We strongly urge you to avoid making a habit of scanning photos (or any delicate originals, for that matter) through a sheetfed document scanner, whether it's a standalone model or one built into a multifunction or all-in-one printer (more on that in a moment). You'll want to be cognizant of that spec depending on the size of what originals you will tend to scan. A key differentiator between models is the platen size most are letter-size (8.5 by 11 inches) or legal-size (8.5 by 14 inches). In these scanner designs, you lift a lid to expose a glass platen, onto which you place the image to be scanned. One feature shared by most "true" photo scanners is a flatbed design. Yes, they're still the current models.) Check out summaries of our still-current favorites below, followed by a guide to choosing the right model for you, and then a detailed spec table of all our recommended models. (As you peruse and click on our models summed up above and below, you'll note that many were reviewed years ago. This is a niche segment of the hardware market you'll see relatively few dedicated photo scanners on the market, and they tend to have very long shelf lives.
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Though built to handle photos, most photo scanners can also be used for general-purpose scanning, and some include optical character recognition (OCR) software for digitizing the occasional document. Many include software to help retouch scans and remove scratches. Photo scanners are set apart by features such as a high sensor resolution and the ability to scan transparencies (slides and negatives) in addition to photo prints.