10 Best photo scanners with a feeder on the market in 2022: Comparison Table

What is the best photo scanners with a feeder? These devices differ by scanning speed or how many pages they scan per minute. Resolution is another distinguishing characteristic. There are devices that scan photos at 300 dpi and those with a resolution of 600 dpi to 1,200 dpi. Images scanned at a higher resolution are of a higher quality but significantly heavier. For documents and regular photos, a 300dpi scanner will do the job. Some models offer wireless scanning and have a duplexing feature. When looking for your auto-feed photo scanner, make sure that it allows for creating editable files as well as color and image corrections.

In the opinion of our editorial team, Epson is an excellent choice. It scans documents at a high speed: 35 ppm/70 ipm at a resolution of 600 dpi. It easily connects to any computer (PC or Mac) via a high-speed USB cable or Wi-Fi. It has a duplex scanning feature. It scans documents in the most convenient format for you: PDF, Excel, Word. There is also a feature that allows for sending a document to Google Drive.

What are Photo Scanners with a Feeder?

A photo scanner with a feeder is a convenience-focused take on optical scanners (also known as digitizers in some circles). Unlike a flat-bed scanner, a scanner with a feeder can take a stack of photos, not unlike a stack of paper for a printer, and pass them one at a time into the scanning bed, scan the image, store it in memory, eject it, and then pull the next one in.

This removes the need for someone to scan them by hand, one at a time, and removes a lot of human error margin as well. The difference between a general-purpose scanner and that of a photo scanner is all about the optics and receptor density. Photo scanners are much higher-resolution, and often have additional luminance and hue control, as well as postprocessing to remove film grain, dust scratches or creases that have formed in a photograph, allowing a reproduction that is remarkably vivid.

How many photos can I insert at a time?
Compact photo scanners like Plustek Z300 require manual inserting of each photo for scanning, but they are more easy to use. Auto-feed models like Epson WorkForce ES-400 have a tray with a capacity of up to 50 documents.

Best portable auto-feed photo scanner

1. Epson DS-320 Mobile Scanner with ADF

Actually, Epson is a brand that requires no introduction. This Japanese company was founded about 80 years ago and now is one of the largest producers of printers in the world. You will hardly find a computer owner who is unfamiliar with the Epson brand name, which has gained popularity for the upper-grade quality and reliability of its equipment.

This item is not as portable as the Vupoint ST470 but boasts more functionality. And yes, it is tangibly pricier. So what is so great about the Epson DS-320? Let's start with the fact that it is a fast color scanner featuring 25 ppm/50 ipm speeds. Besides, the unit can scan both sides of the paper in one pass. The automatic document feeder can handle up to 20 sheets at a time while the front loader allows you to scan business cards, plastic cards, and the like.

Another strong point of the Epson DS-320 is its compatibility. The product comes with ISIS and TWAIN drivers, ensuring integration with almost any of your software. Moreover, it can generate editable Word and Excel files and scan directly to Google Drive and other cloud storage. When it comes to portability, this model is inferior to that by Vupoint, and yet it can be classified as portable because of its compact dimensions (around 11 inches in length) and small weight (2.5 pounds). Also, this scanner can be powered via USB 3.0 or AC. But speaking of downsides, the major one is that the Epson DS-320 offers a resolution of no more than 600 dpi.

Epson: Check the current price

FAQ

What is the scanning speed? And how does it differ from that of regular scanners?
The scanning speed is 1-3 per photo depending on the printer’s model. Some products in our selection, like Epson, can even scan both sides of the document.

In the product description, you can also see figures with ppm/ipm. These values have the following meaning: ppm stands for paper per minute while ipm stands for inch per minute.

At what resolution do these printers scan?
Most frequently, the standard resolution of 600 dpi is used for scanning photos. But some models of printers allow increasing the resolution up to 1200 dpi. DPI — Dots Per Inch, the higher the value, the better is the quality of the scanned document or photo. And the more megabytes does the scanned file take up on your hard disk.

What document sizes can I scan?
Printers accept any size of documents or photos up to the A4 size paper.

How to connect a printer?
All models in our selection are compatible with both MAC and PC. Use a USB-cable to connect them to a computer. It comes with a printer. The models such as Epson WorkForce ES-500W have the Wi-Fi connectivity feature.

How do photo scanners differ?

Photo scanners with a feeder vary by the set of features. Some brands like Epson offer more advanced models with double-sided scanning and other beneficial functions. However, they tend to be more expensive, which is why they are a less common choice for home use. The sheet-fed option like Plustek Z300 is not suitable for creating high-resolution images as its main purpose is to simplify the process and save time. You can easily digitize about 1000 photos in one afternoon.

Expert Opinion: Nick Carver, Professional Photographer and Photography Instructor

Today, we are doing what I would call quick and dirty scans. The wet mount scanning yields better results but it is very time-consuming and it is a lot of work, so we are looking at dry scanning today. It is going to yield excellent results, it is just not as good as a wet mount scan. We will be using the film trays that come with your Epson. There is something about these trays that is very important to know in order to get the best quality scan. Let's look at the backside of the tray here. You will notice on each one of these trays little feet on the backside. They all have an arrow on and they are all pointing the same direction. Right now, mine are all pointing towards a zero mark. These little feet here actually pop out and you can either leave them out or put them back in the other direction. These feet are how you adjust the focus on your scan. Basically, when they all are pointed towards zero, this tray is at the factory setting in terms of focus height. And that may not be exactly what you need. If you take all these feet out, turn them around and point them towards the plus, it will raise your scan just slightly to change the focus. If you take these feet and pull them out, it will lower your scan. It is really important to get these things set right and you have just to do it through trial and error.

10 Best-Selling Photo Scanners with a Feeder | Comparative Table