Epson Perfection V600

Product	Format	Optical Resolution	Connectivity	Color Depth	Price
Epson Perfection V600	A4	6400 dpi	Hi-Speed USB 2.0	48-bit Color or 16-bit Grayscale	Click for more info

The V600 is the best flatbed scanner in terms of value. The idea with the V600 is that you have all the features of a high-end scanner in a low-cost package. It is one of the top value flatbed scanners.

It uses a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor to output an optical resolution of up to 6400 dpi. It is the best flatbed scanner in terms of resolution because it has the maximum resolution of any image scanner. The sensor is backed by a ReadyScan LED light source.

This flatbed scanners comes with 2 film holders so you can digitize 35mm film negatives. This is not the best flatbed scanner for negatives because it only has two holders but it does come close to the V800 in many respects.

This flatbed photo scanner comes with ABBYY FineReader so you can convert your scanned images from JPEG, TIFF, BMP Bitmap or PNG to searchable PDF files and Word Documents with editable text.

There is no cloud storage integration, but you can just use a Google Drive hot folder and just save the digital images there. They will get synced.

The software that comes with this flatbed scanner contains the following apps: Easy Photo Fix, the Copy Utility, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, ABBYY FineReader Sprint Plus OCR. You will also get a license for Photoshop Elements. The scanning app has Digital ICE features to remove dust and scratches from the scanned photos and film negatives. Of course, you get the usual features like cropping, layout orientation and deskew for photos.

Canon CanoScan Lide 400

Product	Format	Optical Resolution	Connectivity	Color Depth	Price
Canon CanoScan Lide 400	A4	4800 dpi	USB Type-C	48-bit Color or 16-bit Grayscale	Click for more info

The Canon CanoScan Lide 400 is the best flatbed document scanner for a low budget. If the Epson scanners use a CCD, this uses a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) to produce images. Is there a difference? Yes. CIS sensors are usually implemented more in flatbed document scanners rather than photo scanners and they need the document to be perfectly flat on the scanning glass, otherwise they don’t capture detail and the image is blurred.

The scanning speed is quite good with this flatbed scanner, especially considering the price at which it is sold. It takes about 8 seconds to scan an image at 300 dpi, so the scan speed is about 5-6 pages per minute.

This scanner costs much less than all of the models presented here. It costs 3 times less than a V600 photo scanner. It also has the best design in our opinion, it looks modern and sleek while being compact and lightweight. More signs of modern show up at the USB port because it uses a USB Type-C port. This is something very new to document scanners because most of them just use the most basic USB cable. What it lacks and should have already been implemented on flatbed scanners 10 years ago is a wireless connection in the form of Wi-fi.

You can connect it to both operating systems, Windows 10 or Mac OS.

It is the only one of these scanners that can sync with Cloud Storage platforms out of the box. You can upload scanned images directly to a Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive or Gmail account.

It takes a different approach to Optical Character Recognition, by Canon choosing to embed the technology in the scanning app rather than shipping it with an ABBYY license. It is better because it is nicely integrated but worse because it lacks file formats, features and has a lower accuracy in text recognition.

We would choose this flatbed scanner for scanning documents but not for photos.

Epson Perfection V800

Product	Format	Optical Resolution	Connectivity	Color Depth	Price
Epson Perfection V800	A4	6400 x 9600 dpi	Hi-Speed USB 2.0	48-bit Color	Click for more info

The V800 is the best flatbed scanner for photos and the best flatbed film scanner for negatives. The photos part is because of the dual-lens system and because of the 4 types of film holders that it has.

Many people wonder what the extra price is for when you choose the V800 over the V600 because when you look at the resolution and color depth, things look the same. It is things like the 4.0 Dmax black density which will output deep blacks in the scanned photo. There is also a dual-lens system built into the scanner which will output high-quality RGB images with more pixels and more vivid.

In terms of 35mm film scanning, we called this the best flatbed scanner for film because you get 4 types of film holders so that you can scan most of the types of films and slides out there.

Then there is the superior software package which includes the Silverfast SE app which has features like 64-bit HDR, improved frame detection, Adaptive photo restoration, and Nega fix for negative to positive conversion to name just a few.

If your budget is big enough, this is the best flatbed scanner for windows 10 and Mac that you can buy. This flatbed scanner and the V850 are unmatched in photo scanning quality and are the leading flatbed scanners. If you need the latest and greatest, this is it.

Epson Expression 12000XL-GA

Product	Format	Optical Resolution	Connectivity	Color Depth	Price
Epson Expression 12000XL-GA	A3	2400 dpi	Hi-Speed USB 2.0	48-bit Color or 16-bit Grayscale	Click for more info

The Epson Expression is the best flatbed scanner for artwork and surely the best flatbed scanner for artists. It can scan a paper size of up to A3. When you need to scan photos and documents that are larger than A4, the number of choices drastically goes down.

It has the highest image resolution and pixel density of all A3 flatbed scanners, 2400 x 4800 dots per inch. You get a transparency unit for scanning film. You can scan 35mm film negatives (up to 48 frames), 4″ x 5″ film and medium format film that is up to 18cm long.

You can download TWAIN drivers to integrate the scanner with Photoshop and other image processing apps.

Which is the best flatbed scanner of 2020?

If you need to scan photos and need the film feature, you will get the best value for money by buying the V600.

If budget is the main issue, the best flatbed scanner to buy is the The Canon 400 Lide.

If superior image quality is the main focus of your purchase, then go for the V800 is one of the best flatbed photo scanners for you and if you need to scan photos or artwork larger than A4, then the 12000-XL GA is the right flatbed scanner.

If you need the best flatbed scanner for books, then you should go for the Plustek Opticbook 4800. That one doesn’t have a bezel on one side so you can open the books and stick them to the glass perfectly.

Also, should you need the best flatbed scanner with document feeder, the Epson DS-1630 and the HP ScanJet Pro 2500 F1 are great choices. They have an automatic document feeder ADF Tray and a flatbed glass.