I purchased this because I have a trunk full of family photographs, some of them well over 100 years old, and I have long wanted to scan them all to digital form so that I could put the entire collection on flash drives for other members of the family. The thought of trying to do the thousands of pictures on a regular flatbed scanner was so daunting that I've been putting it off for too many years. I took a chance on this scanner because it was rather inexpensive. I'm quite impressed. You can set the quality of the scan at 300 dpi, 600 dpi or 1200 dpi. Even at the higher resolution, the scanner is fairly quick. It works very well on prints from the past 40 or so years, but older photos have to be carefully guided in. Some of the scans came out too dark at the higher resolution, so you can either edit the ones that need it (a very quick edit is all that is needed to brighten the scan) or set the resolution at 600 dpi, which seems to lighten the scans a bit. It runs on batteries and scans to a micro SD chip that comes with the scanner. It goes through batteries fairly quickly, needing new ones after about 400 scans. There is a USB cord to hook it to a computer and software that installs some sort of software on your PC, but there are no instructions as to how to get your scans to show up on your monitor as you work. My advice is to skip the software installation and just use the USB cord to transfer the .jpgs onto your hard drive or flash drive. I especially like that this is completely portable and can be tucked into my handbag when we visit relatives who might have photos I'd like copies of. I can scan them right there in their home without having to beg them to trust me to take the prints home and then bring them back. All in all, I would recommend this scanner for the time of thing that I'm using it for. It scans documents, too, as pdf files if you wish.
I have unofficially become the person responsible for digitizing all of our old family photos. Before I bought this I was using a flatbed scanner at a rate of 1 photo in 4 minutes. Since each photo album contains roughly 320 pictures and we have 20 of them it didn't take me long to figure out that I didn't have time for that foolishness. This little gem is a life saver.
You have the option of using batteries or plugging the USB cable into a power source (like an iphone charger). If you are going to scan a lot of photos, then I highly recommend doing that since it eats the batteries. The scanner is simple to operate, you select JPG or PDF format and the DPI resolution. Be aware that you must select a resolution higher than 300DPI every time you turn the unit on. The included memory card is 4GB, and should be enough to do most photo collections.
Scanning is easy and fast. I average 8 photos per minute. The quality is decent compared to a flatbed scanner, but the tradeoff is the time spent scanning. For me, it is perfect. I have been able to digitize all my family photos and put them on a jump drive to give to every family member. Now I don't have to worry about something happening to the old family photos and losing them forever.
Works as advertised. Some small things are odd, like how do you remove the micro SD card if you don't want to hook up the USB cable? Can't grab it because the slot is so small... It seems to eat batteries pretty quickly, so I've taken to using it only while plugged into the USB port for power. That brought some other issues to light, as the instructions don't really tell you how to change the setting from battery to USB. I've figured it out, but it's not an easy process. I also assumed that if the unit was plugged into the USB port, the scanned images would transfer directly to a directory on the computer. Not so, the images are still retained on the micro SD card in the unit, and the unit must be reset to standard mode to copy the files to the computer. Some of my older photos appear slightly grainy in 1200 DPI mode, but look pretty smooth in 600 DPI. Not sure why the difference, but I'm continuing to use 1200 DPI as much as I can. I'm thinking it may be because most of my older photos were taken with a 1.5 or 2 megapixel camera, instead of the 20 megapixel I use today. We'll see how it improves, and I'll come back to this review later if needed.
I had a little trouble figuring out how to get this to work, but the ClearClick owner PATIENTLY emailed me VERY detailed instructions until I could get it to work. It scans pics VERY fast! I have boxes and boxes of photos to scan; this scanner is a lifesaver!!! Customer Service gets 100 Stars!!!!!
Recently my grandmother passed away. While cleaning out her home, we found hundreds of old black and white family photos. We had no idea where to store them to preserve them but realized how special they were as some were dated back to the early 1920's. After researching lots of scanners we settled on this one. It was super simple to use, very affordable and quick too! In 15 minutes I was able to scan over 80 pictures at 600 dpi. They were uploaded to my computer and we were able to make disks for all the family members to have. We now have the originals in a fire/water proof box along with our copies of the disks. It does go through AA batteries quickly, probably have to change them out every 200 pictures or so, but the batteries are easy to come by. Like I said, this product is fantastic and one of the best ways to preserve old family photos.
Feature Product
- Easily Scan Photos & Documents To Digital JPG or PDF Format (Up To 1200 DPI)
- Auto Feeder (Accepts Photos & Documents Up To 8.5" Width & 47" Length) & Built-In 1.45" Preview LCD Screen
- No Computer Required To Scan - Saves Directly Onto 4 GB MicroSD Memory Card (Included & Pre-Inserted in Scanner)
- Turn Scans Into Text with DirectScan OCR Software (Included)
- Full 1-Year Warranty & Free USA Tech Support from ClearClick Included. Any Questions or Problems? Just Contact Us!
Description
With the ClearClick Photo & Document Scanner, you can quickly and easily turn your photos and documents into digital format. The scanner has an automatic feeder, so just load the photo or document into the scanner, and you're done. You can see each photo or document immediately after you scan it with the 1.45" preview screen. The scanner can scan photos and documents in JPG or PDF format, up to 1200 dpi.
Here's how it works...
1) First, load batteries in your scanner. The scanner runs on three AA batteries (not included). Next, insert the 4 GB memory card for the scanner (included & pre-inserted in device). Finally, turn on the scanner by pressing and holding the "Power" button.
2) Now, start scanning your photos and documents! Just load a photo or document into the converter, and the scanner will automatically scan it! Your photos will be saved in digital format onto the memory card.
3) Finally, to transfer your scanned images to your PC or Mac, use the included cable to plug the scanner into any free USB port on your computer. Your scanner will show up as a new disk that contains your digital photos. That's it... no special drivers or software needed!
Also included: DirectScan OCR software (requires Windows Vista/7/8/10). With this software, you can scan directly to your PC and convert scanned documents into text. (NOTE: Scans will be saved to your clipboard. Paste into any software to see your scan.)
The scanner comes with step-by-step instructions, and you'll also have access to our top-quality, USA-based tech support. If you've got questions, just open a support ticket, and we'll get back to you within 24-48 hours!
Box contents:
1x ClearClick Photo & Document Scanner
1x 4 GB MicroSD Memory Card
1x DirectScan OCR Software CD
1x USB Cable
1x User's Manual
Works great except it gets white lines after scanning 1000s of old pictures in a row (the older the quicker it gets the dust accumulated). A good air compressor with a spray nozzle will easily get most of the dust out (suggestion for the future is to clean the pictures, especially older ones, before feeding them through).
Has made digitizing my old family photos a much more manageable process that with a standard flatbed scanner (of which I have thousands still to go through having done a few in a matter hours over several days).
I've been looking for a simple scanner to digitize old pictures. I've tried a couple with no luck. This one is a winner! Never imagined one so simple and effective. You'll be shocked at the size and weight when it arrives. Tiny and light. Runs on 3 double A batteries. You simply put the batteries in, push the button and you're in business. I'm running a MacBook Pro and it requires no setup, just plug in the USB. I don't know about Windows since a CD comes with it for your setup. Couldn't be happier. These guys hit it out of the park!
So it seems the only way to make this work with a MAC is as a standalone with batteries. Then, scan a photo onto the included micro SD chip, then plug in the USB cable to the MAC, and import the scanned image into Photos. I must say, the results are fantastic. The scanning speed at 1200DPI is about 1 second per photo. Good Job Clearclick.
I have used this little scanner for both documents and pictures, black & white and color. The resolution is excellent and it scans quickly. It is very light and portable. Have had no problem with battery life. It's very easy to use. Basically, does absolutely everything I would want or expect a portable scanner to do! I have a MAC so I need to scan the items then import the images to my computer but have had no problems with imports and it imports quickly. Very happy with this purchase!
Plain & simple.....if you are looking for a good scanner for a good price for any type of picture, this is it. I bought this after a death in the family. I saw a lot of old picture albums & tried to figure out the best way to scan all of them. The printer was too cumbersome, scanning each picture under the glass. Way too slow. After looking at reviews, I thought what the heck & tried this one. I was glad I did. A very nice, easy to work scanner.
People have written reviews & said it eats batteries. I have scanned up to 300 pictures of all sizes on the best quality 1200 DPI setting on one set of three AA batteries. The battery life seems okay to me. Sure, you'll have to replace the batteries, but I have found it to be much easier than plugging into an electric plug. I just went to WalMart & bought an inexpensive pack of AAs. If you travel & plan to scan family pictures away from home, definitely carry extra batteries.
I have scanned a lot of different types of old pictures...old Instamatic Polaroids, wallet sized pictures, 8 1/2"x11", even some of my dad's old Navy pictures that for some reason can be fatter than the Polaroids. They all have scanned very well. You will have to get used to the pictures sliding through. At times, some have caught & stopped. When that happened, I just pull the picture out & re-do it. The only complaint I would have with this scanner would be the very small window that shows the picture right after you scan it. It can be kind of tough to see how the picture turned out. If I had a question about the picture, I just rescanned it. You can look at it once you transfer it to your folder & delete it then if needed.
This scanner is very compact & it would be very easy to carry with you if you ever traveled to visit family. It even comes with a cloth carry case with a drawstring. Just turn it on & scan pictures. It saves on a very small memory card. People have written that it is very hard to get the card out. I really didn't see this as any different than other memory cards. It is spring loaded. Yeah, it's smaller but I had no problems with it. You don't need to. Just plug the USB cord into the scanner & computer & it shows up under your computer file folder. Just highlight what you want to transfer over & click & drag to your desktop. I have clicked & dragged up to just shy of 500 pictures, no problems. One thing to note though.....you should make numerous folders on your laptop, I name them Album 1, Album 2, etc. Whenever you transfer your pictures to a folder & then delete your images on the scanner's memory card, then start over, don't save them to the same folder unless you have already named the pictures. Otherwise, every time you start again, it names the images IMG0001, IMG0002, etc. It will then ask if you want to overwrite IMG0001, etc. This is a very small inconvenience for the overall performance of the scanner.
Trust this old school guy....I am a very skeptical person and I read a lot of reviews before I buy anything. You will not be disappointed for the price you pay for this scanner. I am an old school guy who can at times have problems with this digital stuff. I was quite surprised as to how easy it was to take out of the box & set the settings (very easy) and start scanning all of my old family pictures.
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