Relatively average imaging sensor.
Conclusion
The Epson Perfection V370 is a recommended option if you have large artwork that needs to be scanned quickly.
5. Canon CanoScan 9000F MKII Photo, Film and Negative Scanner
There are a variety of flatbed scanners for artists that offer several features, although few offer as many as the Canon CanoScan 9000F, which stands out from many of a similar price. Perhaps the largest of these is the high-resolution scans that the device provides, with this having a 9600 x 9600 dpi.
This is much larger than many scanners of a similar price, as well as a few more expensive options. Alongside this, the Canon CanoScan 9000F features an energy-efficient LED light, which makes the start-up quite quick.
This speed also extends to scanning your artwork, which should be done in seconds, which is notably faster than many other models.
This is also one of the few high-quality scanners that includes a transparency tray for negatives. Though this isn’t something that many artists will look for, it can be a nice benefit for some. However, people who’ve used the CanoScan 9000F before have noticed that there are a few slight drawbacks.
A common issue seems to be the size of the scanner, with it being significantly larger than many others. However, this may be a compromise that many artists may have to may to ensure that they have high-resolution scans.
- Creates high-resolution scans.
- The LED light makes it easy to start and scan.
- Includes a transparency tray for negative images.
- Takes up a large amount of space.
Conclusion
If having a high-quality scan of your artwork is the most important factor to you, then the Canon CanoScan 9000F should be your first choice.
6. Mustek A3 2400S Color Scanner
The size of a scanner will make a significant difference for many artists, as they’ll need to ensure that an entire piece of art is scanned and uploaded. This is where the Mustek A3 2400S shines, as it’s suitable for up to A3 without presenting any issues, which can be quite beneficial.
There are also several other features of note, including the fact that it creates relatively high-resolution scans. While there are other scanners that will provide a larger dpi, these can often be slightly more expensive. As such, this can be a great option for its price. Alongside this, the Mustek A3 2400S scans much faster than many of its competitors.
This can be quite a benefit for artists who need to scan a significant amount of artwork, but don’t want to spend too much time doing so. What some buyers have claimed, however, is that the initial set-up for the Mustek A3 2400S can be complicated.
While this only has to be done once, it’s something that can be much more time-consuming than many would want. This isn’t helped by the instructions that come with the scanner, which are somewhat difficult to understand. Once this has been overcome, though, there shouldn’t be many other notable issues with the scanner.
- Creates relatively high-resolution scans.
- Faster scanning than many competitors.
- Large enough for most artwork.
- Initial set-up can be quite difficult.
Conclusion
For the best a3 scanner for artwork, the Mustek A3 2400S is well recommended.
7. Fujitsu ScanSnap SV600 Overhead Book Scanner
One of the main limitations that many scanners have is seen in their lid, which can often limit the size of the artwork than can be scanned. However, this isn’t the case with the Fujitsu ScanSnap SV600, which avoids the issue through having an overhead scanner instead of a lid.
This should mean that you’ll be able to scan most pieces of art without much difficulty. Alongside this is a large depth of field, so you’ll be able to generate high-quality scans with ease. There are a few other benefits here, too, as it features a significant amount of software focused on ensuring that all scans are kept clean and smooth.
One example of this is the image flattening software, which evens out any bumps that may be seen in what you’re scanning. Though this shouldn’t affect any artist, it could prove helpful if you’re scanning older pieces of art that may have been folded at some point.
Some previous buyers have claimed that the software that’s available here isn’t as intuitive as many might want. As a result, you could end up having to spend a certain amount of time figuring out how to use it.
- Scans automatically when you turn a page.
- Uses image flattening to overcome any page curves.
- Large depth of field for creating high-quality scans.
- Software isn’t as intuitive as many might want.
Conclusion
Because of its overhead scanner, this can be one of a better home scanner for artwork than many would believe, especially considering the extra features. This makes it worth a solid consideration.
8. Plustek Photo Scanner
Many artists will want to scan work of various sizes without having to spend too much time adjusting their scanner, which is one of the primary areas where the Plustek Photo Scanner stands out. The product can 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, and 8×10 sizes while also working with A4 sized artwork, which is beneficial for a few artists.
Alongside this is how versatile the scanner is, as it can work with a large number of Macs and PCs with ease, and only takes a few minutes to set up with them. This should mean that you wouldn’t have to waste too much time waiting for it to start scanning.
The speed that the set-up offers is also enhanced by how quickly the images and artwork are scanned. While this can vary depending on the resolution, it can be slightly quicker than others.
The Plustek Photo Scanner also includes an image enhancement function, which will come in handy if you have any worn-out artwork or photos that you want to be scanned. These should come out at a better quality than you may have been expecting.
There have been one or two issues highlighted by customers, with much of this focusing on the Plustek Photo Scanner’s dpi. This is significantly lower than many competitors. While this may be beneficial for scanning pictures, it mightn’t be great for creating a high-quality scan of your artwork.
- Includes an image enhancement function for old photos & artwork.
- Scans a wide variety of image & artwork sizes.
- Works with a wide range of Macs & PCs.
- Lower dpi means that it’s resolution mightn’t be great.
Conclusion
Though it scans a variety of sizes, this may be the best A4 scanner for artists, which is why it should be worth your investment if you primarily work on A4.
Making the Decision
Each of the scanners above can be excellent choices depending on your needs. However, the Epson Perfection V600 stands out from them because of its many benefits. While it does have the drawback of being difficult to set up, this is virtually the only negative with the scanner.
That being said, the rest of the above are all good scanners for artists, which means that many of them should be considered. By knowing what you want in a scanner, you’ll be able to compare them depending on what you need. Though it will take time to find the right scanner for your art needs, this will be time well spent.
